Originally posted on the GBI Portal – Page 16

Senegalese web experts weigh-in on 2012 presidential election

Photo credit: WorldNomads.com

Seven Senegalese experts recently weighed in on how social media is being used to promote and discuss the upcoming 2012 elections.

The whitepaper, “PRÉSIDENTIELLE 2.0: Facebook, Twitter et autres réseaux sociaux pour les élections 2012″ headed by Aboubacar Sadikh Ndiaye, addresses the use of the Internet for stakeholders in the 2012 Senegalese presidential elections. More specifically, networks and social media, Web 2.0 and the 2012 elections, social networks for candidates, social networks for Internet activists, the Community management policy, and opinions from the experts.

The first section of the paper discusses how social networks are a subset of social media. The author then discusses Barack Obama’s successful 2008 social media campaign and what it means to be an online community manager. The good stuff starts at page 59 when he interviews seven Senegalese Web experts on their views of what the Internet means to Senegal, how politicians can use the Internet, and their vision of the web for the upcoming presidential election. This last question is perhaps the most intriguing.

The general consensus is that the Internet is a powerful tool and will be useful in disseminating information about Senegal’s election. However, relatively few Senegalese access the Internet, and information can be unreliable. Still, many experts feel that the Internet is creating a new type of “e-citizen” in Senegal – one who is empowered to create constructive dialogue that will move Senegal forward as a society.

Below are summaries of the experts’ responses, translated from French.

Hamadou Tidiane Sy, veteran journalist

the web will be present but its impact will be marginal
illiteracy prevents many from using social networks
the Internet is not yet sufficiently democratized to become a tool of mass communication

Mamadou Ndiaye, professor at ITSEF

the web will be a major player in this campaign
everything will depend on the ability of candidates or their advisers to use this technological support
it will be useful to reach voters in the Diaspora
the internet is a tool of the elite
according to official figures, the number of internet users (About 1 million) and the rate of Internet penetration (7.3%) are still low

Cheikh Fall, project manager and web developer

the Web is already at the heart of this presidential in February 2012
today with the Sunu2012.sn platform, each Senegalese has the opportunity to know the different protagonists who are vying to challenge for the votes of the electors

Annick Diop, group coordinator

the Web is the ultimate space to acquire information
the contents of the Web are not always reliable
the Web is the propaganda tool of the political parties and it allows everyone to be aware of everything that happens out there, and in real-time

Mountaga Cisse, IT professional & co-founder ITMag.sn

the web allows the initial time to provide instantaneous information on the process, then give access national and international Internet users a detailed description of campaign proposals
the web is also a tool for dialogue between candidates and voters
the web allows for better supervision of conduct of the vote by centralized feedback and after the elections, promotes wider dissemination of results

Basile Niane, journalist

Web 2.0 will be the heart of this presidential 2012
the elections have contributed to a new type of online citizen, or E-citizen.

Mohamded Ben Pape Diouf Alcaly, political consultant

the Internet tools, when used properly, can help empower groups of individuals previously deprived of an ability to act politically

The entire 156-page white paper is available as a free download from the following link: http://www.itmag.sn/docs/livreblanc-presidentielle-20

February 14, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Environment, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Data Basin: A Mapping Tool for All

Data Basin, an online system, is quickly growing in popularity among practicing educators and community groups that wish to tell compelling stories with graphics. Data Basin connects users with spatial datasets, tools, and expertise through a user-friendly platform where “individuals and organizations can explore and download a vast library of datasets, upload their own data, create and publish analysis, utilize working groups, and produce customized maps that can be easily shared.”

In a presentation on its potential, Jame Strittholt, Data Basin’s founder and Conservation Biology Institute‘s Executive Director called it Google Earth on steroids meets Facebook, allowing groups to communicate with each other by integrating conservation data, mapping, and people. The site contains groups for specific topics and issues and centers for targeted geographies. The core functions of Data Basin are free and a fee-based consulting service is available for those who wish to take full advantage of its features or store significant amounts of data. Currently a great variety of biological, physical, and socioeconomic data is available. Maps can be kept private, within groups, or open to the public.

Data Basin was created out of the need for a central access point for environmental conservation related datasets that people can explore. The tools are easy to understand and use, making it an excellent resource for nonprofessionals or those unfamiliar with ArcGIS. Data Basin was implemented by the Conservation Biology Institute in partnership with ESRI.

