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Notes from ITU’s ‘Measuring the Information Society 2011′

A couple of weeks ago, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), regarded as the source for Internet statistics, released a report on Internet usage habits in 152 countries around the world. The title: “Measuring the Information Society 2011.” Of interest to many is the ICT Development Index which ranks nations by number of subscriptions, type of subscription, broadband availability, cost of access, and level of education. This ranking only goes so far, however, and the value of comparing African ICT benchmarks with global stats is marginal.

In addition to the tables of global rankings, however, are pages of analysis and notes. Recent data hails mostly from 2010 with 2008 used as a reference. Below are some of the nuggets we found useful for painting a picture of how African nations are progressing in terms of Internet adoption:

The ITU revised the definition of wireless-broadband subscriptions in 2010 and group it into three indicators: satellite broadband, terrestrial fixed wireless-broadband, and terrestrial mobile wireless. Terrestrial mobile wireless subscriptions include (a) standard mobile subscriptions with use of data communications at broadband speeds (i.e. mobile-cellular subscriptions with advertised data speeds of 256 kbit/s or greater and which have been used to set up an Internet data connection) and (b) dedicated mobile data subscriptions at broadband speeds. (9)
Approximately 63% of the ICT Development Index is based on 6 factors: International Internet bandwidth per Internet user, Percentage of households with a computer, percentage of households with Internet access, Percentage of individuals using the Internet, fixed-broadband Internet subscriptions per inhabitant, and active mobile-broadband subscriptions per inhabitant. (10)
Kenya has seen a 28% change in IDI value since 2008, making it one of the fastest growing Internet markets. The reason: large cellular subscription growth and an increase in Internet bandwidth capacity (especially from 2009-2010). As of December 2010, Kenya had 10.2 million Internet users, or 26% of the population. (17)
Morocco has witnessed nearly a 300% increase in international bandwidth since 2008. Internet penetration rates are up nearly 50% in thanks to the adoption of mobile broadband, which has gone from 2.3% to 10% penetration over the past two years. Fixed broadband growth is flat, however, in part due to Maroc Telecom’s monopoly. (18)
Comoros saw bandwidth increase 1000% after connecting to a submarine cable in 2010. Madagascar now has over 10x the International capacity it did in 2008. (30)
Mobile broadband subscriptions have doubled globally between 2008-2010. At least 150 nations have 3G mobile broadband networks as of 2010. Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Togo, and Zimbabwe did not have 3G as of 2010. (35,42)
The number of fixed broadband subscriptions decreased in Kenya from 2009 to 2010. Kenya’s Internet penetration rate, as reported by CCK, was 9% in 2008. (37)
All African nations apart from Angola, Gabon, Mauritius, Nigeria, Seychelles, and South Africa have less than 5% of households connected to the Internet. Only Cape Verde, Mauritius, Seychelles, and South Africa have a broadband penetration rate greater than 1%. (41)
Djibouti and Mauritania saw little progress in terms of international connectivity. Djibouti is one of the few nations with under 20% mobile penetration. (43)
Broadband Internet costs 112% of gross national income in developing countries as opposed to 1.5% in developed countries. The monthly cost for Internet in Guinea, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia is >10x the average monthly income. (71)
Broadband prices dropped by 96% in Burkina Faso, 51% in Malawi, 61% in Ethiopia, 92% in Nigeria, 47% in Swaziland, 90% in Uganda, 81% in Mozambique, 77% in Kenya, but only 8% in Guinea. The African (non-Arab state) average is 55%. (74,76)
Kenya’s international bandwidth has grown from 829 Mbit/s in 2008 to 202,000 Mbit/s in 2010. (76)
Broadband definition now is 4 Mbps download, 1 Mbps upload. (86)
36% of Ghana’s population is covered by 3G. (87)
Terrestrial backbone networks’ length grew from 466,000km to 646,000km from July 2009 to Q1 2011. 4.4% of the population lived within 25km of a submarine cable landing point. 31% lived within the same distance of a backbone access point. Senegal has a high percentage, and Gabon soon will too. (100)
7% of African nations collect household data on Internet usage habits. (108)
Internet usage is strongly correlated with income. In Botswana (2008), 2% of people in the bottom 75% of income levels accessed the Internet. 19% of people in the upper 25% income bracket accessed the Internet. (113)
In Namibia, 81% of Internet users use a social network. 17% of mobile owners access social networks via mobile application. 23% of mobile owners used their phones to access the Internet. However, only 13% of the population actually uses the Internet. Most using it for the first time still do so on a computer or laptop. (125)
No broadband (fixed or mobile) as of 2010 in: Chad, Comoros, DRC, Guinea, Niger. 1-in-1000 broadband users in Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Togo, Zambia. (154-5)

