November

kiwanja's recently launched Facebook group - The Social Mobile
Group - has just recruited its 1,000th member. The Group was
set up to help connect non-profit organisations, members of the
general public and ICT professionals interested in the growing use
of mobile technology in developing countries. For further details
on the impact of mobiles in areas such as health, education and
economic empowerment - or to join the group - click the link
above or visit the external website here

November 2007: Nokia UI designers turn their attention to FrontlineSMS

A discussion which started late last month between Ken Banks and J.D. Moore, a User Interface (UI) designer with Nokia, has been posted on his "UI Thread" blog. The discussion centres around FrontlineSMS, described as a "product of ad-hoc ethnography as much as rapid-prototyping". This is the first time any UI analysis has been carried out on the software. The posting, which is largely based on several email conversations, can be read here

November 2007: kiwanja.net invited to Aspen Institute roundtable discussion

Ken Banks has been invited by The Aspen Institute to take part in a three-day roundtable discussion on Mobile Media and Civic Engagement in San Francisco in December. kiwanja.net will join leaders from the technology and Internet industries, advocacy groups and academia to participate in the discussion which aims to explore current examples of socially productive uses of mobile technologies, and explore their potential for strengthening future communities. The event is being organised by The Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program in association with the Centre for Renaissance Journalism at San Francisco State University, with funding from the Ford Foundation

November 2007: FrontlineSMS a preferred solution for Pakistani bloggers

Due to the nature of on-going censorship in Pakistan under the current "State of Emergency", activists have begun using text messaging as a way of bypassing restrictions, and a number of groups have turned to FrontlineSMS for the solution. After their own research, one group highlighted FrontlineSMS as the "most appropriate, anonymous and rapidly deployable solution available. The low-budget GSM/laptop hardware configuration deployed in FrontlineSMS is an exact match for our SMS broadcasting needs". Further details on its deployment are available here. Reports are also available on the 160Characters and ICT4Peace websites

FrontlineSMS, which is currently undergoing further development at Stanford University, has attracted considerable interest from the human rights field and will form part of the discussions during the forthcoming New Tactics in Human Rights workshop

November 2007: Nokia Press Release on nGOmobile

As the nGOmobile competition enters its final month, Nokia have sent out a Press Release via their Africa and Middle East website. A number of East African newspapers have also been running stories as interest picks up before the competition closes on 14th December

November 2007: kiwanja.net to contribute to new eLearning publication

Following on from the eLearning in Developing Countries online discussion held earlier this month (see news item below), Ken Banks has been invited to contribute a chapter to a forthcoming book entitled "Education for a Digital World: Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around the Globe". Ken's chapter will cover the use of mobile technology for teaching in developing countries, and analyse and explore current activities and future potential in this growing area. The book is due for publication in summer 2008. Further details will be made available nearer the time

November 2007: kiwanja.net interviewed by The Corporate Council of Africa

The Corporate Council of Africa (CCA) have interviewed Ken Banks for the Fall edition of their Africa Journal. This edition looks at ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in Africa, and profiles how individuals are harnessing their own ingenuity within ICT for development and empowerment. The Africa Journal is distributed to U.S. companies, U.S. government agencies, African and U.S. Embassies and government officials, Africa-focused NGOs, corporate and development foundations, state agencies and national and international media representatives. A PDF of the interview is available here, courtesy of CCA

November 2007: New FrontlineSMS Supporters Group launched on Facebook

     Following on from the increasingly popular Social
     Mobile Group, kiwanja.net has created a new
     Facebook group to recruit supporters to the
     FrontlineSMS cause. The FrontlineSMS Supporters
     Group aims to engage members of the Facebook
     community in its use for positive social and
     environmental change. In the near future, members
     will be able to directly connect with, and support,
     NGOs around the world using the software

November 2007: kiwanja to participate in two online discussions

kiwanja.net has been invited to participate in two separate online discussions for New Tactics in Human Rights and eLearning in Developing Countries. These events aim to examine recent advances in information and communication technology, and how these ICTs can be used to benefit the work of human rights and educational organisations working in developing countries. Ken Banks has been invited to talk to both groups about the potential of mobiles in their work, and will engage in online discussions and answer questions from the New Tactics and eLearning communities. Ken's participation forms part of the wider work of kiwanja.net, which seeks to take the mystery out of mobile technology and help grassroots organisations firstly understand, and then use, mobiles in their work

October 2007: Ken Banks interviewed by Colin Rule for Cyberweek 2007

Ken Banks has been interviewed by Colin Rule, Head of Online Dispute Resolution at eBay and PayPal, for Cyberweek 2007. Cyberweek is a week long virtual gathering of people from all over the world who are interested in utilizing information and communication technology in the vast and varied conflict resolution and avoidance fields. The event runs from 15th to 19th October. A podcast of the interview is available on the Cyberweek Podcast event website, with further commentary available on a range of other related websites including ICT4Peace

