Category: News

Back for good

Well, perhaps not for good, but for a while, anyway. Let’s see how things go.

After an incredible 15 years, kiwanja.net shut its doors in April 2018 and I took on a full-time role at Yoti, a digital identity start-up based out of London. I blogged about the career change here. Just shy of five years later, my Head of Social Purpose role was made redundant, and I joined Macmillan Cancer Support on a one year contract as Director of Future Data & Digital Self Management. That contract came to an end in March 2024, and I decided to take some time out to reflect, breathe, and think about what might be next for me.

In a sense, despite having a significant body of work behind me and, dare I say it, a fairly good reputation, it does feel like I’m starting all over from scratch. While I miss the crazy, explosive, experimental, anything-goes days of the so-called ‘mobile revolution’, today that world feels overly professionalised, overly tech-focused, rigid, and less experimental (and certainly more competitive). The bits I miss most no longer exist. Many of the early pioneers have moved on, too – just like I did. Life goes on, I suppose.

Unsure of what might be next, I decided a few weeks ago to try and take a break – something that doesn’t come naturally to me, I have to say – and let the universe decide what direction I should take. It was the universe, after all, that gave me FrontlineSMS, so it’s got pretty good form.

And, right on cue, the universe spoke.

One thing I’ve enjoyed over the years has been coaching and mentoring. I’ve done more than my fair share, but it’s always been informal, ad-hoc and on-demand. I also love brainstorming ideas, sharing thoughts and insights, and challenging ideas (in a kind, productive way), all under the umbrella of supporting the next generation of social innovators. The internal drive to focus more of my time on this just wouldn’t go away and then, out of the blue, I was approached by a friend and colleague from my mobile days. A few weeks later and I’d secured work doing precisely what it feels like I should be doing. More on that soon.

After an at-times-uncomfortable few weeks waiting for things to fall into place, they have.  On top of the new coaching contract, I’m about to start working with the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering, mentoring a team working on a tech-for-democracy project. And I’ll be helping judge the International Federation of the Red Cross’s Youth Innovation Academy, too.

I’m excited by what lies ahead. I know I’m going to enjoy it. It feels right. And I think I’m good at it. Remember to check out my Inspiration for hire website if you think there’s something amazing we could do together.

I’d love to hear from you if there is.

Losing my religion

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It is with a little sadness – but great excitement – that I write this, my last-ever kiwanja.net blog post. As from today the site will no longer receive updates as I take on a new full-time role at Yoti, a London-based startup, as its Head of Social Purpose. It needed a special opportunity to take such a leap, and that’s exactly what I got. (Update: I left my role at Yoti in December 2022).

Fifteen years ago this January I hobbled my way to Cambridge, on crutches after breaking a leg in Nigeria three months earlier, and took on a piece of work I wasn’t sure I could deliver. My concerns were unfounded, and that nine month contract ended up launching kiwanja.net and a lengthy and rewarding career in mobiles-for-development.

Bushbuckridge, South Africa (2003). An early frontier of mobile exploration. Photo: Ken Banks

A guiding principle in everything I’ve done since has been to take on work only if I feel I can add value. This approach, although ethically sound, does come with its challenges and requires a steady stream of engaging work, with a clearly defined role. There’s plenty up for grabs out there but for the most part I can’t see where I can add value – or I disagree with the aims of the work.

Last year was a particularly hectic one but this year has been quite different. While there are plenty of opportunities out there, few make best use of my skills or approach, and many I have issues with (think top-down, inappropriate technology, huge budget, innovation-for-innovations sake, tech-first and people-last, and so on). I find it very hard to motivate myself to do anything when it goes against the very approaches I’ve championed over the last fifteen years or so.

I’d rather have no work than the wrong work, but crucially I now have a young family to support. Lean spells as a consultant don’t cut it any more. Just as in 2012 when I stepped back after building FrontlineSMS from nothing, this year it feels like the universe is telling me something. And when the universe speaks, I listen.

So, as from today I’ll be closing the kiwanja.net chapter of my personal and professional life (I’ve always struggled to separate the two) and will be moving on to a new and exciting role in the corporate sector.

I’m more excited than sad. Sometimes things just run their course and we need to know when to let go. In 2003 I helped launch an amazing conservation portal across the Vodafone network, and since then have consulted with many amazing organisations, worked in many wonderful places with even more wonderful people, developed a (what I still consider) best in class offline mobile tool in FrontlineSMS, lived in a van at Stanford University, published two very well received books, raised lots of philanthropic funds and private investment, spoken at events all over the world, sailed half way around it with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and flown all the way around it with National Geographic Expeditions. And on top of all of that, along the way I’ve won more awards and recognition than I ever imagined possible. Who can look back at all of this with anything other than pride and a sense of joy?

An exciting new journey in digital identity awaits

From Monday I begin the next chapter in my journey as I take on an amazing role at Yoti as their Head of Social Purpose. Yoti have developed a range of digital identity solutions which have enormous global development and social impact potential, and I’ll be working with them to help make sure we make the very best of the opportunity. So, although I’m moving into the corporate world I’ll still be making good use of my decades of experience, and my address book, but doing it from the perspective of a for-profit company with a product rather than an NGO with a grant.

The kiwanja.net website will remain so that my children will get to find out what their father did during the first few years of their lives – and a little bit before – and as testament to a very productive fifteen years of my own life.

