CS210 is a project-based Computer Science Innovation & Development course at Stanford University where students work with faculty and staff to build on the spirit of innovation and excellence at Stanford and the larger Silicon Valley area. As part of the course this year, Karina Qian and David Gobaud are working with the Computer Science … Continue reading Students to debut FrontlineSMS on Android?
Month: October 2008
#Pop!Tech08
You can always tell you’ve been to something quite special when the bar rises not only off the scale but out of site. “Amazing. Inspiring. Community. Friends. Special. Overwhelming. Over-fed. Unstoppable”. Just some of the words used by delegates in the closing session on Saturday to describe their Pop!Tech08 experience. Mine would have been “Spiritual”. … Continue reading #Pop!Tech08
SMS-powered rural healthcare in-a-box
A few months ago Josh Nesbit, a Senior in the Human Biology Program at Stanford University, travelled to east Africa where he spent the best part of his summer introducing FrontlineSMS into a rural hospital in Malawi. St. Gabriel’s Hospital, where Josh worked, is located in Namitete. It serves 250,000 rural Malawians spread throughout a … Continue reading SMS-powered rural healthcare in-a-box
Social mobile: Doing what it says on the tin
About a year ago I was asked to give an interview to the Africa Journal. They were looking at ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in Africa and I agreed, despite being mildly uncomfortable being labelled an ICT innovator or an entrepreneur (and an African one, at that). At the end of the interview, however, they captured … Continue reading Social mobile: Doing what it says on the tin
NEWS: Latest PC World article online
“ICTs are regularly touted as holding great potential to enhance the work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working for positive social and environmental change around the world. With many NGOs working in difficult and challenging conditions, any technology that enables improved communication is sure to be welcomed. However, while the development community has traditionally been quick … Continue reading NEWS: Latest PC World article online
Cambodian farmers turn to their phones
At the University of Canberra, Senior Research Fellow Dr Robert Fitzgerald has been evaluating FrontlineSMS as a replacement for a commercial application previously implemented in their Cambodia Crop Production and Marketing Project (CCPMP). Since 2006, Robert and his team have been developing an SMS-based market information service for maize and soybean farmers and traders in … Continue reading Cambodian farmers turn to their phones
NEWS: kiwanja.net joins the ICT4D Collective
Professor Tim Unwin from the ICT4D Collective has appointed kiwanja’s Ken Banks its latest member. The Collective, based at Royal Holloway at the University of London, is a group of people committed to undertaking the highest possible quality of research in the field of ICT4D, and making the results of this available freely to the … Continue reading NEWS: kiwanja.net joins the ICT4D Collective
Empowerment: It’s the users, stupid!
Empowerment (em-pou-er-ment) The process of transferring decision-making power from influential sectors to poor communities and individuals who have traditionally been excluded It’s been an interesting last few days. I’ve just finished giving talks at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and the ICT4D Group at Royal Holloway. Both may be ‘London-based’ universities, but … Continue reading Empowerment: It’s the users, stupid!
NEWS: SoCap08 panel discussion on ICTs in developing countries
kiwanja.net will be taking part in a panel discussion at Social Capital Markets 2008 in San Francisco on 14th October. SoCap08 brings together hundreds of leading social entrepreneurs and investors from around the world. Panel members include David Edelstein (Grameen Technology Centre), Ken Banks (kiwanja.net), Marnie Webb (Techsoup) and Dwight Wilson (One Roof). The discussion … Continue reading NEWS: SoCap08 panel discussion on ICTs in developing countries
Mobile telephony and the entrepreneur
This article – “Mobile telephony and the entrepreneur: An African perspective” – was originally written for the autumn edition of Microfinance Insights magazine. A copy of the original article is available as a PDF here Whenever the words “Africa” and “economic development” meet – which is often – it’s usually in the context of external, … Continue reading Mobile telephony and the entrepreneur