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News from Davos:Digital Convergence Continues
by alice 03 Feb '09

03 Feb '09

*Update 2009: Digital Convergence Continues* *http://www.weforum.org/en/knowledge/KN_SESS_SUMM_26735?url=/en/knowledge/KN_SESS_SUMM_26735 * *• Esko Tapani Aho • R. Marcelo Claure • Alexander V. Izosimov • Rafael Ramirez • Paul Twomey* Moderated by *• Elizabeth Daley *Thursday 29 January Internet use has exploded globally – more than 300% since 2000 – and mobile telephony has captured just over half of the world's population. There are 1.4 million Internet users and 3.6 billion people use mobile telephony. The two trends are the drivers of digital conversion, which is having profound effects on business models and transforming social networks and consumer patterns globally. This intersection – where users access the Internet from their mobile phones – maps a revolutionary digital paradigm shift proffering a multitude of opportunities. However, it also has a dark side with potential for unintended consequences. Panellists cautioned against "sleepwalking" into this new era, but remained upbeat about the potential for digital convergence to change people's lives in both the developed and the developing world. The bright side • Mobile phones are coming down in price. At the same time, netbooks – light-weight, economical energy-efficient laptops designed for wireless communication and Internet access – are becoming affordable at US$ 300. Soon, users will be given free netbooks and the world will change forever. Some panellists and participants called for free Internet access worldwide. With more than 70% of the planet covered for mobile telephony and ubiquitous coverage on the horizon, the world will be changed forever. In this context, digital convergence brings universal access and democracy of information. • These new technological tools provide opportunities to improve productivity in developing and developed countries in both the private and public sector. Mobile technologies have been the most important tool to promote growth in developing countries. Mobile Internet will be the next step. • Times of crisis present opportunities for innovation. As the global economy is being reformed, a window is being opened to use these new technological tools to expand knowledge creation capacity and to make huge leaps in the areas of science and health. For the private and public sector, such tools can help create future growth by driving down costs through increased efficiency. The challenges • Digital convergence ushers in opportunities for increased transparency and participation in government decision-making. However, in a networked world, it is important to view technologies as quickly changing social actors. Governments should run experiments to learn more about the industry. For example, how does this technology change a society where people are still productive well into their 80s and 90s? • Governance and data protection are key issues. Today, there is seamless data transmission between industries and users. Because this underlying common technology holds potential for good, but also for danger, what role for governments? Some panellists called for zero intervention, while others advocated a light regulatory framework or architecture that at once protects citizens and encourages R&D, but does not throw up obstacles to a very dynamic and entrepreneurial sector. The dark side • In the hugely popular "The Dark Knight" movie, Batman converts every mobile phone in the area to capture the villain. Is this too much power for one man? This scenario is perfectly plausible today as cooperating sensory networks can provide instantaneous feedback to users. In the movie, it was technology for good, but what about its potential for terrorism? • The offline world is characterized by natural limitations to scale, for example to money launderers. Such boundaries are erased in a networked world, which could provide opportunities for those who operate in the shadowy netherworld of cybercrime. _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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Condolences - Dr Juma S.Okech
by amugambi＠jambo.co.ke 03 Feb '09

03 Feb '09

On behalf of the Kenic Board of Directors, and on my own behalf, we mourn the demise of Dr. Juma, who was a member of the Kenic board, a friend and an inspiration to many in ICT in Kenya and beyond. May the Lord give the family strength and fortitude during this trying times. Kinoti Mugambi Kenic Chairman http://www.kenic.or.ke "dot Ke for every name in Kenya" ---------------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. --------------------------------------------- "easy access to the world"

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CONDOLENCE MESSAGE RIP DR J. OKETCH
by Lucy Odhiambo 02 Feb '09

02 Feb '09

It was with a great sense of loss when we at Kenya ICT Board heard of Dr. Juma Oketch's death. We want to let his family, friends and colleagues know that you have our greatest sympathy, and our hearts are truly saddened. Dr Oketch was more than just a wonderful person; he was always a kind and visionary leader who encouraged cohesion and focus in pursuing the E-government initiatives before us. And, we know that his passing will not only leave a void in our lives, but in the hearts of all those who knew him. Dr Oketch will always remain within our hearts, and we have included his family, friends and colleagues in our prayers. May God give you strength. Our sincere thoughts and prayers are with you. If there is anything that we can do to help you in anyway, please do not hesitate to call us at anytime. With our deepest sympathy, Kenya ICT Board Staff Lucy Gachui-Odhiambo Communications Manager Kenya ICT Board 12th Floor Telposta Towers Koinange Lane PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya Cell 0737- 839047 Tel: 254-020-2093040 www.ict.go.ke ICT-logo-02.jpg

