GBI is please to announce the 2011 GBI Fall Graduate Internship Program! The program provides a unique opportunity for graduate students in both International Development and Communications to gain valuable insight and experience in USAID’s ICT4D activities. This unique and highly competitive program will team approximately six interns together to conduct sector research and analysis, provide text and multimedia content to the GBI Portal, assist in marketing and outreach of the portal and GBI services, and develop institutional capacity for sector specific outreach.

 

 

Dates: September 12- December 9

Location: Washington, DC (McPherson Square)

Positions: ICT4D Research & Outreach  Associate and  Web and Multimedia Production Associate

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Please pass along to your networks!

Details on the positions and instructions for application can be found here.

Last week, I interviewed Mohamed Ahmed Jama, CEO of Dalkom Somalia and board member of Frontier Optical Networks Ltd (FON) in Kenya.  Mr. Jama described four potential Broadband cables that could be a part of a terrestrial backbone throughout East Africa, including in Somalia.  A fifth was announced yesterday in Somaliland.

Though all three of these proposed links are just that—proposals—they are indicative of the rapid growth of Broadband connectivity in the region.  Most East African governments are actively engaged in rolling out backbone terrestrial networks, while four years ago the World Bank called East African connectivity the world’s only “missing link.” South Sudan is working with the CTO to develop an ICT strategic plan, Burundi recently received funding from the World Bank, and Uganda has also invested as well.  And private companies are facilitating the expansion of Broadband cables as well; they are working with the national governments to lay the cables and to fund the projects.  The East African Backhaul System, recently announced as a combined $400 million partnership between Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo governments and a variety of private telecoms.  The unique partnerships between the public and private sector make the ICT space in East Africa distinct from other regions.

Potential backbone networks in Somalia, Ethiopia, and South Sudan are listed here and can be seen on the following map (forgive the rough estimations, I did not draw this exact):

1. Somalia’s Connection to EASSy Cables (blue line)

According to Mr. Jama, Dalkom Somalia has built two cable landing sites in Somalia from the EASSy submarine cable, one in Somaliland and the other in Mogadisho, Somalia.  Unfortunately, the government of Somaliland revoked Dalkom’s license last year before the cable was completed (scheduled to be finished in October, 2010).  The Somaliland government claimed that they had already signed an agreement with a local company, SomCable.  However, no additional work has been carried out since last year, leaving construction at a stand still and the region unconnected.  In Mogadisho, on the other hand, the landing cable lays ready to be used, but remains unconnected due to security issues at the site.  To make matters more frustrating, Dalkom has funding, contracts awarded and the regulatory approval to extend the cables from the landing site inward, creating a national terrestrial backbone.  Security issues in the area are the only contingency.

2. Mombasa—Nairobi—Moyale, Ethiopia Cable (green line)

The EASSy submarine cable has been extended inland previously from Mombasa to Nairobi.  For the past year, discussions have been underway been the Kenyan and Ethiopian government on possibly constructing a terrestrial cable from Nairobi to Moyale, on the Ethiopian border.  However, with FON’s assistance, the cable has been built, but is yet to be lighted.  The only remaining holdup is to sign an agreement of understanding with the Ethiopia government, which has historically been reluctant to work with private sector ICT companies.

3. Somalia—Kenya Connection (black line)

According to Mr. Jama, there is 560 km remaining between fiber optic terrestrial backbone cables in Somalia and the state of Mandera in Northeastern Kenya.  Mr. Jama proposes that the Kenyan government bring the fiber to the border, and then Dalkom Somalia would complete the Somali side.  This connection would connect Somalia to the African backbone network.  However, there has been intermittent violence on the Kenya-Somalia border in Mandera, with the most recent issue being a land mine blast that killed eleven Kenyan officers.  The volatility of the border could potentially lead to another security standstill before lighting the fiber, like in Mogadisho.  Dalkom and the governments, then, need to concern themselves not only with the technical issues and construction of the remaining fiber, but also on the political instability of the region.