As for highlights during those fifteen years, I’d have to say the collection of writing that captures most of my thinking over that time, a recent talk about social change in Munich which explains why development is so personal to me, and a project which turned out to be my last big effort to capture all that’s wrong in our sector, with suggestions on how we might put some of it right. Plus, of course, my talk at National Geographic – a massive privilege and career highlight – in which I shared the making of FrontlineSMS, a project which took up eight years of my life, and which probably saved me.

Collection of writing   |   Buy on Amazon ($1.99)   |   Download free PDF (8 Mb)

Munich talk on paying attention   |   Watch on YouTube   |   Watch on kiwanja.net

A manifesto for change in tech-for-development   |   Hacking Development

Talk at National Geographic   |   Watch on National Geographic   |   Watch on kiwanja.net

So, a very big thank you to everyone who has been a part of my journey, and to all the friends I’ve made along the way. Of course, this doesn’t have to be the end. If you’re interested in the challenges and opportunities for digital identity in global development and social innovation, you’re welcome to join me – check out the Yoti website and my Contact page for details. I’d love to work with some of you again.

See you on the other side.

In celebration of an approach less travelled

I’m in San Francisco this week on a surprise trip to collect an award for a product I designed and built over a decade ago. The fact the early work of FrontlineSMS is still being recognised twelve years on speaks volumes to the approach, and the impact it had – not only in the hands of users themselves, but also in the minds of others looking to apply technology for social good. It struck a chord with an emerging narrative that said we should build appropriate tools that genuinely empowered the people closest to the problem, and that our job was, if anything, to build those tools, hand them over and then get the hell out of the way. If you look at the tweets from the many ICT4D and social innovation conferences today, this remains an approach popular within our sector.

But while tweeting and speaking are one thing, doing is another. Sure, for me this week should be about celebration, but I remain frustrated with a sector which claims to be hungry for learning, and hungry to scale ‘ what works’, yet very little of what made FrontlineSMS successful has been made use of in any meaningful way. This is not just disappointing on a professional level, but a personal one, too.

Nothing quite matches the energy and excitement of grassroots organisations building out their own ideas and solutions off the back of a platform you’ve created. The idea that you might stop what you’re doing and others will continue the work is something we should all aspire to. In the global development sector we call this ‘sustainability’. Yet, how often do we see it?

Nothing quite matches the organic growth that becomes possible when you build genuinely open, empowering platforms. I’m immensely proud of the way our users embraced it, and equally proud of the smart, young innovators such as Josh Nesbit and Ben Lyon who were drawn to our work, and whose early efforts with FrontlineSMS:Medic and FrontlineSMS:Credit lead to the creation of two incredibly exciting and innovative organisations in Medic Mobile and Kopo Kopo. Kevin Starr once told me that he was fascinated by how FrontlineSMS had become an incubator for so many other ideas and initiatives. Sadly I’m not sure what I can point to today that does anywhere near the same thing.

While we were clearly doing something right, funding remained a constant struggle, and the lessons we were learning and sharing were falling on deaf ears. Only two studies of note examined the impact and approach of FrontlineSMS – a paper by Medic Mobile, and a brilliant chapter in Bits and Atoms written by Sharath Srinivasan. For a project which had such a high profile, and one that powered grassroots interventions in over 170 countries, the lack of interest in trying to understand what truly made it succeed is a huge disappointment. After all, as a sector we’re hardly blessed with success stories of initiatives that scale. From what I can tell, the sector is just too busy chasing the next big thing at the expense of existing opportunities right under its nose.

When I look around today, I still see tools being built far away from the problem with little understanding of the users or their context (except for the odd trip some projects take so they can tick the ‘HCD’ box). Challenges and competitions are the new big thing, with entries voted up or down like a beauty competition by others with little idea of the problem or those effected by it. You don’t stop someone on the street and ask for medical advice, so why do the same with an idea to solve a medical problem in a developing country? I recently wrote about the madness of innovation challenges here.

So, as I attend the awards ceremony this coming weekend I’ll quietly thank all those unsung heroes who helped turn FrontlineSMS into the breakthrough story that it first became all those years ago. And I’ll continue to hope that we can be brave enough as a community to work through many of the problems hindering our ability to build yet more tools that genuinely put the power to change in the hands of those who need it most. Unfortunately, experience tells me to not hold out too much hope. 

Eugene L. Lawler Award for our work in mobile

A couple of weeks ago I received the surprising (and wonderful) news that I had been selected as the latest recipient of the Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science. The Award is given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) every two years to a group or individual who has made a significant contribution through the use of computing technology.

The ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges. As it does each year, the ACM honours the dedication, talent and achievements of luminaries of the international computing community. Working in diverse areas, the 2016 award recipients were selected by their peers for longstanding efforts that have had far-reaching impact. This year’s ACM award recipients made contributions in areas including computer science education, technology in the developing world, preserving and sharing computing history, and supporting women in the computing field. According to the ACM:

Ken Banks has received the 2016 ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award for developing FrontlineSMS, using mobile technology and text messaging to empower people to share information, organize aid, and reconnect communities during crises. Banks saw an opportunity to harness the world’s most-used communication platform – mobile messaging – to help people in the developing world.

The Awards will be presented at a special ceremony in San Francisco in June. You can read more about each of the Award winners on the ACM website, or via the official Press Release [PDF].