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CONDOLENCE MESSAGE RIP DR AKETCH
by Lucy Odhiambo 02 Feb '09

02 Feb '09

It was with a great sense of loss when we at Kenya ICT Board heard of Dr. Juma Aketch's death. We want to let his family, friends and colleagues know that you have our greatest sympathy, and our hearts are truly saddened. Dr Aketch was more than just a wonderful person; he was always a kind and visionary leader who encouraged cohesion and focus in pursuing the E-government tasks before us. And, we know that his passing will not only leave a void in our lives, but in the hearts of all those who knew him. Dr Aketch will always remain within our hearts, and we have included his family, friends and colleagues in our prayers. May God give you strength. Our sincere thoughts and prayers are with you. If there is anything that we can do to help you in anyway, please do not hesitate to call us at anytime. With our deepest sympathy, Kenya ICT Board Staff ICT-logo-02.jpg

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Corrected Links!/eLearning Africa 2009 (Senegal): Reduced Fees Now Available!
by Janet Feldman 02 Feb '09

02 Feb '09

Dear Friends, My apologies for the double posting, but I realized (only after sending this the first time, of course :)) that the links were not working properly. So below they have been corrected! Thanks, Janet eLearning Africa 2009 4th International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training When: May 27-29, 2009 Where: Le Méridien Président, Dakar, Senegal Organisers: ICWE GmbH, www.icwe.net Hoffmann & Reif, www.hoffmann-reif.com Contact: Katharina Goetze, info(a)elearning-africa.com, Tel: +49 (0)30 31018180, www.elearning-africa.com Short Description: eLearning Africa is a conference organised by ICWE GmbH and Hoffmann & Reif that focuses on information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development, education and training in Africa. Serving as a pan-African platform, eLearning Africa links a network of decision makers from governments and administrations with universities, schools, governmental and private training providers, industry, and important partners in development cooperation. Conference languages are English and French. Each year, a different African country serves as the venue. The event will be accompanied by an exhibition. www.elearning-africa.com Furthermore we would be happy if you could also forward the information about the special association rate for eLearning Africa 2009 to other orgs. Please contact me to obtain your own association code: Anja Megel-Rouloff, anja.megel-rouloff(a)icwe.net. The special association rate for eLearning Africa 2009 is 220 Euro instead of the regular 270 Euro for African nationals living in Africa. The special rate for Non-African participants is 500 Euro instead of the regular 590 Euro. Please see event announcement for eLearning Africa below. In case you need it, please find a logo for eLearning Africa 2009 here: http://elearning-africa.com/press_logos.php To take advantage of the reduced fee simply go to http://elearning-africa.com/part_fee.php and fill in the online registration form. You are requested to enter the code you receive from me here, as well as the reduced rate of 220 Euro (or 500 Euro). The conference secretariat will confirm your registration by sending the reduced invoice as well as further information. Anja Megel-Rouloff ICWE GmbH Leibnizstrasse 32 10625 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49-30-310 18 18-0 Fax: +49-30-3249833 anja.megel-rouloff(a)icwe.net www.icwe.net

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Capital-Mobile: Information on the Go!
by Patrick Mburu 01 Feb '09

01 Feb '09

Yes you waited for it..and its now here... Whatever, whenever, wherever: Catch the latest in business, news, sports; And an interactive African business directory from your device! Tune In & Listen Live to Capital Radio 98.4 every weekday from 7am - 9am and win great prizes! Check it out Now! www.capitalmobile.co.ke/mobile/

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eLearning Africa 2009 (Senegal): Reduced Fees Now Available!
by Janet Feldman 01 Feb '09

01 Feb '09

eLearning Africa 2009 4th International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training When: May 27-29, 2009 Where: Le Méridien Président, Dakar, Senegal Organisers: ICWE GmbH, www.icwe.net, Hoffmann & Reif, www.hoffmann-reif.com Contact: Katharina Goetze, info(a)elearning-africa.com, Tel: +49 (0)30 31018180, www.elearning-africa.com Short Description: eLearning Africa is a conference organised by ICWE GmbH and Hoffmann & Reif that focuses on information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development, education and training in Africa. Serving as a pan-African platform, eLearning Africa links a network of decision makers from governments and administrations with universities, schools, governmental and private training providers, industry, and important partners in development cooperation. Conference languages are English and French. Each year, a different African country serves as the venue. The event will be accompanied by an exhibition. www.elearning-africa.com Furthermore we would be happy if you could also forward the information about the special association rate for eLearning Africa 2009 to other orgs. Please contact me to obtain your own association code: Anja Megel-Rouloff, anja.megel-rouloff(a)icwe.net. The special association rate for eLearning Africa 2009 is 220 Euro instead of the regular 270 Euro for African nationals living in Africa. The special rate for Non-African participants is 500 Euro instead of the regular 590 Euro. Please see event announcement for eLearning Africa below. In case you need it, please find a logo for eLearning Africa 2009 here: http://elearning-africa.com/press_logos.php To take advantage of the reduced fee simply go to http://elearning-africa.com/part_fee.php and fill in the online registration form. You are requested to enter the code you receive from me here, as well as the reduced rate of 220 Euro (or 500 Euro). The conference secretariat will confirm your registration by sending the reduced invoice as well as further information. Anja Megel-Rouloff ICWE GmbH Leibnizstrasse 32 10625 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49-30-310 18 18-0 Fax: +49-30-3249833 anja.megel-rouloff(a)icwe.net www.icwe.net

