Abstract

This paper explores the cultural changes that South Sudan may be confronted with as the new nation receives a technological facelift. After separating from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan became the world's newest nation. In the split the South Sudanese formed a country out of a population with literacy levels among the lowest in the world. Currently, the new nation is receiving significant attention from Western countries eager to form alliances in exchange for access to oil reserves. In return for access, Westerners are offering to advance the South Sudanese into the digital world. The extent of the impact that digital technologies will have on the young nation can be anticipated by considering how changes in our own communication systems have come to influence interaction on a global scale. Moreover, it must be recognized that most Western cultures have developed their communication systems over a period of centuries, whereas the South Sudanese are faced with moving from oral to digital forms of communication within three years, the timeframe encouraged by Western governments.