February 14, 2012/by actualize

Health, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Made in Cameroon: Touch Screen for mHealth

Arthur Zang - Photo Credit: http://www.rnw.nl/africa

A 24 year-old Cameroonian has invented a touch screen medical tablet that enables heart examinations such as the electrocardiogram (ECG) to be performed at remote, rural locations while the results of the test are transferred remotely to specialists for interpretation.

The touch screen tablet – Cardiopad was invented by Arthur Zang, a young computer engineer born and trained in Cameroon at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Polytechnique (ENSP) in Yaounde.

According to Zang, the Cardiopad is “the first fully touch screen medical tablet made in Cameroon and in Africa.” He believes it is an invention that could save numerous human lives, and says the reliability of the pad device is as high as 97.5%. Zang says he invented the device in order to facilitate the treatment of patients with heart disease across Cameroon and the rest of Africa. So far, several medical tests have been carried out with the Cardiopad which have been validated by the Cameroonian scientific community.

“The tablet is used as a classical electrocardiograph device: electrodes are placed on the patient and connected to a module that, in turn, connects to the tablet. When a medical examination is performed on a patient in a remote village, for example, the results are transmitted from the nurse’s tablet to that of the doctor who then interprets them, says Radio Netherlands.”

While doing his academic internship at the General Hospital of Yaounde, in 2010, Arthur Zang became aware of the difficulties faced by Cameroonians in accessing care related to the heart. The Central African country has an approximately 40 cardiologists for about 20 million population with almost all these cardiologists located in the two large cities of Yaounde and Douala.

Access to cardiologist by patients especially those living in remote cities is therefore a huge challenge. This severe deficit of medical personnel means that patients with heart ailments usually have to travel long distances to undergo heart examinations and consult with doctors. Even at that, it is still not easy. On some occasions, patients must make appointments months in advance, and some even die in the process of waiting for their appointment.

Photo Credit: Cardiopad

This is how the technology works. Both the cardiologist (in the city) and the nurse (in the remote community) need to have the Cardiopad. A patient in the remote community is connected to electrodes placed on his heart. These electrodes are connected to a module called Cardiopad Acquisition Mobile (CAM) via a Bluetooth interface, which transmits the heart signal to the Cardiopad after the signal has been digitized. The nurse can then read the heart beats, heart rate, and the intervals between each beat displayed on the Cardiopad, etc. All these data are then stored in a file and sent to the cardiologist’s Cardiopad via a mobile telecommunication network.

The Cardiopad is already generating a lot of interest in African tech and medical circles. Zang believes his invention will cut down the cost of heart examinations and he is currently looking for venture capital to commercially produce the device. Visit here for detailed information on the Cardiopad and its inventor.

February 14, 2012/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Zimbabwe’s Telecel set to invest US$70 million

Zimbabwe’s Telecel has announced a US$70 million investment in network expansion. John Swain, Telecel Zimbabwe Managing Director, also said its recent rebranding aligned them with Telecel affiliates such as Orascom Telecom Holdings.

Telecel Managing Director John Swain (image: TechZim)

“We are planning, with the assistance of our strategic partners, to invest more than US$70 million in the geographic expansion of our network and improving our core network systems. We are also investing in human capital and in management and technical training to ensure efficiency and improved service delivery,” Swain said.

“We have just introduced an emergency credit service, in response to requests from our customers. This allows active customers, who have been active on our network for at least three months, to access emergency credit,” he added.

Telecel Zimbabwe recently became the first mobile operator in Zimbabwe to offer its subscribers a credit facility.

Charlie Fripp – Online editor

February 14, 2012/by actualize

Connectivity, Legal & Regulatory, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

10% penalty for poor telecoms service

Uganda’s Communications Commission is investigating possible penalties to telecommunications providers delivering poor service quality. New proposed companies could face a 10% of their gross income.

: Uganda might penalise telecommunications providers who deliver poor service quality (image: instablogs)

“We are in consultations with all telecoms to come up with a detailed report indicating how much to be fined for which offense. The law allows us fines of up to 10 per cent in comparison to gross income,” Fred Ottunu, the UCC communications and consumer affairs manager told Uganda’s Daily Monitor recently.

The public outcry about poor service quality sparked discussions the UCC added.

Various telecommunications companies said they are yet to come to an agreement, but do not expect any penalties.

“There is nothing conclusive yet and I hope the commission will first consult widely before it introduces penalties,” said Shailendra Naidu, the Warid chief commercial officer.

UTL’s Jamal Sultan added that “Even as UCC’s recent Quality of Service report placed Utl in the lead in terms of service, we have not tired of laying strategies for improving our services.”

