Can Drones Save African Wildlife From Poachers?

A Kenyan reserve plans to use an unarmed drone to monitor the area for illegal hunters.

Robert Breare, who works in strategy and innovation at Ol Pejeta, toldMashable the decision came during a brainstorming session on technology and its role in conservation.  "What this does is put an 'eye in the sky' to monitor things we just can't see from the ground."

Read more at: http://mashable.com/2013/06/05/poachers-drone/

20 Important African Startups to Watch

Kenya's huge success with mobile money and the M-Pesa platform has launched Africa into the startup spotlight.
Whether ecommerce in Nigera, price comparison in South Africa or mobile advertising in Tanzania, African startups are changing the continent.

Read more at: http://mashable.com/2013/06/06/african-startups/

Southern Times-ICT Innovation Advancing the cause of education

Windhoek - Over the past seven years, the eLearning community in Africa has grown in leaps and bounds, according to eLearning Africa 2012 Report.
“This is evident from the growth in the number and variety of participants attending the eLearning Africa conferences each year and the growing number of eLearning programmes, research initiatives, partnerships and organisations in Africa,” says the report.
The report, which covered 41 African countries, documented for the first time eLearning experience in Africa including their influence on the education and training landscape on the continent.

Read more at: http://www.southerntimesafrica.com/news_article.php?id=8381&title=ICT%20Innovation%20%20%20Advancing%20the%20cause%20of%20education&type=83

Should Africa beware tech companies bearing gifts?

When Erin Hayba began a project to bring computers to solar-powered schools in the world's biggest refugee camp, there were plenty of sceptics.
Two years later, there are 215 computers spread among 32 primary, seven secondary and four vocational schools in the Dadaab complex in north-east Kenya, home to more than 400,000 people, mostly from nearby Somalia. Each school has a solar panel.
But the intentions of the world's leading tech companies came under scrutiny during last week's eighth conference on ICT for development, education and training, attended by 1,500 participants. Efforts to close the gap between California's Silicon Valley and the specific needs of millions of African children were not always successful.

Read more at: http://m.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/jun/03/africa-beware-tech-companies-gifts

African Voices on the Digital Revolutio

A new report shows that laptops and mobile phones are now far and away the most popular new learning devices in Africa – while, despite the hype, tablets are still lagging, only being used regularly by 20% of eLearning practitioners.
This is just one of the surprising findings contained in the eLearning Africa Report 2013. Launched today (Thursday) at the Windhoek Safari Conference Centre by the Namibian Minister for ICT, the Honorable Joel Kaapanda, the report offers new insight into the complex uses of technology in African education – from the point of view of Africans themselves.
Providing a unique snapshot of ICT developments across the Continent, the eLearning Africa Report goes beyond statistics and gives a voice to hundreds of Africans involved in eLearning practice at grassroots level. Its aim is to reflect “the stories, views and experiences of African practitioners and their contribution to the broader African eLearning narrative.”

Read more at: http://www.elearning-africa.com/press_releases_html/pr_2013_05_30.html

Ghana Business News » ICT experts asked to help accelerate Africa’s economic development

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts in Africa have been tasked to develop workable solutions to address the numerous challenges in the mobile communications sector to accelerate economic development.
Dr Osei Darkwa, President of the Ghana Technology University (GTUC), who made the statement during the Second GTUC Conference in Accra recently, asked the experts to explore opportunities in the mobile communications sector to speed up development.
The conference was on the theme: “Applications of Mobile Communications in Africa: Prospects and Challenges”.

Read more at:  http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2013/05/25/ict-experts-asked-to-help-accelerate-africas-economic-development/

NComputing showcases African customer successes in building ICT education infrastructure for students and teachers

Windhoek, Namibia - May 29, 2013
At this year's eLearning Africa conference, NComputing, the leader in accelerating the adoption of desktop virtualisation, today reported on the latest customer successes using its desktop virtualisation solutions to increase access to high quality Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and e-learning in Africa.
NComputing's desktop virtualisation technology helps African schools, colleges and universities overcome the key challenges related to building and sustaining high quality ICT infrastructure, including limited access to electricity, financial resources and shortage of IT skills.