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Nigeria – shaping up to become the next big M-money market
by alice 31 Jan '09

31 Jan '09

From Balancing Act Nigeria – shaping up to become the next big M-money market This week saw Orange announce the roll-out of its M-money service into Mali (Orange Money) and Zain saying that it will soon launch a service (Zap) to compete with Safaricom’s m-Pesa. But the really huge market for M-money will be Nigeria if operators can get it right. Although Nigerian banks are among the more energetic on the continent, there is still plenty of potential writes Emmanuel Okoegwale. The ability to pay for goods and services without having to carry cash or cards has universal appeal. In Africa it is being driven by the need to reduce the risk of theft. The mobile is ideal because it is cheap and ubiquitous and can authenticate the payer and payee and record the transaction. The mobile payment industry will change the way consumers interact with financial services and make payments. Mobile financial services will include consumer accounts information, updates, alerts, bill payments, person to person transactions and remittances. In Nigeria where electricity and transportation are unreliable, the mobile phone is a driving force for change – and not just for voice calls. Mobile phones can address one of the biggest cost barriers in the value chain. The success of M-pesa in Kenya (over 2 million users) has demonstrated the strong compelling need for a platform that can empower Africans to make transaction cashless and without need to visit a Bank. Nigeria’s seeming slow uptake of mobile payment presents a huge opportunity that can revolutionize the payment world, create new set of mobile entrepreneurs and new Business models in a market of 54 million mobile subscribers and an addressable market of 140 million people. The mobile phone is a powerful channel for developing business. The Banks have so far been unable to win youth segment accounts because they are approaching them via traditional channel and not what they always have with them, the mobile phone. The youth segment will most likely adopt mobile payment faster than the older segment because they are early adopters of technology and the good news is that they constitute a large segment in the mobile subscription pyramid in Nigeria and still largely unbanked or under-banked. Simple arithmetic from total subscriber base in Nigeria, shows that 54 million mobile subscription base is twice the Bank account holders of about 24 million, this clearly shows a huge 30 million people out there with mobile phones but without a Bank account. Nigeria financial industry players seeks elusive mobile technologies and standards but slow progress is being made towards achieving interoperable and transparent standards for mobile payments. The process is complicated by the large number of stakeholders involved, in addition to the challenge of integrating various business models and technology layers into one platform. Even the term ‘mobile payments’ has different definitions. Some Banks currently offering mobile banking are erroneously classifying their service as mobile payment even when the subscribers cannot do more than check account balance or transfer money between self account in same Bank. Mobile operators are known not to be very adept in providing core payment and financial services, hence there is need for cross industry collaborations like what we have seen in the Glo / First bank cash card and the MTN / UBA x-change cards. These collaborations are paying off in the mobile banking arena in the partnership between South Africa’s MTN and Standard Bank. In South Africa, MTN, launched a SIM-based m-banking service with Standard Bank in a 50:50 joint venture, MTN MobileMoney. The Y’ello Bank, as it is often referred to after MTN’s pan-regional Y’ello branding campaign, operates as a separate division of Standard Bank, and as such is regulated under Standard Bank’s banking licence which brings compliance and interoperability to the rest of the payment infrastructure. Many Nigerian Banks are evaluating different mobile payment systems from offshore providers but they are yet to learn from Africa’s own painful experiences in wap Banking. Offshore transfer of WAP banking technology was a disaster because an Internet-based technology was applied to the mobile phone, resulting in an experience that was slow, unreliable and costly for consumers in a continent with expensive mobile internet cost, poor coverage, hand set limitations and inadequate customer education. Simpler technologies would have achieved more. However, to be fair, this was before most of the mobile operators started implementing data network upgrades. SMS text messages will continue to be the dominant channel for mobile payments, although take-up of WAP, USSD and near field communications (NFC) contactless services will also grow. NFC technology seems to be attracting attention of players in Nigeria because of its ease of use and the European Hype but they are not factoring the end user into the plan at this early stage. The main draw back for NFC is that users will require acquiring NFC enabled handsets and that will be a major obstacle in a economy where income per head is low and average Hand set replacement rate is four years. Near sound Data transfer technology of the likes of Tag attitude of France are clear gap bridging measures not requiring any form of new hand set acquisition from the end user and it is immediately compatible with all Phone models. Already, informal exchanges of Mobile Airtime locally in Nigeria accounts for over 5 percent of airtime purchases and banks might start losing market share if people found it more convenient to move money around and repay their debts, send little amounts to friends and relatives via this informal channel for small value payments. Mobile payment is not a problem of technology. It is the management of the ecosystems of players like Banks which lack the technology, telcos industry non collaborative positions and inadequate understanding of financial matters and lastly, regulations which does not take into consideration, the speed of technology innovation that will hinder the growth of the sector that is already striving underground though not illegally but informally. Correction on Issue 438: Michael Joseph, CEO, Safaricom writes:Your article on The Top-10 Fastest Growing Mobile Operators in Africa and Middle East you comment “We note with some amusement that the table on p54 of Safaricom’s March 08 IPO prospectus shows Telkom Kenya as having 2% of the mobile market as at Dec 07 – quite an achievement, given that its Orange mobile service did not launch until September 08!” Please note that Telkom Kenya did claim to have about 200,000 CDMA customers on their so-called “fixed” CDMA system. However this was a completely mobile system at the time despite the lack of a mobile license!

