Warm Greetings, With all the concurrence that there is something here, then why do we have low visibility on whatever is happening locally. I recall mention of Microsoft BaaS as being popular; since others may work "on-top of it". Does this help the local Tech to dip their fingers into this work or there is much more? Be blessed. Regards/Wangari --- Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa - "Being of the Light, We are Restored Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The Kingdom of God on Earth". -------------------------------------------- On Wed, 18/5/16, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: Subject: Re: [kictanet] The role of the "open" in innovation in Africa To: wangarikabiru@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "Ahmed Mohamed Maawy" <ultimateprogramer@gmail.com>, "Evans Ikua" <ikua@lpakenya.org>, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Wednesday, 18 May, 2016, 10:16 Totally... Evans any word? :) On Wed, May 18, 2016 at 10:12 AM, Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Ahmed, We actually have an open source advocacy forum though it has not been very active of late. The Linux Professional Association of Kenya. The Chair is Evans Ikua. Maybe its time to reinvigorate it. Best Regards On 5/18/16, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
If we follow closely the topic of BlockChain we may stumble upon a blog
post
<http://bithub.co.ke/2016/05/15/the-blockchain-opportunity-in-africa-ideas-concepts-implementation/>
by BitHub Africa with the following excerpt:
*Make no mistake Bitcoin and its underlying Blockchain technology will
disrupt the current financial order that currently has Banking institutions
sitting at the top of the food chain. Incumbents who fail to understand and
implement strategies risk being rendered irrelevant akin to the manner in
which Kodak was rendered irrelevant by the advent of Digital Cameras.
Indeed Kenyan Banks have already had a taste of this with the arrival in
2004 of M-Pesa the Mobile Money platform that revolutionized the way
Kenyans transfer money and pay for services within the country. Already it
is estimated that 40% of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Platform is transacted on
this platform. Banks and other financial institutions will need to evolve
once again to keep up with this global trend.*
A good discussion to have is how can Open Technologies boost the adoption
of technology and even enhance innovation in the eco-system? I think
Microsoft also adopting Openness (Open Source Technology Development) is a
huge statement on the potential open technology has to the future of
innovation.
This topic is broad. And BlockChain is just one small
eco-system of open services and open source
player in the products.
The question we may ask is how do we as an African demographic and the
leaders of the Technology eco-system educate and promote the potential open
technologies (be they open source applications, or open services, etc) to
boost the next generation of technology innovators?
I would love to see this lead to the setup of an Open Source Advocacy Forum
/ Group or something. :)
--
*Ahmed Maawy*
Executive Director - SwahiliBox / M-Power (CBO)
Ambassador - Open Knowledge
Director - Startup Grind Mombasa
Software Developer - AJ+ / EveryLayer
(KE) +254 714 960 627
Skype: ultimateprogramer
swahilibox.co.ke
www.okfn.org <http://okfn.org/>
startupgrind.com
ajplus.net
www.everylayer.com
-- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254733206359 Skype: barrack.otieno PGP ID: 0x2611D86A -- Ahmed Maawy Executive Director - SwahiliBox / M-Power (CBO) Ambassador - Open Knowledge Director - Startup Grind Mombasa Software Developer - AJ+ / EveryLayer (KE) +254 714 960 627 Skype: ultimateprogramer swahilibox.co.ke www.okfn.org startupgrind.com ajplus.net www.everylayer.com -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wangarikabiru%40yahoo.... The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.