4. Juba—Lokichogio Link (red line)

Southern Sudan and Kenya plan to construct a fiber optic cable link between the two nations as part of a larger project entitled “four-in-one.”  The project includes the construction of a railway line from Lodwar-Lokichogio to Juba, road rehabilitation, an oil pipeline, and fiber optic cables.  Currently, the governments need to conduct a feasibility test given the mountainous nature of the route, especially the Great Rift Valley.  In all likelihood, the project will not be finished before 2015.

5. Djibouti—Somaliland SomCable (orange line)

SomCable, supported by the interim government in the territory of Somaliland, reportedly signed an agreement to buy the necessary buildings and licensing in Djibouti to route the EASSy cable into Berbera and throughout Somaliland.  The President of SomCable, Mr. Mohammed Gueti, announced his recent acquisitions just yesterday.  Mr. Gueti has strong ties with the president of Djibouti’s family, arguably giving his company an advantage over Dalkom Somalia at winning the contract.  However, as Mr. Jama points out, construction has yet to begin on this cable line, possibly suggesting that the announcement is merely a political move by the government of Somaliland as Mr. Gueti does has any rights to extend the EASSY Cable. Neither purchases any capacity from the members of the Consortium.

 

Africa’s first mHealth summit was held in June, in Cape Town, South Africa. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) produced a report entitled ‘mHealth: New horizons for health through mobile technologies’, which looked at the state of mHealth projects from 112 WHO member countries in 2009.

According to the report, currently over 85% of the world’s population is now covered by a commercial wireless signal. Furthermore, 5 billion people own cell phones, and 3.5 billion of them are in middle to low income countries, setting the platform for increase in opportunity for mHealth growth.

The majority of member countries (83%) reported offering at least one type of mHealth service. However, many countries offered four to six programs. The report also cited the four most frequently reported mHealth initiatives as health call centers (59%), emergency toll-free telephone services (55%), managing emergencies and disasters (54%), and mobile telemedicine (49%).

Although mHealth success was lauded by officials, there was no shortage of criticisms and concerns for the future. “Although the level of mHealth activity is growing in countries, evaluation of those activities by Member States is very low (12%). Evaluation will need to be incorporated into the project management life-cycle to ensure better quality results.” said the report.

The lack of evidence prevents policymakers from supporting mHealth infrastructure and as a result funding often goes elsewhere. “In order to be considered among other priorities, mHealth programs require evaluation. This is the foundation from which mHealth (and eHealth) can be measured: solid evidence on which policy-makers, administrators, and other actors can base their decisions,” claimed the report.

Competing health priorities was claimed as the greatest barrier to mHealth adoption by WHO member countries. The report also points out that mHealth services are not yet integrated and are mostly small scale projects targeted for specific communities. Going forward, mHealth will need to “adopt globally accepted standards and interoperable technologies” in order to facilitate effective growth in scaling up mHealth initiatives.

The report says, “Moving towards a more strategic approach to planning, development, and evaluation of mHealth activities will greatly enhance the impact of mHealth. Increased guidance and information are needed to help align mHealth with broader health priorities in countries and integrate mHealth into overall efforts to strengthen health systems.”

In an era where mobile communication is paramount, the services of mHealth may prove to be vital in the development of many low income countries. The report did itself justice by celebrating the successes of mHealth, and then laying down the hurdles to be cleared for sustainable growth. The next mHealth summit is in December in Washington DC.

HLL Lifecare Ltd, one of the largest blood bag manufacturers in India, launched a massive SMS blood donation campaign last month, targeting to reach over 5.5 million customers belonging to the top telecommunications company, BSNL.

The campaign, launched by state Health Minister Adoor Prakash on Blood Donation Day last month in Kerala, a southern state in India, wanted to highlight the virtue of blood donation as a civil responsibility for those who are able in order to help those in need.