February 10, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Pollution Prevention

Air Quality at Your Fingertips

Amobilefuture released a free app called Pollution that features realtime air quality on an interactive geolocative regularly updated map for more than 1,380 cities worldwide. The app takes advantage of 100,000 base stations worldwide, allowing anyone to track measured exposures to electromagnetic, air and water pollution. It also monitors pollution and emissions to soil. It provides detailed lists of nearby pollutant facilities, with discharge details and volumes. The app’s purpose to to inform about the potential presence of pollutant sources in a comprehensive way.

February 10, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

How Design and Collaboration Can Improve mHealth

We have all seen or heard of an organization developing and implementing an innovative solution and then one or two months later the product is in the corner of the health clinic. It has not been used since the organization finished its initial training. While the outsiders who came in saw it as innovative, it clearly did not resonant as a solution to the users. But why? It seemed so obvious to the developers that this product would solve a glaring problem. Why wouldn’t these health workers want to use this application?

Photo Credit: Tecca

But not to worry. This is something that all organizations and companies deal with. Do you remember Windows Vista, Nokia’s N-Gage, and HP’s TouchPad? Well, each company would hope that you do not. There is an endless list of failed technology products and services. With the movement of leveraging high tech products in international development, especially in global health, failure has become a part of the dialogue in the sector. So much so that MobileActive began hosting FailFaire, where organizations utilizing technology in their projects can come and speak about their “failures.” The idea is to learn from mistakes that others have made. In the most recent FailFaire in New York, many of the stories were focused around design and collaboration issues. Not simply physical design issues (like there were too many buttons on the device), but multiple issues that the designers and implementers did not take into account.

While design has been on the forefront minds in the corporate world for many years (see iPhone and IDEO), design in the social sector is a relatively new idea. In order to decrease the number of failures, organizations have created partnerships with design firms. They are bringing user-centered design to the social sector. Below are some examples:

Reboot has worked with United Bank Limited (UBL) in Pakistan and the Gates Foundation to expand branchless banking via mobile phones.

IDEO.org is assisting Evotech in the further development of their low-cost endoscopy device. It is used during obstetric fistula procedures in developing countries.

Frog Design teamed with the Aricent Group, PopTech, iTeach, the Praekelt Foundation, and Nokia Siemens to design programs to support HIV/AIDS patients as well as expand awareness and knowledge about the disease.

Design Strategy

By focusing on the human-centered design, the product/service takes into account the culture and needs of the targeted consumer. As the pioneer in human-centered design, IDEO wrote a paper in 2010 for the Stanford Social Innovation Review entitled “Design Thinking for Social Innovation.” In the paper, they discuss some of the issues with design in social projects. Along with looking into the culture and needs of the end-users, they mentioned that the project failed because the intervention had not been properly prototyped with the users and receive direct feedback from them. Human-centered design also sees a need to have the intervention fit into the infrastructure of the communities. The overall idea is to have the product/service that solves a problem that the user or community has. In order for this to occur, IDEO sees the solutions coming from focusing on those on the ground instead of the design process occur from outside the targeted community. Along with the design, they also believe that there must be a well thought out distribution and implementation strategy because that can kill a project too. Their most important strategy to the human-centered design process is observing people in their experiences and behaviors. This will tell the designers more than any survey because it can be difficult for people to explain what they need, especially if they do not know what that really is.

Collaboration

In order for the human-centered design to occur, there is a need for greater collaboration in mHealth. mHealth is a complex web of networks as it includes individuals from all areas affected in the sector – mobile operators, ministries of health, telecommunications regulators, community health workers, doctors, technology developers, global health NGOs, etc. As mentioned before, by understanding the problem and how a solution would be used in the field, the technology is more likely to be adopted. The creation process needs to understand all the aspects involved in the usage of the product/service. By creating a collaborating environment, no matter who the end user is (a mother, family, community health workers), the team has the experience and knowledge to look deeply into all the internal and external issues that are causing the problem. Once those are understood, then the group can start to see how the intervention can be both designed and implemented in the field with the end-user in mind. With this focus, there will be a clear incentive for the end-user to utilize the technology. Without understanding how a technology will improve their lives, there will be a low adoption rate. And then the technology becomes useless and another wasted investment.

The process of creating greater collaboration and utilizing a design strategy is easier said than done. Clearly money is an issue when including a design firm in the development of a mHealth product. It would be beneficial to include extra funds in budgets for the design process. The funds should be used to design the look, functionality, and business plan of the mHealth intervention as well as allow for greater collaboration. The end goal of developing a design strategy and increasing collaboration is to create products/services that will solve a problem but also that will be used by the indented users.