Also, be sure to read TechZim’s summary of the ITU report’s findings on Zimbabwe. Ghana Business Review wrote an insightful article on how Ghana’s global ICT ranking has changed (actually dropped) since 2008.

Note: Unfortunately, much of the African household survey data is from 2007/2008 when Research ICT Africa conducted extensive research. So, although most of the trends are probably still true, the exact numbers used in the later sections of the report have undoubtedly changed greatly.

September 29, 2011/by actualize

New news

Fall Internship Program Underway

Fall 2011 Interns. L-R, Fabrice Musoni, Christy Gillmore, Benjamin Addom

Integra is pleased to welcome the 2011 class of Fall Interns! After a very competitive selection process, three interns have been selected for the fall semester, which began on September 19. The group represents Georgetown, Syracuse and Clark Universities and will work on researching, writing and networking for the Global Broadband and Innovations Program.

Fabrice Musoni, a graduate student in the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) program at Georgetown University and was the 2010-2011 Yahoo! Junior Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. Fabrice previously worked as a consultant on another USAID project called Programme Paix et Gouvernance (PGP) implemented by AED in Senegal, for Search for Common Ground’s (SFCG) youth project in Burundi and as a researcher at the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC) in Rwanda. Musoni holds a B.A. with honors in Political Sciences and Communication Studies from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. A Congolese-born Rwandan citizen, Musoni speaks fluently Kinyarwanda, Swahili, and French. Musoni’s focus is on International Development with a keen interest in sub-Saharan Africa. He will be writing for the ICT4Democracy and Governance and ICT4Cross Cutting sites.

Christy Gillmore recently received her MA in International Development and Social Change from Clark University with a concentration in human rights and peacebuilding. She has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali working on health and environment development projects and has worked in refugee resettlement coordinating healthcare for clients. She served as a Peace Fellow for The Advocacy Project where she worked with a Kenyan NGO in Nairobi to develop an ICT strategy as well as blog about issues and projects within the slums of Kenya. Currently she works at Free the Slaves, managing the anti-slavery organization’s programs in Ghana. She will be writing for the ICT4Health, ICT4Democracy and Governance, and ICT4Cross Cutting sites.

Benjamin Addom is a knowledge management specialist with training and experience in the use of ICTs for development. He has a good knowledge of the history of rural development and agriculture; farming systems approaches; agricultural extension reforms; and approaches to food security and vulnerability mitigation. Ben has over 9 years of experience in the field of agriculture, food security, ICT4D, teaching, training, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation. He holds a PhD in Information Science and Technology from Syracuse University School of Information Studies, masters in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University, and a bachelors in General Agriculture from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Ben will be contributing to ICT4 Agricultural Development, Connectivity for Development, and ICT4 Environment sites.

September 29, 2011/by actualize

New news

USAID MAMA initiative leading the way in mobile for maternal health projects

The USAID-initiated MAMA (Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action) project that utilizes cell phones to improve maternal health in developing countries gave an in-depth update at the latest mHealth Working Group meeting.

The pilot initiative, announced in May by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and co-sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, has begun work in Bangladesh. MAMA seeks to achieve “scale, sustainability and impact” by creating a replicable model of reaching low-income mothers and household decision-makers (husbands, mothers-in-law) through increasing the impact of current mHealth programs, providing technical assistance to new mHealth models, and improving methods of applying mobile technology to improving maternal health.

