Joshua Ogundu

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. When thinking about AI , your mind may not immediately go to the NBA, but the truth is that the basketball league has embraced the technology for years. The NBA first embraced the technology to help staff and players better analyze the game to improve individual player and team performance. The system used is called player tracking, implemented during the 2013-2014 NBA season, as reported by the Sports Video Group. The NBA sets up cameras at every stadium and then processes the captured information through its software, which analyzes and extracts data on all players who touch the court; this helps players, coaches, and organizations make better decisions about gameplay and the overall strategy for the team. Analyzing the game to make better decisions is one thing, but one of the most important places to have technology play a role is in the health of players, as they play through the season and...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Learning how to code has been centered as the most probable path to prosperity since Mark Zuckerberg rang the bell as Facebook went public in 2012. After the success of Zuckerberg and Meta , being able to learn how to code was marketed by the public and private sectors as a path to not only financial stability but also outsized prosperity. The number of computer science graduates has more than doubled over the past decade from 51,696 to 112,720 when comparing the 2013-2014 academic year to the 2022-2023 academic year, according to the National Student Clearing House, a nonprofit organization that serves as the central source for educational reporting, verification and research across the U.S. The increased focus on computer science makes sense when you learn that computer science graduates also have an average starting salary of $77,000, while the average recent graduate is $68,400, according to...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Venture Capital , the lifeblood of startups, is undergoing a transition that may decrease the number of Black venture capitalists and venture-backed founders while reducing diversity in the types of ideas that Silicon Valley takes seriously. Historically, venture capital was viewed as niche, unlike other areas of finance. However, venture capital has grown into a global industry that has helped usher in our technological future. Companies like Uber and Airbnb have raised venture capital to build and grow their businesses into the household names they are today. Since 2021, the world of startups and venture capital has been going through a watershed moment that may alter the future of the industry. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, interest rates heavily impact how the startup ecosystem operates. Ever since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, interest rates have been hiked globally to combat...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. When people hear the word “Apple,” they do not automatically think of the fruit; they think about the company that has been a mainstay in the world of consumer technology since Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded it in 1976. Apple was founded in Los Altos, CA, a suburb of Silicon Valley , in the home of Steve Jobs’ parents. The time Jobs spent building the original vision for Apple in his parents’ garage is why many entrepreneurial stories reference the garage as a symbol of humble beginnings when discussing how their companies first got off the ground. While many millennials and Gen Z remember how life-changing the iPod was when it was released, it revolutionized the way we listened to music, along with iTunes, which changed the way music was purchased and consumed. Long before the iPod, Apple’s first consumer smash hit was the Apple II . Released in 1977, the Apple II debuted alongside other...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Data centers have been in the news lately due to their connection to AI, but they have been around in some form or capacity for decades. Data centers originally were created to hold mainframe computers because they would tend to overheat, needing to be stored in climate-controlled rooms. This was at a time when more businesses began relying on computers for their day-to-day operations, and things needed to be moved from single rooms to larger dedicated facilities. What caused data centers to explode in popularity was the rise of personal computing. With more and more data needing to be stored, more facilities needed to be created in order to house all of this new data that was being generated every day, not just from businesses but from people living their lives as well due to the adoption of mobile devices. What exponentially increased the amount of data centers was when software started “eating...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have rocked industries across the globe, from manufacturing to fashion and retail. The current crop of tariff policies will do damage to retailers, large and small and one of the retailers that has gotten caught in the crossfire is Nike . Nike has been an American staple in the world of business and fashion since the company was founded in 1964 by University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman and his former student Phil Knight as Blue Ribbon Sports. The company originally started as a distributor for the Japanese shoe brand Tiger (now ASICS) but began making its athletic footwear in 1971 and rebranded as Nike, named after the Greek goddess of victory, as reported by The Street. The iconic “Swoosh” logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson, a student at nearby Portland State University, for just $35 as reported by Reuters and became one of the world’s most recognizable...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The culture and energy of the tech industry has changed overnight. The industry once stereotyped as a bastion of liberalism, which has a history of backing more liberal candidates in presidential elections, has changed. This all became more apparent during the 2024 presidential election between Kamala Harris and now President Donald Trump . During the election, the industry was split in a way that felt unprecedented to those who had been in the industry for the past 20 years. When Trump was first elected to office, his presidency appeared to be one that the industry would resist, given his first term as president as well as his 2020 campaign. He had policy views and beliefs that were against what the tech industry stood for, specifically around the topics of immigration, social media moderation, and climate change. What we saw leading up to the 2024 presidential election was not only less...