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Fwd: [mdevelopment] PhD communication technology and social spaces
by Wainaina Mungai 29 Jan '09

29 Jan '09

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Ken Banks, kiwanja.net" <ken.banks(a)kiwanja.net> Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:56:39 -0000 Subject: [mdevelopment] PhD communication technology and social spaces To: Mobiles and Development <mdevelopment(a)dgroups.org> Here's a consultancy opportunity which may be of interest to some people on the list. Just passing this round, so please don't ask me any questions! Ken Ken Banks Founder, kiwanja.net "Where technology meets anthropology, conservation and development" Mobile: 07775 906 169 (UK) Cell: 650 245 7727 (US) Web: www.kiwanja.net <http://www.kiwanja.net/> -- --- http://www.bungesms.com TWITTER - http://www.twitter.com/bungesms KABISSA.org - http://www.kabissa.org/about/news/member-spotlight-made-kenya-network KAMPALA Workshop presentation - http://m4d.kcl.co.ug/sites/default/files/presentations/BungeSMS_MadeinKenya…

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National BPO Expo Week
by nancy bosire 29 Jan '09

29 Jan '09

Dear ALL, *NATIONAL BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING WEEK (BPO) EXPO* Outsourcing is increasingly recognized by businesses, universities and economists worldwide as a new management science. It is not only dramatically reducing business costs, but is spurring innovation and wealth creation all around the globe. As a new management science, outsourcing has also become increasingly rich in standards, best practices and exciting new ideas and management theories. The Kenya BPO & Contact Centre is organizing the National BPO Week, which will take place on 8th to 10th April 2009 at the KICC Delegates Lounge. This Exhibition is poised to be Kenya's largest expo for the Call Centre and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry attracting various exhibitors from the BPO & Contact Centre Industry, IT, Telecommunication among others. It will offer a platform to many companies to showcase their attractiveness to Kenyan companies that are currently looking to expand their outsourcing options. As the Kenyan BPO & Contact Centre industry gears up to fulfill its pledge of being a key pillar in Vision 2030 and awaits the arrival of the Fibre Optic cable, this Exhibition will be used as a platform to where Kenyan companies and customers can come together & define the strategies and challenges for the next couple of years. The Expo will seek to target the Kenyan youth, Corporate Companies and various Government Agencies. Other activities will include; a 2 day Seminar/ Workshop during the Expo Conference, Seminars in towns such as Mombasa, Eldoret, Kisumu and Nyeri so as to encourage more Kenyans all over the country to get involved in building this industry. We have enclosed a brief concept note on the background of the Kenya BPO and Contact Centre Society, together with the Expo scheduled activities, sponsorship details, benefits and costs. Further details are on the official expo website, www.bpoweek.co.ke ** * for more information please contact:* *Joseph Ochola Executive Officer * *Kenya BPO & Contact Centre Society.* * Studio House, along Argwings Kodhek road, 2nd floor E-mail: secretariat(a)kenyabposociety.or.ke* *Website: www.kenyabposociety.or.ke* *Tel. No. /020-2391301/ 0722-663176/ 0733-917518* * * -- Sincerely yours, Nancy Bosire Chair Events -KBPOCCS "Your consistent thoughts create your consistent results." "Whatever your mind expects and demands, it will find a way to produce it." - Napoleon Hill Mahatma Gandhi once said:- First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you, Then they fight you, AND THEN YOU WIN!!!

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