At the working group meeting, Sandhya Rao of USAID and Pamela Riley of USAID’s SHOPS (Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector) program discussed the status of Aponjon, the MAMA project in Bangladesh. Aponjon provides vital health information through mobile phones two times a week to expecting and new mothers, reminding them of when to receive checkups and how to stay healthy during the pregnancy. Bangladesh was chosen to pilot the project because the country’s government has been a leader in promoting and expanding access to ICTs and is very active in mHealth.

Photo credit: Council on Foreign Relations

In order to bring it to a national scale, the burgeoning MAMA initiative has established private, public, and NGO partnerships to help implement its activities, and is carefully monitoring its methods and practices to ensure that the project is reaching its target goals. For example, Aponjon is constantly tweaking the content of its phone messages so that mothers and decision-makers understand, retain and relate to the information given.

Photo credit: Highmark Medicare Services

Another aspect of the project that MAMA will be monitoring is its business models to determine which are the most sustainable and effective. Currently, customers pay service providers to retrieve the phone messages. Text messaging is the cheapest method for remitting information in most developing countries, but many of the poorest clients are unable to read the texts. The alternative is interactive voice response (IVR) through which customers can hear recorded messages at a much lower cost than call centers but more than texting. MAMA and its partners are experimenting with different pay schemes, such as subsidizing rates, working with service providers to offer low rates or donate funds to the project, and charging fees based on usage.

It will take the new initiative years before sustainable, reliable, and replicable models are in place. What is clear is that the potential for improving maternal and newborn health through the use of mobile phones is being tapped.

September 29, 2011/by actualize

New news

iPads in Rural Agriculture: Glitz Toys or ICT4Ag Business Tool?

This month’s Technology Salon ICT4Ag – Enriching rural coffee farmers via iPads raised a couple of eyebrows from the outset. How can Exprima Media and Sustainable Harvest realistically improve rural coffee farming via iPads?

Initially, it struck me as another attempt to use the latest and greatest technology to tackle longstanding challenges within the value chain, rather than making use of simple and often effective locally generated tech as we have seen with M-Pessa and other innovations.

But there’s more to this project than merely exporting a glitzy trend to coffee farmers and suppliers in far-flung places. Two features appeal to me most: a) the range and utility of the apps; and b) the business model.

Relationship Information Tracking System App

Exprima Media and Sustainable Harvest partnered to develop a suite of traceability and efficiency tools called a Relationship Information Tracking System (RITS apps). The RITS Producer app promises to rapidly improve the operations of coffee co-ops. It functions as a set of supply chain management tools designed to record and track who produced specific quantities of coffee, how they produced it, how it is milled and where it ends up.

This is transformational because logistics is one of the more intractable challenges in the value chain. These traceability functions will enable better quality control because farmers who need to improve production practices can be pinpointed and aided.

The suite of apps also tackles the need for improved training opportunities for coffee farmers and co-op personnel. The RITS Ed app delivers instructional content in video format. Video is a great educational tool because it eliminates the risk of lessons being lost in translation. This exposure to best practices in agronomy, organic compost production, financial literacy among other topics, is likely to improve the quality and quantity of crop yields. To top this off, there’s the RITS Matrix app which simplifies and walks coffee farmers through the often complex organic certification process.

The RITS app design highlights the value of an anthropological approach to ICT4D. The apps were specifically fashioned for cross-cultural use (varied languages, cultural and industry imperatives considered).

Furthermore, the iPad was chosen because its the most intuitive and rugged platform to get the big benefits of computing (automation, info sharing) in the hands of farmers. The simplicity of the user interface also enhance usability by those with limited computer literacy, thereby reducing the need for heavy investment of scare resources (money and time) in training.

RITS App Business Model

However, it is the business model that appeals to me most. According to the project pioneers, “iPads are not expensive toys, they are a business tool”. The iPads are expected to pay for themselves in increased co-op productivity (supply chain management and higher quality coffee).

The project doesn’t aim to get an iPad in the hands of every coffee farmer. In fact, the aim is to place it within existing infrastructure. For instance, equipping cooperatives and extension centers, which will enable greater support for farmer training, advisory services, cooperative planning and management.