Prakash also created a help desk called ‘Heart Beats’ designed to assist prospective blood donors. This was funded by the Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust (HLFPPT), an organization affiliated with HLL Lifecare, in association with the Kerala State AIDS Control Society.

The purpose of the help desk is to funnel the donors to the patients. Individuals who want to donate blood voluntarily can register their details, including name, place, blood group and phone number either at the help desk or to the help desk via SMS. They are intended to be set up at local health care centers and can also assist patients during emergencies.

India has harbored SMS blood donation programs in the past. Indianblooddonors.com is  a website that serves as a database listing for thousands of blood donors from over hundreds of Indian cities. It was launched in 2000 with the SMS component implemented a few years later.

It works in the opposite way of HLL Lifecare’s system. A person in need of blood sends out a text message to a special number, mentioning, in a particular format, his name, city and the blood group required. Within a few seconds, he gets a return SMS with the name and number of a donor in that city.

Despite having the capability of saving lives, this was a little known service in India. However HLL Lifecare’s current campaign seems to be aiming for much more publicity and awareness on blood donating.

India frequently engages with shortages of blood supply. India usually faces deficits of up to millions of units of blood per year.

Furthermore, isolated populations usually have difficulties reaching out to blood donors and suppliers and often don’t get the blood they desperately need. India’s telecommunications industry is the fastest growing in the world. Nearly 75% of the population, about 900 million people, has mobile phones. Hopefully, this SMS campaign will bring light to the issue of blood donations and help curb the burden by taking advantage of mobile phone prevalence and growth in the country.

Social media may have helped fuel the 50,000 demonstrators who gathered in Kuala Lumpur this past Saturday demanding electoral reforms—despite the Malaysian government responding roughly and deeming the peaceful protests illegal.

Police fired tear gas and water cannons at the dissidents demanding change from a electoral system that they claim has unjustly favored the ruling party since the country’s independence from Britain in 1957.

The recent rally puts pressure on Prime Minister Najib Razak in the racially stimulated Southeast Asian nation, as Malaysia’s next general election is planned for 2013.

Peaceful protesters in Malaysia’s capital were met with police violence, and 1,667 arrests over the span of the weekend, according to reports. In lieu of the aggressive response, Amnesty International urged the UK government yesterday to press Najib to honor the freedom of assembly

“As a current member of the UN Human Rights Council, the Malaysian government should be setting an example to other nations and promoting human rights. Instead they appear to be suppressing them, in the worst campaign of repression we’ve seen in the country for years”, Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Asia-Pacific. Amnesty International, states.

Bersih (The Coalition for Fair and Clean Elections) is the oppositional NGO that organized the electoral reform movement called Bersih 2.0.

The original Berish protests occurred on November 23, 2006 in the Malaysian Parliament, such attendees included political party leaders, civil society groups and NGOs, including People’s Justice Party (PKR) president, Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail

The electoral reform demands of Berish 2.0, also known as 709, can be summarized in the eight following points:

1. Clean the electoral roll
2. Reform postal ballot
3. Use of indelible ink
4. Minimum 21 days campaign period
5. Free and fair access to media
6. Strengthen public institutions
7. Stop corruption
8. Stop dirty politics

Social media’s role in the Malaysian movement was to coordinate groups and record demonstrations.

As of today, the Berish 2.0 Facebook page had over 169,000 fans calling for Najib’s resignation, and the official Twitter account had close to 18,000 fans.

Though there are 10 million Facebook users in Malaysia, the preferred social media platform, protesters shared information over Twitter on how to circumvent sealed off roads and closed train stations to get to the protests.

While Facebook and Twitter were used for mobilization purposes, videos circulated on Youtube broadcast the movement to the world.

Over the span of the weekend 2,000 Youtube videos were uploaded with 2,774,812 total views based on the single keyword “Bersih 2.0″ on YouTube

As the case with the Arab Spring protests, the truth behind the movement is told by first hand perspectives of civil society, not the political parties. Social media is not a panacea current uprisings, but rather serve as a medium for organization and propagate that truth.