Read more at: http://www.itnewsonline.com/showrwstory.php?storyid=11008

African Virtual University reviews strategy

While virtual universities and e-learning are seen as the way to rescue the situation, they are not without their fair share of problems.
In the past week, academicians from across Africa were in Nairobi to discuss the challenges associated with virtual universities and to find solutions, one of which has been found to be the need to redesign and harmonise curriculums.
The meeting was hosted by the African Virtual University (AVU), a pan-African intergovernmental organisation established to enhance the capacities of African universities to increase access to higher education and training through ICT.

Read more at: http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/Virtual-lessons-for-AVU/-/957860/1863460/-/item/0/-/58td1cz/-/index.html

eLearning Africa calls Round Table of Ministers

International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training. An Annual Event for Building eLearning Capacities in Africa.

A round table of ministers and representatives from all across Africa is due to convene at eLearning Africa. The sixth of its kind to date, this yearly meeting offers a chance for governments to draw on the knowledge they have built up collectively over 20 years.
African educators, still challenged with the mammoth task of providing basic education, will take the opportunity to share progress reports and policies. In today’s volatile world, where new technologies have dramatic implications for policy development, such pan-African communication is vital in ensuring geographically distant countries facing similar problems can compare experiences.
Policy and Innovation in Education in Africa is this year’s theme. At a time when governments are getting involved more than ever in the growth of ICTs – with Kenya’s National Master Plan, Namibia’s Vision 2030, and the rise of African hubs – it is all the more vital for ministers to be able to learn from each other.

Read more at: http://www.elearning-africa.com/press_release.php

Africa: Tech Cities - Africa's Next Big Thing?

One is dubbed ‘Africa's Silicon Savannah', taking a cue, of course, from the Silicon Valley high-tech industry on the west coast of the USA. And the other is still in the form of a plot of land acquired by the Ghanaian tech-businessman, Roland Agambire, already being referred as ‘Hope City'. I call them Africa's next big idea. By way of generalisation, I should add, when it comes to science and technology, this type of thinking - ambitious, risk-taking and out of the box - is uncharted territory for Africa.
Africa's Silicon Savanna is (about 60km southeast of the Kenyan capital Nairobi) a US$14.5bn mega project to build the Konza Techno City and was officially launched by President Mwai Kibaki at a groundbreaking ceremony on 23 January 2013. The mission of Konza Techno project is to serve as a world-class IT hub with the goal of creating 100,000 jobs by 2030.

Read more at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201305260214.html

Zimbabwe Uses Technology to Improve Data Collection

 A project being implemented under a Global Fund grant will improve Zimbabwe’s health information systems by providing Internet connection infrastructure for 82 urban and rural sites. The Zimbabwe project is just one of many similar projects around the world where modern communications technology is being used to enhance data collection.
The project is part of a Round 8 health systems strengthening grant to Zimbabwe for which the principal recipient (PR) is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project is designed to improve the availability of timely quality health data, which is critical for planning, implementation and monitoring of health programmes in Zimbabwe.

Read more at: http://africahealthitnews.com/blogs/zimbabwe-uses-technology-to-improve-data-collection/

Kenya: ICT, AVUs Integral Teaching and Learning Approach

For Africa to compete in the global economies, 12 -15 percent of its workforce need to have access to technical tertiary education. This was the opening remark by Dr. Bakary Diallo, Rector of the African Virtual University (AVU) during the African Virtual University Computer Science and Teacher Education Curriculum Design workshop at the Intercontinental Hotel, in Nairobi.
At the end of this workshop, delegates will have reviewed the AVU continent wide math and science teacher education program, and develop a new applied computer science program. These reviews and reports are meant to cut down the continent's lags in training necessary human resources to much its rosy economic growth prospects.

Read more at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201305210953.html

ICT for Education Solutions - in Africa, By Africans, for the Global Economy

allAfrica.com:
Africa is experiencing a technological surge and it is having a dramatic effect on education throughout the Continent. Tech hubs are blossoming, new mobile devices and apps are being designed and produced in Africa, by Africans, and Africa's eLearning market is now the fastest-growing in the world.