Though still a centralized model, this approach tackles the seminal issue of affordability. While the cost of an iPad might be onerous for an individual coffee farmer, a co-op would fare better: Two bags of coffee weighing roughly 300 pounds, contributed by a large group, is equivalent to the cost of an iPad.

But the issue of cost goes deeper. App creation, especially on the iPad, is still expensive. The suite of RITS apps boasts a price tag of several hundred thousand—far too expensive for the co-ops to afford. Sustainable Harvest is looking to subsidy from its partners (software developers, coffee buyers etc) to combat this.

September 28, 2011/by actualize

New news

ICT4 Greener Economy in Developing Countries: Mini Conference

Credit: Sustain2Green

As the Rio+20 draws near, a number of international conferences and summits aim at deliberating on sustainable environment and climate change across the globe are being convened. One of such is the mini conference on ICT for a Greener Economy in Developing Countries to be held next month (October 25^th) in the Netherlands.

The ‘ICT for a Greener Economy in Developing Countries’ mini-conference is an event that will explore and highlight the key role Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) play in moving towards greener economies. It is being organized on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD). The conference will bring together experts in the area of climate change and ICTs including Kentaro Toyama, the co-founder of Microsoft Research (MSR) India and a prominent scholar in ICT4D with the name ICT4D jester.

The conference will also see the official launching of “Bits4green initiative” which was set up by IICD, the Dutch corporate sector and World PC. The initiative focuses on reducing energy consumption and e-waste in developing countries. By supporting Bits4Green, companies show that they are investing in clean energy and actively working on a global reduction of electronic waste and energy use in developing countries. It also creates opportunities for entrepreneurs in the IT industry to actively contribute to a more sustainable and green use of ICT.

The design, production, use and disposal of information and communications technologies (ICTs) are contributing to the global environmental crisis. Even though the ICT sector’s contribution to global CO2 emissions is at the low side compare to other sectors (2–2.5%), it is projected to double by 2020. Developing countries are paying more for ICTs at the end of their life cycles (disposal) where, vast quantities of ICTs become highly specialized waste that includes environmentally hazardous metals like lead, mercury and cadmium, as well as toxic flame retardants and plastics. According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), about 80% of all the e‑waste that is diverted – out of a yearly global e‑waste production of about 40 million tones is exported to developing countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Nigeria and Ghana.

At the same time, the expectations of developing countries to take advantage of the green economy through sustained growth model which will feature environmental-friendly technologies, use more renewable resources, and reduce green house gas (GHG) emissions, is high. Major developing countries like China have been sparing no efforts in developing green economy, which is widely regarded as a viable way of restoring job growth, reducing poverty and achieving a more sustainable economy. A joint report Why a Green Economy Matters for the Least Developed Countries issued at the start of the 4^th UN conference by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and launched in Istanbul this year also points to the economic and human development opportunities of a green economy transition for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). The report argues that LDCs face unprecedented vulnerabilities across a range of challenges and a the shift to a global green economy can put LDCs in an opportune position if the right enabling policies are put in place nationally and internationally.

The time to weigh the pros and cons of ICTs and green economy in the developing nations is now!

September 28, 2011/by actualize

New news

AfriHealth Conference, Nairobi, 30 November – 1 December 2011

AITEC announces expert speaker line-up for AfriHealth Conference, Nairobi, 30 November – 1 December 2011

OPENING PLENARY

Consolidating the gains of technological innovation in healthcare through effective management

Professor Yunkap Kwankam, Executive Director, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), Switzerland

Aiming for a more integrated approach in healthcare delivery at national and local levels

Dr Katherine Getao, Head of eGovernment, Office of the President, Kenya

The economics of eHealth

Professor Maurice Mars, Head, Department of Telehealth, University of KwaZulu-Natal & President, South African Telemedicine Association

Ericsson’s mHealth Solutions – use cases and success criteria to enhance healthcare delivery

Rainer Herzog, Head of Strategy & Business Development mHealth & eHealth, Ericsson

mHealth: Turning hype into delivery

mHealth reaches puberty: Hype & hyperventilation

Bright Simons, Founder, mPedigree, Ghana

Using mobile telephony as an innovative communication channel for family planning

