Preliminary Results to Mobile Phone Study

RIA / PICTURE Africa Kampala Meeting

The Solar Powered Mobile Telephone

um, I want one. Imagine never having to search for an available power source ever again. It will however, put lots of these makeshift battery-charging shops in Africa out of business. I guess you need to just keep up with the times and the needs. Read more...

Developing Countries Farm Radio Network

A majority of African countries still use radio as their main means of communication. That's why I'm super keen on this network, Developing Countries Farm Radio Network, a group of radio broadcasters looking to use this media form to fight poverty and food insecurity. I hear on the grapevine that they are also looking for a research director in the near future so keep updated on their site.

Upcoming Conferences:

3rd Annual International Conference On Sustainable ICT Capacity In Developing Countries
August 5-8, 2007, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

When you check out the website, there is just an insane list of topics so I guess it is just a matter of picking out the one which applies best to you.

Upcoming Meetings on ICTs in Africa

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) will be hosting the Committee on Development Information (CODI) on April 29-May 4, 2007. The CODI body appears to service the ICT, Science and Technology. The committee meeting will take place in Addis.

Africa Development News: World Bank approves financing for internet in Kenya, Burundi and Madagascar

World Bank Announces funding of US$164.5 Million for internet connections in Kenya, Burundi and Madagascar... read more

Further ICT initiatives in Africa

Everyday, I pick up on new leads and links that help me continuously get a better grasp and perspective of ICTs and its use in development in Africa. The Shuttleworth Foundation sends out updates via email on education and technology trends from their Institute for Futures Research. It appears like it the latest newsletter is posted on their website but you can sign up for a copy. Check it out...

The never-ending fibre optic story in East Africa

East Africa is almost there on hopefully affordable connectivity! For story in Standard, read more... . Here's a whole other story from South Africa ITWeb on Telkom...

Other news:
Knowledge Politics - has an interesting write-up on the information technology history in its introduction.

ICT Research Opportunities in Africa: EuroAfrica-ICT (Start) Awareness Workshop last week in Pretoria March 30. Apparently 9.1 billion Euros set aside for ICT Research and this workshop was set up to try to faciliate networks in Europe and Africa to form the basis on collboration between the two continents...Read more...

Barcamp Kenya -Nairobi March 31, 2007

Barcamp Kenya - Nairobi March 31, 2007,
originally uploaded by whiteafrican.

This weekend, I attended Kenya's very first BarCamp, basically an informal forum where techies, engineers and everyone can come together and let people know what's happening in the industry within Kenya and beyond. A few local Kenyan groupsites and blogs of other attendees like Skunkworks , Startups in Kenya, MentalAcrobatics the rest (can be found here) and photos are already available. My take on the event was that it was wonderful opportunity to see that technology and innovation are alive and well in Nairobi. Ideas of searchable databases for parliament, "hacking the airwaves", mama Mikes working the diaspora of Kenya and the giving people the "compelling case for running internet" as Kiania is trying to do in Habibbank and other neighborhoods in Kenya were a few of the incredible developments of ICTs here in Kenya. The main organizer brought up a very good case of "compelling people to use local content" and debate on how to overcome or work with the powers of telecom control like the Communications Commission of Kenya. At the end of the day, it is about universal access, showing a demand for the web by information-hungry country that this is, and from the sound of this forum like BarCamp, the movement is about to take shape as we speak.

Mobile Phones for telemedicine?

I was forwarded this article from Global Health on whether cell phone technology has the power to improve health initiatives in developing countries. I'll give a review after I read it tonight. If you are also interested in the article... read more here.

Cell phone use by Elephant Caretakers

Cell phone use by Elephant Caretakers,
originally uploaded by make_change.

Connectivity in Kenya has given all people from all walks of life access to cell phone technology. This elephant's caretaker can be away from his family and friends and still be able to let them know about his whereabouts and work.

ICTs and Gender

I have finished going through a whole stack full of journal articles on consumer spending and anything related to ICT system expenditure. There is not too much information available on ICT spending here in East Africa but I have found how most researchers have attempted to manipulate household surveys in order to understand the changes in people's spending habits to buy ICTs.

News: An article on the Daily star that it will be the mobile phone which is going to make the internet growth explosion happen... Read more...

As a break from the economics of it all, I have started to read work on ICTs and Gender. The UN is doing a web-seminar on March 5, 2007 called, "The Role of ICT Policy in Empowering and Protecting the Rights of the Girl Child".