Read more at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201305131819.html

Kenya Balancing Act: Human Rights, Civil Society, Neo-Colonialism, and Democracy

The drama plays out of whether or not Kenyatta and Ruto will appear in the Hague. The balance between repudiating colonialism and protecting human rights is infinitely tricky. We must get it right.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-benhorin/kenya-balancing-act-human_b_3268216.html

Using Technology to Save Lives at Community Level in Kenya

Studies out of Ethiopia, India, Kenya and Niger show that children born during natural hazards, like droughts or floods, are more likely to be malnourished. Yet as the climate changes, it is poor countries - already struggling with hunger and food insecurity - that are increasingly likely to face these natural hazards.
A recent conference considered this issue from the perspective of “climate justice” - an approach to climate change focusing on the rights of vulnerable people who are the least responsible for causing climate change but among the most affected.

Read more at: http://zunia.org/post/using-technology-to-save-lives-at-community-level-in-kenya

Interactive whiteboard for primary schools in Mauritius: An effective tool or just another trend?

Authors:
Goonesh Kumar Asvin Bahadur, University of Mauritius, Mauritius
Deorani Oogarah, Primary School, Mauritius

Mauritius is among the few African countries where the interactive whiteboard has been implemented in all primary schools. This has been possible thanks to the Sankoré project, an initiative of Franco-British Summit and the Government of Mauritius.
The interactive whiteboard is an important tool in the classroom as it changes the mode of instruction.  In this research project, an educational learning tool was designed and mounted using XERTE which is an Open Source Authoring tool, to test whether interactive whiteboard can improve learning in schools.

Read more at: http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu//viewarticle.php?id=1559

Did the Kenyan Elections Really Need 3 Maps, 7 Phone Numbers, and Several Web Forms?

We all knew it. We saw this coming in Haiti and talked about it in Egypt, when 5 Ushahidi maps popped out the day before the elections. But the Kenyan elections are somehow different, and the reason why they are, is that the possible outcome is indeed a civil unrest that could bring the country years back to 2007.
It was recently election day in Kenya, and a lot of organizations prepared for that day by setting up their own branded, advertised, funded and public electoral monitoring system.

Read more at: http://www.ictworks.org/news/2013/04/22/did-the-kenyan-elections-really-need-3-maps-7-phone-numbers-and-several-web-forms/

World Book Day

War, natural disaster and the ravages of time threaten the very existence of this literature. In Mali, though the manuscripts may have been saved by a hair’s breadth from instant destruction, they are still at risk from neglect, deterioration, and the encroachment of the desert sands. The Ethiopian manuscripts face similar dangers: a 2011 British Library report on the monastic collection at East Gojjam found that the manuscripts were “in danger of being eaten by rats or insects… exposed to damage from rainwater… [stored] unlocked, or locked only with cheap locks, which can easily be broken or forced open.” For centuries, the seclusion of monastery libraries and the isolation of Timbuktu have helped to preserve intact collections that could otherwise have been scattered and lost. However, strategies must now be developed both to preserve them for posterity and to improve access to one of Africa’s precious resources.

Read more at the eLearning Africa News Portal: http://www.elearning-africa.com/eLA_Newsportal/world-book-day/

Web 2.0 and Social Media Learning Opportunity, Tanzania

Venue: KINU Co-Creation and Innovation Space, 1st Floor Conservation House Plot No.245, A. H. Mwinyi Road, Dar es Salaam
Date and time: 24- 28 June, 2013 (9:00 - 17:00)
Technological innovation is taking place at a breath-taking pace. Simple, open source internet-based applications and services designed to enhance on-line collaboration are now available to the wider public at little or no cost at all. These new online technologies known as Web 2.0 and ‘social media’ enable people to collaborate to create, share and publish information.

See it on Scoop.it, via ICT for Education and Development

ICT For Education Solutions: In Africa, By Africans, For The Global Economy

Africa’s leading forum for the technology-assisted learning industry, eLearning Africa, will on May 29th-31st be celebrating the rise of ‘Made in Africa’ tech solutions in Windhoek, Namibia, at the 2013 edition of its annual conference.
Now in its eighth year, eLearning Africa will be bringing together a wide range of perspectives on ICT for development, education and training. The conference will also be preceded by the annual eLearning Africa round table meeting of education and ICT ministers from across Africa.
“This year our focus will be on innovation and we are all really proud that some of the most exciting and innovative new solutions in education have been pioneered and developed in Africa”, says Rebecca Stromeyer, founder of eLearning Africa and Executive Director of ICWE.

Read more at: http://www.ventures-africa.com/2013/04/ict-for-education-solutions-in-africa-by-africans-for-the-global-economy/