Bas Hoefman, Text to Change, Kenya

mHealth and the required ecosystem in East Africa

John Kieti, mLab, Kenya

PLENARY 2

An overview of latest worldwide trends in telemedicine

Frank Lievens, Board Member & Secretary, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth, Belgium

Addressing the fragile environment of e-health in resource-limited settings

Dr Christoph Larsen, synaLinQ, Vietnam & Kenya

Accessing funding for healthcare initiatives in Africa

Ken Nwosu, eHealth Ontario & McMaster University MSc eHealth Programme, Canada

Pharmaceutical management

Anti-counterfeit systems for pharmaceuticals

David Svarrer, CEO, Digital Age Institute, Kenya

Using IT for improved pharmaceutical care delivery in developing countries: A case study of Benin

Dr Thierry Oscar Edoh,University of Bonn & German Federal Army University of Munich, Germany

Case Studies 2

A Multilingual Expert System for Ubiquitous Diseases Diagnosis (MESUDD)

Dr John Oladosu, Lecturer, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Nigeria

Community-based eHealth promotion for safe motherhood- A case study from Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Pakistan

Dr Shariq Khoja, Director AKDN eHealth Resource Centre, Aga Khan University, Kenya

Business models for effective service delivery: Rural Health Systems

Changing African healthcare through private sector technology innovations

Steve Landman, CEO, Carego International, Kenya & USA

Leveraging telehealth to improve child maternal health

Iboun Sylla, Business Development Manager, Texas Instruments, USA

National e-health policy development: The Commonwealth approach

Dr Sylvia Anie, Director, Social Transformation Programmes Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK, and Dr Adesina Iluyemi and Tom Jones^,Directors, TinTree International eHealth and Consultants, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK

PANEL DISCUSSION

What are the best practice achievements that can be replicated across the continent?

MODERATOR

Professor Yunkap Kwankam, Executive Director, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), Switzerland

PANEL MEMBERS

Lucy Fulgence Silas, Country Director for Tanzania, D-Tree International

Dr Moretlo Molefi, MD, Telemedicine Africa, South Africa

Dr Catherine Omaswa, Chairperson, National eHealth Committee, Uganda

Dr Wuleta Lemma, Director, Tulane Technical Assistant Program (TUTAP) Ethiopia

WORKSHOP 1

Open source healthcare information systems

Nurhizam Safie, United Nations University, International Institute of Global Health (UNU-IIGH), Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia

Open Source health information systems offer an alternative to proprietary healthcare information systems. Currently, most developing countries have a tight financial budget for their healthcare services and cannot afford the high cost of licence fees imposed by proprietary healthcare information system providers. Therefore, open source healthcare information systems are an attractive alternative to be introduced in the healthcare services of developing countries. By using open source healthcare information systems, the healthcare providers such as hospitals and clinics can improve the efficiency of services, reduce licensing and maintenance costs in managing information systems, as well as catering for future scaleability and growth.

Among the available open source healthcare information systems, MEDICAL has been chosen for this workshop because MEDICAL is a multi-user, highly scaleable and centralised system which provides the following functionality:

Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
Hospital Information System (HIS)
Health Information System

This workshop is intended for users who want to get a better introductory functional understanding of MEDICAL. The workshop offers a thorough knowledge in usability and understanding of two critical modules, namely Patient Management and Financial Management.

Objectives

Having attended this workshop, participants should be able to:

Understand the concept of open source health information systems.
Understand the functional concepts of MEDICAL modules, namely Patient Management and Financial Management.
Understand the development concepts and architecture of MEDICAL.
Workshop Content

Introduction to MEDICAL and Basic Settings

Introduction to MEDICAL: Vision and Mission
Architecture: Supported operating systems, databases & ERPs
The modular concept framework
The MEDICAL development environment.
Introduction to Sourceforge and SVN
Introduction to Transifex: The translation and localization portal

