FrontlineSMS at The Feast ’09

by kiwanja

I’ve always maintained that the greater the distance between an ICT4D ‘problem’ and the problem solver, the greater the chance of failure. The difficulty here is that quite often the problem and the resources available to fix it are in different places, and available to the wrong people.

While ‘we’ – those who rarely fully understand the problem – have easier access to the technology and funding, those who do more fully understand it don’t. This is why the current proliferation of local innovation and IT-focused business hubs across Africa is so exciting and has so much potential.

More via this short edited five minute talk I gave last year at The Feast in New York. Further in-depth thoughts on who might be best placed to run ICT4D and mobile-for-development (m4d) projects, check out this recent blog post, “Dissecting “m4d”: Back to basics“.

23 comments

1 Lewis Parker { 09.06.10 at 9:37 am }: FrontlineSMS at The Feast ’09: I’ve always maintained that the greater the distance between an ICT4D ‘problem’ and… http://bit.ly/aJaUsV
2 Lisa Richardson { 09.06.10 at 9:37 am }: FrontlineSMS at The Feast ’09: I’ve always maintained that the greater the distance between an ICT4D ‘problem’ and… http://bit.ly/aJaUsV
3 Ken Banks { 09.06.10 at 9:39 am }: Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers? Why distance matters. http://is.gd/eXfOI #ict4d #m4d
4 Deborah Elzie { 09.06.10 at 9:43 am }: RT @kiwanja: Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers? Why distance matters. http://is.gd/eXfOI #ict4d #m4d
5 Emeka Okoye { 09.06.10 at 9:47 am }: good read -> RT @kiwanja: Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers? Why distance matters. http://is.gd/eXfOI #ict4d #m4d
6 Judith Orland { 09.06.10 at 9:48 am }: RT @kiwanja Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers? Why distance matters. http://is.gd/eXfOI #ict4d #m4d
7 changefeed { 09.06.10 at 9:55 am }: ->@kiwanja: FrontlineSMS at The Feast ’09 http://bit.ly/9BSciY
8 Sam Fleming { 09.06.10 at 10:10 am }: RT @kiwanja: Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers? Why distance matters. http://is.gd/eXfOI #ict4d #m4d
9 Lotta Rydstrom { 09.06.10 at 10:17 am }: RT @kiwanja: Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers? Why distance matters. http://is.gd/eXfOI #ict4d #m4d
10 Ken Banks { 09.06.10 at 1:18 pm }: In #ICT4D, why distance matters. Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers. http://is.gd/eXfOI #m4d
11 epiraces { 09.06.10 at 1:29 pm }: RT @kiwanja: In #ICT4D, why distance matters. Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers. http://is.gd/eXfOI #m4d
12 Sibesonke { 09.06.10 at 1:36 pm }: In #ICT4D, why distance matters. Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers. http://is.gd/eXfOI #m4d (via @kiwanja)
13 Sean McDonald { 09.06.10 at 1:57 pm }: Distance prevents service RT @kiwanja: In #ICT4D, why distance matters. Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers. http://is.gd/eXfOI
14 FrontlineSMS o/ { 09.06.10 at 3:52 pm }: Getting tools closer to the problem and the problem solver. FrontlineSMS at The Feast '09. http://is.gd/eXfOI #m4d
15 Judy Durbin { 09.06.10 at 3:53 pm }: RT @frontlinesms – Getting tools closer to the problem and the problem solver. FrontlineSMS at The Feast '09. http://is.gd/eXfOI #m4d
16 Paul Jones { 09.06.10 at 4:00 pm }: RT @FrontlineSMS: Getting tools closer to the problem and the problem solver. FrontlineSMS at The Feast '09. http://is.gd/eXfOI #m4d
17 Paul Jones { 09.06.10 at 4:10 pm }: RT @kiwanja: In #ICT4D, why distance matters. Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers. http://is.gd/eXfOI #m4d
18 Aleksei { 09.06.10 at 4:33 pm }: RT @FrontlineSMS: Getting tools closer to the problem and the problem solver. FrontlineSMS at The Feast '09. http://is.gd/eXfOI #m4d
19 Eric Mtika { 09.06.10 at 5:22 pm }: RT @FrontlineSMS: Getting tools closer to the problem and the problem solver. FrontlineSMS at The Feast '09. http://is.gd/eXfOI #m4d
20 Theresa Ann Conner { 09.06.10 at 6:32 pm }: Go KEN
21 Dale Zak { 09.06.10 at 6:41 pm }: "Greater the distance between an #ICT4D ‘problem’ and the problem solver, the greater the chance of failure." – @kiwanja http://is.gd/eXfOI
22 Ritse Erumi { 09.06.10 at 7:12 pm }: RT @kiwanja In #ICT4D, why distance matters. Time for the problem to meet the problem solvers. http://is.gd/eXfOI #m4d
23 The Bi-Weekly ICT4D Retrospective: Important Links for Sept 1-14, 2010 – Ritse Erumi | RitseOnline...Developing Beta (Technology + International Development + Everything Beyond & Between) { 09.17.10 at 5:30 am }: [...] Matters: Ken Banks offers some thoughts on the problem of distance between ICT4D problem and ICT4D [...]