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. AI and its effect on current and future employment has been a focus for employees and employers alike, and a main topic of conversation in the media since ChatGPT came out over two years ago. ChatGPT made people think about what the future of work would look like, especially when it comes to things a person typically would have to outsource. They saw how they could do it themselves by leveraging AI. The first types of jobs that came to mind for using AI were ones that have a black-and-white approach to the work and follow a series of steps. For example, a bookkeeper who puts the same inputs and outputs into QuickBooks could be replaced by automation leveraging AI tools. These tools can build a bridge between your bookkeeping software and your accounting software and route the entries where they need to go automatically. The belief about which type of jobs could be automated/reduced seems to have...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. Often, those who rank in seniority get to speak for the broader community. How long does that work though, and how long should it last? It’s a question that comes up whenever someone of a previous generation is asked to speak or is seen as a representative during a current crisis a community is facing. AFROTECH™ previously reported that after Target rolled back its commitments to DEI, the retail store has seen a decline in foot traffic for the past 10 weeks. Target was one of the brands that, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, put a lot of time and money towards pushing for racial justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion across the board. After the decline, The New York Post reported that Target CEO Brian Cornell met with Reverend Al Sharpton about its DEI policies, but should Sharpton be the one speaking for us? Sharpton came to prominence during the 1970s with his focus on...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The turmoil over tariffs has taken center stage since President Donald Trump has started to make good on his campaign promise to Make America Great Again. His latest move is leveraging the tactic of tariffs to help bring back manufacturing jobs that he believes have been outsourced to other countries and should be available to people in the United States. However, having the goal of quickly bringing industrialization to a country has been tried elsewhere before. Mao Zedong of China, who formed the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and ran it until his death in 1976, tried what Trump is doing in the U.S. in China. It was called The Great Leap Forward and started in 1958. It aimed to change China from a country that relied on agriculture as its economic center to one that relied on industrialization instead. Similar to Donald Trump’s vision for industrialization, it included a focus on increasing...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The question of who controls your data and how it’s used has been a topic of discussion since the dawn of the internet. The rise of social media giants like Meta and X has only heightened awareness and concern around data privacy. What happens when data collection goes beyond your age and interests to your genetic makeup? That’s the concern surrounding the recent news about 23andMe. As reported by AP News, the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after former CEO Anne Wojcicki’s attempt to buy back the company’s assets fell through. Founded in 2006 by Wojcicki, Linda Avey, and Paul Cusenza, 23andMe was created to empower consumers with insights about their genetic makeup to inform health decisions. As reported by CTech, the company went public at a $3.5 billion valuation and was once valued as high as $6 billion. In addition to consumer-focused tests, 23andMe has contributed to genetic...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The tech industry has long had an obsession with youth. This is seen in how the industry conducts itself, who investors look to invest in, how people look at hiring in the world of startups, as well as which programs are being targeted by DOGE, and which ones aren’t, as they look to make the government more efficient. Over the last few months, the Department of Government Efficiency has aggressively looked for waste and fraud within the federal government. It started with organizations that do not come to mind for the average American, like the United States Agency For International Development, or USAID, which focuses on deploying aid to foreign countries for a variety of efforts centered around health, disaster aid, and economic development. DOGE came in like a wrecking ball to the organization, and as reported by ABC News in February, 4,080 employees worldwide were placed on leave and an...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The tech industry has faced a wave of shutdowns and layoffs over the past three years, but there may finally be some hope on the horizon. Recently, there’s been an upward trend in companies announcing M&A activity and plans to go public. These announcements not only matter to those who work at or invest in these companies, but they also create opportunities for those looking to break into the tech world—whether as employees or founders. While these signals point to progress, we must not lose sight of the challenges the industry has faced over the past four years—challenges that make even the smallest signs of change feel significant. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, venture capital-backed startups experienced a surge in activity. Historically low interest rates made capital easy to borrow and invest, leading to increased funding for early-stage startups from venture capital firms. Crunchbase...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. During his second term, Donald Trump has continued to change how the United States operates with its allies. Recently, Trump and JD Vance met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House to ease tensions with the current administration and finalize a mineral deal intended to be celebrated following their televised meeting. However, the way Zelenskyy was treated during the exchange was a shocking break from modern diplomatic norms. This incident is just one example of a broader shift—one that becomes clearer as the Trump administration continues to signal a closer alignment with Russia, making its willingness to bully allies increasingly apparent. Previously, Donald Trump claimed that tariffs on Canada and Mexico would be paused before they were set to go into effect earlier this year. CNN reported that he kept to his word and imposed a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. During Donald Trump’s second presidential campaign, his relationship with the tech industry was highlighted due to his budding relationship with Elon Musk , who spent $288 million to help elect Trump. While many people in tech believe this is when the federal government started to embrace the tech industry, the relationship with the federal government was started by former President Barack Obama during his campaign and subsequently expanded while he was in office. Obama first supported technology via social media on the presidential campaign trail in 2008. Facebook had been founded on Harvard University’s campus four years before his campaign, and due to its connection with the younger electorate, he leveraged it in a way not seen before, though it has been seen since with Donald Trump’s embrace of X. Obama’s campaign used Facebook to target younger voters, empower grassroots organizations, and...