Patient Management

Patient registration
Emergency department /ambulatory
Outpatient/In-patient
Admission, discharge & transfer (ADT)
Appointment & scheduling
Resource scheduling
Medical record management
Report & statistics

Financial Management

Charging, billing & invoicing
General ledgers
Accounts receivable/payable
Cash book management
Reporting

WORKSHOP 2

Using theCasemix system for health finance management

Prof Dr Syed Aljunid, Professor of Health Economics and Senior Research Fellow, UN University International Institute for Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia

This workshop is designed to introduce participants to the Casemix system for enhancement in quality and efficiency of healthcare services . Casemix experts from the UN University International Institute for Global Health will share their experience in implementing Casemix systems in a number of developing countries globally. The workshop will provide an overview of Casemix, its evolution from the first version introduced in the 1980s by Professor Robert Fetter from Yale University, to the present day where the system has been implemented in more than one hundred countries worldwide. Minimum dataset requirements for Casemix systems will be discussed in detail, including requirements for diagnoses and procedures coding using the ICD classification system. Benefits of using Casemix as a prospective provider payment mechanism under social health insurance programmes will be presented in this workshop. Software currently available to support implementation of Casemix system will be demonstrated including the recently launched the UNU-CBG Casemix Grouper, a universal, dynamic and advanced grouper software. Proposed plan for implementation of Casemix system under the UNU-IIGH programme will be presented in this Workshop.

Workshop Objectives:

At the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:

Understand the concept of the Casemix system
Appreciate the role of Casemix in enhancing quality and efficiency of healthcare services.
Design the basic minimum dataset package for Casemix Implementation.
Have basic knowledge on the use of UNU-CBG Casemix Grouper

Workshop Content:

Casemix:: An introduction
Minimum Dataset for the Casemix system
Supporting software for Casemix
Implementation of Casemix in developing countries for health financing

To register as a delegate, log on to www.aitecafrica.com or email info@aitecafrica.com

September 28, 2011/by actualize

New news

MTN Nigeria, Safaricom Kenya, and Vodacom SA are influential African telecom operators

It may come as no surprise that the majority of African telecom operators have Twitter accounts. To succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace, every companies must ensure a positive user experience. What better way to communicate with customers than through social media, most notably Facebook and Twitter? Twitter feeds can supply news and product information. In turn, consumers can act as PR vehicles. Moreover, no force in business is greater than the power of one – the consumer. Personal interaction between company and consumer not only spurs immediate user retention, but seeds word-of-mouth recommendation.

That said, some telecom operators in Africa are more involved in social media efforts. Not surprisingly, the most influential hail from Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa. All of these nations have substantial online user bases where customers are engaged with social media. Essentially, these companies have a greater chance of having their message spread and adopted throughout the Internet.

Klout believes that every person who creates content online has influence. Their goal is to understand what they are influential about and who they are influencing. Klout analyzes interaction among 10 networks including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, with more on the way. They look at how many people you influence (true reach), how much you influence people (amplification), and the influence of the people in your reach (your network). Then, the algorithm assigns a single score from 10-100 indicating how meaningful/trustworthy/awesome an account is.

Klout scores for African telecom operators, based on @oafrica/african-telecom-operators Twitter list. {Klout}

Using a Twitter list, sourced from the Wikipedia List of mobile network operators of the Middle East and Africa and a list of operators from Africa & Middle East Telecom Week, Klout is able to run each account through its algorithm to determine how strong of an influence the brand has across the Internet.

According to Klout, MTN Nigeria, Safaricom Kenya, and Vodacom SA are the most influential telecom operators in Africa. Impressively, Orange Kenya, Tigo Tanzania, and inwi Maroc all have Klout accounts. The PR teams at these telecoms are certainly ahead of the game in Africa, let alone globally. Also:

Nigeria: MTN leads with a score of 78. Etisalat and Glo are near equals in terms of influence (64 and 60, respectively), with Airtel and Starcomms behind (38 and 29, respectively)
South Africa: Vodacom leads with a score of 69. Cell C and MTN are nearly equal (59 and 55, respectively), with Virgin Mobile back at 41.
Kenya: Safaricom leads with a score of 71. Orange is at a healthy score of 57.
MTN clearly has a social media strategy in place. The company’s Twitter accounts for Uganda and Rwanda are considered influential (having a score over 40). Even more impressively, MTN Sudan yields a Klout score of 24 – very strong considering the small user-base of Sudanese Twitter users. The account only has 48 followers!
Less influential, but active accounts include Telecom Namibia, Airtel Tanzania, Malawi Telecommunications.
Other accounts have the lowest Klout score possible (10). Most of these were created but have sat dormant for at least a few months. They include Orange (Madagascar, Niger), Airtel (Niger, Uganda, Malawi), Comium (Gambia, Ivory Coast), and Sonatel (Senegal).
Orange Niger actively Tweets, but only has 16 followers, suggesting a lack of social media users in Niger.
Comium Gambia (3rd GSM operator in the country) Tweets a few times per month, and has 123 followers, but the influence appears nil.
MTL (Malawi) has fairly low influence (16) despite a decent number of followers given the prevalence of Internet in Malawi (170).

September 27, 2011/by actualize

New news

‘Smart Regulation for a Broadband World’: Implications for ICT4D

Credit: FTC

The 11^th annual Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) ended in Armenia City, Colombia on Friday September 23^rd with the adoption of innovative regulatory measures labeled as “smart regulation for a broadband world” to promote the roll out of Internet broadband globally.

In light of the enormous potential benefits of broadband, ‘access’ has become a determining factor for individuals, communities, nations and regions. But what makes the outcome of the Colombia symposium more interesting is the agreement on a range of policy issues that must be addressed as broadband expands. These are summarized in the ‘Smart Regulation for a Broadband World’ idea of the symposium, which brought up some best practice guidelines aimed at advancing the deployment of broadband connectivity worldwide. This includes:

a) M-banking services and the role of regulators

b) Wireless broadband spectrum pricing

c) Satellite regulation

d) Open access regulation

e) Setting national broadband policies, strategies and plans

f) Financing universal access/service

g) E-waste and recycling and the role of regulators

h) Protecting rights, such as intellectual property, of all stakeholders in a digital ecosystem

i) Regional initiatives to foster broadband connectivity

The successful implementation of each of the above nine policy issues in any country depends on the national telecommunication regulatory apparatus of the country. The symposium pointed out clearly how years of regulatory reforms play an essential role in creating an environment where new technologies can flourish. The ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau Director Brahima Sanou stated “the development of robust and flexible regulatory frameworks can help developing countries leapfrog technologies and make the best use of new developments in ICTs”. The ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré also explained that, increased access to the Internet – and broadband in particular – will allow for more effective delivery of services to meet the Millennium Development Goals as e-applications such as e-health, e-education, and e-governance that are able to reach even the remotest corners of the world. The statement concluded that this would only change when broadband becomes more affordable and the GSR can facilitate this by advocating a combination of increased capacity and competition.

Broadband – high speed Internet continues to play a pivotal role as an enabler of change in the global economy by affecting virtually every sector, especially the services sector that rely on the provision of data and information. Countries participating in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have set the ambitious goal of connecting all villages of the world to ICTs by 2015, including establishing community access points, and connecting universities, schools, libraries, post offices, health centers, and local governments. Considered as the right of every citizen, Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for every citizen, beginning July 1^st 2010. Every Finn will have the right to access at least 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection and to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015.

Internet broadband has the potential to spur rapid economic growth and facilitate job creation. According to a recent UN report, broadband plays an essential role in the creation of ‘Knowledge Societies’, which are based on the principles of freedom of expression; universal access to information and knowledge; respect for cultural and linguistic diversity, and high quality education for all. Access to broadband ensures full participation of all in the Information Society, a major policy goal, and the implementation of which brings all the benefits and transformational opportunities of ICTs.

The Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) is an annual event held in different regions worldwide that is aimed at fostering constructive exchange of information among national regulatory authorities. It is a unique forum to share regulatory best practices at the global level. Held for the first time in Latin America, the eleventh GSR focused on innovative regulatory measures to promote the roll out of broadband globally. This years’ symposium saw as many as 504 participants attending, including 243 representatives from 72 countries and Palestine. In addition, 261 representatives from 42 public and private sector companies as well as regional and international organizations participated.

