There is no doubt that Kenya is all about being mobile. Between money transfer system MPesa and the interactive mapping tech company Ushahidi, among others, it seems that every social entrepreneur in the country is honing in on the vast potential that the portable web holds for development and entrepreneurship.
Here’s another reason to love Ushahidi, the crisis-mapping organization. They helped set up iLab Liberia, an interactive workspace in Monrovia, to bring local tech junkies and Web developers together to collaborate on ways to share information using open-source tools. There are workshops on everything from starting your own blog to developing Android apps. And the best part is, iLab provides high-speed Internet — a real luxury in Liberia.
For many Liberians, information is power, but unfortunately, it is concentrated in the hands of a few. iLab’s goal is to disperse information through innovative tech platforms, helping to transfer that power to the people and beyond. And as Internet access increases in Africa, these information-sharing programs that iLab is helping to develop and implement will have an enormous role to play in keeping African citizens informed about the issues that affect them most.
Check out their new video above for an inside look at iLab Liberia. Then, take a look at their website or send them a tweet at @iLabLiberia.
Martin Cooper, the inventor of the first cell phone, had high hopes of people using their cellular devices anywhere in the world. But, what Mr. Cooper could never have anticipated is that new and advanced technology is allowing for mobile devices to do way more.
If you’ve been keeping up with our blog series, “Digital Africa,” you are probably aware of ways that technology has helped mobilize development. What might shock you is just how far a mobile phone can go in saving lives.
Prosper Biche is a yam farmer from Eastern Ghana. Until recently, he relied on an antiquated system to sell and transport his goods to the market. This archaic system meant that Prosper would sell his wares to individual buyers, who travel across the countryside on bicycles. These buyers would then provide the goods to processors in towns and cities, who were in charge of dispensing them to distributors, retailers and exporters.
This system was incredibly corrupt, as the original buyers understood that farmers like Biche were totally uninformed and unaware of the amount that processors should pay for their commodities. Buyers would take advantage of these farmers and purchase their produce for rock bottom prices. Luckily for farmers like Biche, a company called Esoko has an innovative technology that can change this system.
Please welcome Meghan O’Hearn to the ONE Blog. She is the global policy’s summer intern and we look forward to reading more posts from her.
Sure, Angry Birds may be the hippest app on your iPhone screen, but who knew that mobile and wireless technologies are revolutionizing health care quality and delivery around the world?
According to a new report from the UN Foundation and mHealth Alliance, there are now more than five billion wireless subscribers in the world. More than 70 percent of them reside in low- and middle- income countries. From using mobile phones to coordinating emergency health relief efforts to reminding patients to take their medicine, mHealth offers some serious potential for creative health care improvements in all corners of the world.
This post is part of “Digital Africa”, a mini blog series on the programs and products using technology and innovation help fight poverty.
A man food shopping at his local market walks up to the counter to pay. But instead of taking out his wallet, he whips out his phone, and within seconds his groceries are paid for — no physical cash required.
So, is this a scenario from the distant future? The answer may surprise you. “Mobile wallets” are currently leading the way in innovative mobile phone technology in Kenya.
Since 2007, M-Pesa, a joint venture between Vodafone and Kenya’s own Safaricom, allows mobile money transfer for those without a bank account to transfer funds as seamlessly as sending a text message to a friend. More than half of Kenya’s adult population have been using M-Pesa to send money to far-flung relatives, pay for their shopping and utility bills and even for a night out, complete with a cab ride home.
It’s astounding to think that mobile technology has changed the world we live in. Africa, a place where some countries have more cell phones than toilets, farmers can receive real-time market updates on their crops. That’s why I was excited to attend the launch of a new partnership last week that will harness the power of mobile technology to empower expecting and new mothers to make healthy decisions and improve the health of millions of women and children.
A mom and her baby at the Okyereko Rice Cooperative in Ghana
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
