NEWS: Video of kiwanja’s Pop!Tech 2008 presentation now available online

A video of Ken Banks’ presentation at this year’s Pop!Tech gathering in Camden, Maine is now available online. Ken, who was selected as a Pop!Tech 2008 Social Innovation Fellow, talks about Dr. Who, Daleks, appropriate technology, mobile phones and FrontlineSMS in a five minute talk given to 700 delegates and attendees

The video is available via the kiwanja.net site (with some additional background information) or directly from the Pop!Tech site. Videos of the other Fellow’s presentations are available on the Fellows page

NEWS: kiwanja to speak at National Endowment for Democracy

Ken Banks has been invited to speak in Washington DC at an event organised by The Centre for International Media Assistance at the National Endowment for Democracy. The half-day workshop – “The Role of Cell Phones in Carrying News and Information” – seeks to answer a range of questions including how cell phones are being used as a medium of communication for news and information, who is using them to receive information, how journalists and NGOs are integrating them into their work, and which approaches have been unsuccessful and why. The ultimate goal of the workshop is to formulate recommendations for funders, policymakers and implementers on strategies for using mobile technology in conveying news and information

NEWS: kiwanja.net lined up to appear at Rhode Island conference

Ken Banks has been invited as one of only twenty speakers to present at a conference at Brown University in Rhode Island this month. The conference, A Better World By Design, “asks the question today’s designers, engineers, and economists should be asking. How can we use technology to improve the world? Hear answers from world-class professionals and academics in this milestone conference that will change the way you think about global crises and push the limits of user-centric, affordable design”

Erik Hersman, a friend and supporter of kiwanja’s work and the man behind the highly regarded White African and AfriGadget websites, is also lined up to speak, as is Paul Polak, author of “Out of Poverty” and founder of International Development Enterprises (IDE)

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 – “ICT in the Developing World” – will be moderated by Gary Bolles from Xigi Media, and will discuss innovative approaches and key challenges in developing and rolling out ICT solutions – including mobile applications – in developing countries