In a nutshell, Internet broadband in itself is not an end: it is an important means of meeting a wide variety of goals in highly diverse sectors. For the ICT4D dreams to be realized, governments must ensure sound development and implementation of national broadband plans or risk losing the benefits of the global high-speed digital communications. The potential for using high speed Internet technology to help expand access and quality of health care through telemedicine – the delivery of quality health care services through ICTs are valuable than ever. High speed Internet is enhancing every level of education from kindergarten through high school to college to graduate school. It is empowering people with disabilities to become more independent, and the utility of community and public libraries that serve the majority is increased. It has become a catalyst for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the UN.

September 27, 2011/by actualize

New news

Video: SEACOM cable upgrade

Standard Group Kenya’s KTN Business recently aired a video segment on Seacom’s planned upgrade of its undersea cable to cope with growing demand on the eastern seaboard of Africa. Mark Simpson, the new Chief Executive Officer at SEACOM, says that the advent of 4G services will mean that additional demand for broadband will flourish in the near future. He also adds:

a major challenge of SEACOM is reliability of the fiber-optic cable
partners must understand maintenance and security challenges of fibre
Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania government & private consortia should be watched closely – could be promising example for others

September 27, 2011/by actualize

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USAID invites the public to join relief efforts in the Horn of Africa

Famine War Drought Relief on a dark background with a red African Map

FWD Campaign Logo

Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)—in partnership with the Ad Council, launched last week the “FWD campaign”; an initiative that highlights the devastating effects of the crises in the Horn of Africa and encourages people to spread awareness. You can donate $10 by texting “GIVE” to 777444 famine relief.

FWD stands for Famine, War, Drought: the three root causes of the dire situation in the Horn. The campaign is also a call to action—that people get informed, get engaged and forward this information on to their friends, colleagues, and families.

The FWD campaign is a novel USAID initiative that aims to improve communication with the American public and share information. “Frankly, it’s the first foray the agency is taking into open government, open data, and citizen engagement online,” said Haley Van Dyck, Director of Digital Strategy at USAID. The goal is to make data open and sharable to tell stories about the crisis and the work being done on the ground in an interactive way.

Open government, open data

One of FWD’s objectives is to make information, data and maps easily accessible to online audiences. To this end, USAID provides infographics, interactive maps and tool kits that people can use to learn about the crisis in simple, clear ways—and more importantly share that information with others. The agency builds the maps with open source mapping tools and data sets publicly accessible on data.gov. The six interactive maps available provide details on food insecurity, drought, affected populations, refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) movements as well as USAID’s response.

Citizen engagement

To raise awareness and engage the public using social media, USAID has partnered with Google, Facebook and Twitter to make information-sharing as easy as searching, tweeting or updating one’s status. There’s also a series of Public Service Announcements (PSA) that will air in major media markets throughout the country. These PSA’s will be made available on the agency’s website, as well as on YouTube.

The fundraising component of the FWD encourages people to donate $10 to famine relief by texting “GIVE” to 777444. The agency is partnering NGOs delivering critical assistance in the Horn. General Mills has agreed to match the first 2,000 text donations that come through the FWD campaign, up to $20,000.

A need for urgent response

Alarming facts about the crisis in the Horn should prompt the public to follow in the footsteps of Andrew Andasi, an 11-year-old

Ghanaian schoolboy, who used social media tools to raise $4,000—as of August—for famine victims. The crisis is killing, starving, or displacing over 13 million people. It is the worst drought in 60 years and the worst famine in 20 within a context of continued violence. In Somalia, one child dies every six minutes: the time it will take to finish this piece.

Getting involved is as simple as texting “GIVE” to 777444 to donate $10. More importantly, you can “FWD—forward—the facts” by tweeting, e-mailing, and updating your Facebook status to spread awareness about the crisis. The FWD campaign is an innovative way to engage citizens into action by making data easily accessible to the public.

September 27, 2011/by actualize

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