February 10, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

“What’s missing is….” ICTs in the Value Chain!

Photo Credit: Ben Addom

“Meeting the Challenges of Value Chain Development: A Learning Event,” was the subject for discussion at the just ended 2-day conference organized by USAID at the Night Conference Center, Newseum, Washington DC.

The learning event was hosted by the USAID Microenterprise Development office with funding from the Accelerated Microenterprise Advancement Project (AMAP), implemented by ACDI/VOCA and its partners. It was attended by a wide range of actors including donors, private consultants, practitioners, researchers and academics, and administrators.

Activities during the 2-day event included a keynote address, concurrent electives (sessions) covering topics like understanding gender and culture in market systems; engaging the private sector; creating an enabling environment; integrating food security and nutrition; financing value chains; reaching the very poor; facilitating sustainable change; learning and evaluating within dynamic systems; and a final panel session on challenges of value chain development.

My reflections – “What is missing is….”

I would like to state that the event was really an excellent learning event for me due to my interest in the use of the agricultural value chain to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of programs and activities that aimed at reaching the poor and vulnerable.

An observation that I made from the sessions that I attended is that, while contributing during the question and answer (Q&A) sessions, participants mostly used the phrase “what I think is missing from the presentations is that….” to point out some loopholes in the sessions. These missing links observed by the participants are in one way or the other related to the individual interests and experiences of these contributors with respect to the subject under discussion. As an agricultural information specialist, I also think that what was prominently missing during the entire 2-day event is the absence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in facilitating communication between and among the value chain actors in the system. This, I think, is one of the challenges to the development of the agricultural value chain.

Why the need for communication tools within the value chain?

In her keynote address to the conference participants, Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, the Deputy Coordinator for Development for the Feed the Future, the U.S. global hunger and food security initiative, asked the conference participants to explore how to create synergies between programs and activities being designed and implemented.

Synergies will result when stakeholders within the value chain work together so that their combined actions lead to outcomes greater than the sum of their individual effects or capabilities. In order for this to happen, an effective communication system is needed to facilitate exchange of resources between and among the individuals and organizations within the value chain. Not integrating ICTs into the communication process in this information age can be disastrous. Unfortunately, this was clearly missing at the sessions, something I believe is the reflection of what is on the ground.

Another important component of the value chain that calls for incorporation of ICTs, is its systemic nature. Several contributions during the event have alluded to the complex nature of the agricultural value chain, and the increasing dependence of the key stages of the chain – R&D, production, market, and M&E, on each other as a prerequisite for a reasonable return on investment.

From my years of experience working with the agricultural value chain and assessments and analysis carried out on ICT solutions for collaboration and coordination, I believe specific ICTs solutions are necessary for each of the stages within the value chain. The World Bank’s eSourcebook that was launched recently has briefly touched on some specific examples of applications of ICTs in agriculture across the world. These solutions when strategically deployed can have significant impact on internal communication within the institutions involved in the value chain as well as external communication with other partners.

An assumption and “aha” moment!

I have observed that either the organizers of the event, the presenters or both who might have had extensive experience with the agricultural value chain system, assumed that all participants knew what the value chain is. But my conversation with few people during the networking time and also observation during some of the discussions revealed that it was not the case. A number of participants at the event actually had little experience on the agricultural value chain and were there to learn – a learning event.

On the other hand, one revelation that I got from the session “integrating food security and nutrition” is that while value chain approaches aim at increasing income by targeting the productive population, food security approaches target the vulnerable population and aim at improving their nutrition and food security situation.

Participants at the closing panel session (Photo Credit: Ben Addom)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) works with a variety of implementing partners to accomplish its strategic objectives in microenterprise development. The vision of the Agency for microenterprise development involves addressing the needs of poor people within the context of globalization and dynamic domestic and global markets to help them harness the resources they need to participate meaningfully in markets (often through market linkages to larger firms). The microLINKS website hosts a number of innovative, interactive learning tools and thousands of resources to serve a global community of practitioners by helping to link knowledge with practice. Visit the Microlinks site for detailed information on this event – slides, recording and other resources as well as future events.

February 10, 2012/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Partnership deal bolsters Nigerian broadband

Nigerian carrier services provider Phase3 Telecom and Dancom Technologies have announced their partnership deal boosting broadband services in the country.

