OBT SOCIAL- THE STATE OF THE INTERNET IN NSI YA UBUNTU (AFRICA)
It’s time to stop going along with business as usual as if we’re not smack dab in the middle of disfunction and subjugation. We have brilliant WanaUbuntu (Africans), great innovators, but we find ourselves playing catch up in the field of virtual communication. Why is this image not adding up?
Kumbukeni is joined by our brothers Michael Thompson and Sidney Nicholas, of Our Black Truth, popularly known as OBT Social to discuss the state of the internet in Nsi ya Ubuntu, what the barriers are and how we can dissolve them to make way for progress.
Mr. Michael Thompson is a technologist who has been in the business since he was a sophomore in high school in Northern Virginia starting with AT&T Communications in 1984. After leaving AT&T after graduating high school, he worked for Quantum Computer Services who later changed their name to AOL, America Online, one of the first online companies in the world. After leaving AOL he went to work for UUNET Technologies, one of only a handful of specialists in the business of building a national network to link individuals and companies to the Internet. During his time at UUNET Mr. Thompson was part of the team that helped build the Microsoft network and beta test Windows 95. During his tenure, he received numerous technical certifications with companies like Cisco, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Lucent and many others. After leaving UUNET Technologies he went to work as a consultant where he helped to design and implement networks for the U.S. Federal government, telecoms and various fortune 500 companies around the world. Mr. Thompson, then started a company called “Food on the Move”, which delivered food from restaurants throughout Northern Virginia. Food on the Move was later sold. Then around 1999, Mr. Thompson sold his video streaming company called “StreamNow” to a telco, which was soon acquired by Bell Atlantic, who then changed their name to Verizon and he served as Vice President of Video Services. As the VP, he was the first person to host a meeting demonstrating video streaming technology in 2001 to all of the major movie studios including Warner Bros, Disney, Sony, MGM, DreamWorks, New Line Cinema and many others. After leaving Verizon, Mr. Thompson again consulted for various government agencies and fortune 500 companies for a number of years and started other businesses. Then around 2019, he decided to build a social media platform because of the unfair treatment and discrimination we were experiencing on the major platforms. Once the platform was completed, it was named “Our Black Truth” which was later shortened to “OBT Social” because there were those who were offended by the name and what the platform stood for. Today, OBT Social has more than 6 platforms, that span more than 190 countries and is connected to the internet at the fastest speeds possible and has servers housed at what is called “Data Center Alley”, Ashburn, Virginia. This is the areas in which he grew up and it is said that more than 70% of the world’s internet traffic flows through this city and no other place in the world has more data centers or internet connectivity.
Sidney Nicholas currently serves as the VP of Marketing for OBT Social and the CEO of the consulting firm AtumIQ. With a background in marketing technology, he specializes in marketing psychology and data analytics. Born and raised just outside of Detroit, MI, Sidney developed a passion for technology at an early age. He pursued business studies with a marketing focus in his post-secondary education and subsequently worked in the marketing departments of various organizations, including corporate entities and SMBs. Throughout his professional career, Sidney initiated studies in psychology, becoming a trainer in NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) and other tools related to psychology, persuasion, and personal development. He considers himself Pan-African and believes that Africa’s advancement is crucial for all Afro-descendant people worldwide.
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