October 2007: Stockholm Challenge appoints kiwanja a "Challenge Champion"

Organisers of the Stockholm Challenge have appointed Challenge Champion status to kiwanja.net for its work with nGOmobile. The goal of the Challenge is to help counteract social and economic disadvantage, wherever
it occurs, by promoting the use of ICT for development.
It is mostly targeted towards developing regions and community or social sectors such as gender equality and minorities with the greatest needs. The organisers highlighted kiwanja's wider work with grassroots NGOs, in addition to the synergy between nGOmobile and its own competition. The Challenge is run by The Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and supported by Sida and Ericsson. Further details are available on the Challenge Champions page

October 2007: kiwanja.net to make keynote at ShareIdeas first online Webinar

(The video keynote is now available directly from the kiwanja.net website here)

Ken Banks, Founder of kiwanja.net, has been invited to make the keynote address for ShareIdeas.org's first ever online Webinar due to be held on 11th October, 2007. The discussion will be based on the use of mobile technology for positive social and environmental change in the developing world. These Webinars are online events of the ShareIdeas.org community, designed to bring together people interested in the use of mobile communications for social benefit. Webinars invite community members to present their best practices and to join an online chat sessions for questions and answers. The online question and answer session for this first event is set for 12th October, the day after the keynote. To register visit the ShareIdeas Webinar page. Thanks to Bill Thompson for his help in recording the presentation

October 2007: Work begins on the next-generation FrontlineSMS

October sees the start of the new MacArthur Foundation-funded FrontlineSMS project. This is the first major work on the software since it was first released in Beta back in 2005. Building on field trials carried out by dozens of grassroots NGOs around the world, the new version will incorporate a range of new features and enhancements. The funding will also allow for the creation of a new FrontlineSMS Portal, designed to connect users and help the non-profit community make use of SMS in their work. Watch this space - and the FrontlineSMS website - for the latest news and developments

September 2007: nGOmobile featured on the BBC's "Digital Planet"

kiwanja's latest initiative - nGOmobile - was featured this week on the BBC World Service "Digital Planet" series, which reports on technology stories from around the world. Nokia's Head of Social Investment for Africa and the Middle East, Micheline Ntiru - who is on the competition judging panel - and Ken Banks, founder of kiwanja.net, were invited to discuss the project. A Podcast of the interview is available here (8Mb, MP3)

September 2007: kiwanja.net launches new NGO mobile competition

This Monday, 17th September, sees the launch of a new kiwanja.net initiative. nGOmobile is a mobile-based competition designed to encourage grassroots non-profit organisations to think more about how the technology could be applied in their work. The competition is supported by a number of partners, including Hewlett Packard and Nokia, who have both donated laptop computers and mobile phones as prizes. The competition will be featured on the BBC World Service in the next few days (details to follow). Click here for the official Press Release

September 2007: kiwanja.net on BBC News Online

Ken Banks, founder of kiwanja.net, has been interviewed alongside Jeffrey Sachs by BBC News Online as part of their feature on the implementation of mobile telecommunications in the UN's Millennium Villages programme. It is hoped that the introduction of the technology will lead to improvements in healthcare and education, as well as provide access to market information and financial services. The BBC article can be read here

September 2007: FrontlineSMS showcased on new m-Government portal

m-GovWorld is a new initiative designed to create an observatory for mobile government developments, and to encourage the development of a community of stakeholders with the aim of enabling the acceleration and adoption of mobile technologies by government agencies. FrontlineSMS - which is receiving considerable attention in this growing field - was recently showcased on the site. Click here to visit the article, published in the "In Practice" section
 

August 2007: kiwanja.net working with Grameen      in Uganda      Over the next few weeks, kiwanja.net will be working      closely with the Grameen Technology Center on the      first implementation of its Application Laboratory (AppLab). Building on the network      of over 7,000 Village Phone Operators in Uganda, Ken Banks will help the Grameen      Technology Center to identify and begin to develop locally relevant data applications      and mobile services. Instead of focusing solely on passing on existing technologies to      poor communities, the AppLab is unique in that it focuses on how information and      communications technology can be developed to serve the needs and demands of      poor people. Further details on the project are available via the Grameen Foundation      website

July 2007: Ken Banks on "Interviews with Innovators"

Ken Banks was recently interviewed by Jon Udell - author, information architect, software developer and new media innovator - for his "Interviews with Innovators" series. In his day job with Microsoft, and through his IT Conversations website, Jon explores a wide range of issues at the intersection of technology and society. Here, Ken talks about kiwanja's work with mobile in developing countries, the thinking behind FrontlineSMS, and how the system is being adopted by grassroots NGOs in the developing world. You can listen - and get background information on the interview - via the Innovators website, or by visiting the Links/Downloads page (total running time: 28 minutes)