Phase3 Telecom and Dancom Technologies’ partnership will boost broadband in Nigeria (image: stock.xchng)

Phase3 Telecom and Dancom Technologies' partnership will boost broadband in Nigeria (image: stock.xchng)

They said in a joint press statement they would upgrade their respective networks in order to “provide robust transmission services to deliver reliable broadband services to individual end-users and businesses.”

Stanley Jegede, Phase3 Telecom chief executive officer, said both firms “have made extensive investment to deliver transmission services that will enhance and ensure that high-quality broadband services are available to all users and businesses in line with global realities of today.”

Telecom experts are excited about the IT and telecom infrastructure boost in Nigeria. They believe the partnership will lead to others pushing for similar endeavours.

“We realise that there is an increasing requirement for broadband services in Nigeria in line with global development and we at Phase3 Telecom are ready to facilitate the effective delivery of (the) same to businesses and all other users using our reliable aerial fiber optic network. This informs our partnership with Dancom Technologies which has resulted in the development of one of the most robust and extensive fiber optic network coverage in the country. We are ready to lead the broadband revolution and ensure that we help Nigerians enjoy the benefits and comfort of broadband connection,” Jegede said.

Boye Olusanya, Dancom Technologies chief executive officer, stated the companies installed some of the most advanced technologies in their networks to meet customers’ expectations.

“Our aim has always been to provide quality service to our customers. In driving this, we have invested significantly in the latest technologies that can deliver required services to our customers. This investment, coupled with our use of aerial fibre as well as our partnership with Phase3, allows us to meet and surpass the quality threshold we set for ourselves,” he said.

David Eto

February 9, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Education, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Open Education 101: Changing What You Know and How You Know It

If new developments in information communications technologies (ICT) are the bridge for the digital divide, what is the content — and, more importantly, the quality of it — that is going to be delivered?

This question, at the heart of developing any ICT4Education program, seemed more relevant and crucial yesterday while listening to US Under Secretary of Education, Martha Kanter, give her keynote speech at the Open Source Higher Education event at the Center for American Progress here in Washington, DC.

Kanter clearly understands the potential value and opportunities for open educational resources (OER) as well as the government’s role in facilitating and monitoring their use. A long standing advocate for open education and government policies to make it sustainable, she and a panel of experts from several universities and OER interest groups discussed how these resources can impact the affordability and access to education in the US.

Giving a brief description of the current OER field, External Relations Director at MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW), Steve Carson, used The Hewlett Foundation’s definition of OER as “high-quality, openly licensed, online educational materials that offer an extraordinary opportunity for people everywhere to share, use, and reuse knowledge.” MIT’s OCW Consortium, a community of over 250 universities that offers roughly 17,000 courses in 20 languages, is just one of several examples of how institutions and education professionals are using this technology to build networks and pool information and resources that can be continually reviewed and revised, essential to setting high standards for the quality of the materials.

But how are OER programs and policies affecting the developing world? Sally Johnstone, Vice President for Academic Advancement at Western Governors University, spoke about a few exciting new initiatives such as the UNESCO/Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Guidelines on Open Educational Resources (OER) in Higher Education, a new framework for using OER in appropriate ways. UNESCO has also created an OER Wiki allowing the global OER community to share and collaborate on developing new resources, as well as an innovative OER Platform for sharing resources between teachers, learners, and education professionals.

In addition, Johnstone mentioned OER Africa, an revolutionary initiative and first of it’s kind in the region which was established by the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE). Focusing on agriculture, health education, foundation courses, and teacher education, the program supports and develops digital materials to increase equitable and meaningful access to knowledge, skills and learning across the African continent.

It was clear by the end of the panelist’s discussion that open education is changing the way that classes and textbooks are being developed and accessed in America. However, some issues still need to be addressed such as creating standard quality evaluation techniques and developing policies for a sustainable market. The US government has already taken a step in this direction when the Department of Labor and the Department of Education created an education fund in January 2011 that would grant $2 billion to create OER materials for career training programs in community colleges.

Perhaps with more government initiatives such as this, as well as guidelines that encompass both OER and ICT technologies, open education will create more networks and cross more borders to make education accessible on a global scale. When discussing the government’s role in open education, Under Secretary Kanter quoted president Obama from a speech he gave at Macomb Community College in Michigan in 2009. “Even as we repair brick and mortar buildings, we have an opportunity to build a new virtual infrastructure to complement the education and training community colleges can offer. We’ll support the creation of a new online – and open-source – clearinghouse of courses so that community colleges across the country can offer more classes without building more classrooms.”

February 9, 2012/by actualize

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