Here are a list of Basic Gender information:

Naila Kabeer. 2003. Gender Mainstreaming in Poverty Eradication and the Millennium Development Goals: A Handbook for Policy-makers and Other Stakeholders. IDRC/CIDA

Hazel Reeves and Sally Baden. “Gender and Development: Concepts and Definitions.” BRIDGE Report, 2000.

World Bank. Engendering Development. Summary. (26 pages) World Bank Policy Report. Oxford University Press. 2001.

R. Charli Carpente. Gender Theory In World Politics: Contributions of a Non-Feminist Standpoint; University of Oregon-Department of Political Science

): Jane L. Parpart, M. Patricia Connelly, and V. Eudine Barriteau. Eds. Theoretical Perspectives on Gender and Development. Chapter Two.

Cash will no longer exist...

This week's Economist titled, "End of the Cash Era" with dinosaurs on the front cover holds a story on the incredible phenomenon of paper cash to mere electronic transactions. The tools to finally transfer money from one country to another through an SMS is happening as we speak. What does that mean for the poor? Those with relatives abroad will be seeking these mobile devices if they do not have them already and they no longer have to deal with time and transport in order to access much needed funds.

IT needs people & action

"IT on its own does not do anything useful; in order to do anything, it must become part of an information system; information systems do not necessarily involve computers and telecommunication equipment; even when they do, information systems are much more than just IT because they involve people and their actions".

- Richard Heeks (1998) - found in article "information age reform of the public sector: the potential and problesm of IT for India"

Video Participation Workshop at WSF

Video Participation Workshop,
originally uploaded by make_change.

Here is one youth activist from Kenya interviewing a documentary filmer from India. This workshop hosted on Sunday was to introduce participants to the power of video and how to use video for documenting the history of lives in their communities. The purpose shows partipants exactly how easy it is for them to develop their own film and script.

World Social Forum ICT Registration

The World Social Forum has implemented a payment-via-mobile phone system. You basicallly purchase airtime credit for your phone (they give you a free SIM card) and then you type in the WSF number and bam! you have paid your registration fees through your phone instantly. I'm not even sure this kind of technology is available in North America but it exists all over Eastern Africa!

Time reveals the online community as democracy

Another one on the magazine racks was the Time “Person of the Year” edition (Dec.25,06-Jan.1,07). You would remember the front cover of a shiny computer screen which is supposedly reflecting your image back as “You control the Information Age”. The magazine geared the articles to state that it is today’s everyday society who are now building our knowledge and our history as people reflect their thoughts online through blogs, profile pages, videos and photos. Time sees it as some great community coming together to share information and perhaps develop some form of global understanding. The paper further writes anecdotes of how people use it in their lives from Marines blogging the Iraq war, to wanna-be chefs. The unreal phenomenon of video sharing on the web was a great evolution in 2006. It is a great article to know that we could possibly have control of the information age but unforunately, this is not applicable to a large majority of citizens in the world,… yet. Many people are limited from being part of this global sharing due to illiteracy and non-access to the internet. Those who are able to share are still the limited few with the resources to afford such services. So although the doors have opened to some of news around the world, the potential could be so much greater if the poor were given access and able to express their needs and successes.

"The Africa Report" - looks at ICTs

During my 4-hour delay in the Johannesburg airport, I picked up this magazine called The Africa Report, a publication based out of Paris. The main reason for buying the mag was because of its large bold ‘2007’ encrusting half of the cover, and “how the continent measures up: 53 country profiles”. This is the first time I had learned that there are 53 countries in Africa. Amazing that it took two years of being in and out of sub-Saharan Africa to know this fact. Besides catching up on the political climates predictions on Kenya, South Africa and Mozambique, they also had an article on ICTs in Africa titled, “Welcome to the permanent revolution”. The article seemed to give a very positive spin on telecommunications with its predictions of a 50% share of a “mature market” by 2009 and how telecom operators will have to adapt to the competitive arena through better quality service and moving towards information provided through cellphone internet access. It also summarizes the major employment impacts in North Africa like Morocco as they rapidly take advantage of its technology advancements by creating ICT-related jobs. Tunisia is attempting to follow suit. In terms of reach, it would be positive to see operators investigate further on potential of service in much-needed rural areas. Due to high costs of expansion to geographically dispersed areas, government and policy-makers will need to also look further into infrastructure potential particularly where it is most needed. Looks like much is expected from ICTs this coming year and look forward to following it during my time here in Nairobi.