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Project Spotlight: Green Prakriya

Green Prakriya, a joint initiative of Digital Empowerment Foundation and Association for Progressive Communication, was formed to address India’s “tremendous economic growth owing to the influx of the information and communication technology revolution.” With this advancement, a wave of e-waste ensues. The initiative works as an eco-web platform that acts as a green ICT knowledge base for practitioners, policy advocates, policy makers, researchers, professionals and the masses interested in environmental sustainability, networking, coordination, and implementation.

 

Green Prakriya’s philosophy is:

  • to engage stakeholders working on green technology
  • to develop a network of stakeholders working on Green technology
  • to create a rich knowledge base of technology solutions for addressing environment issues
  • to conduct awareness and outreach programs through seminars and workshops
  • to develop a collaboration amongst scholars and practitioners nationally and internationally
  • to act as a policy advocate
  • to act as an intermediary or medium to promote e-waste management in the city

Green Prakriya strives to bridge the gap of a lack of information and communication of stakeholders aware of the issues of technology waste. The initiative has taken part in mapping exercises and workshops to raise awareness.

 

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End of the African telecoms boom?

The upsurge in sub-Saharan Africa mobile telecommunications seems to be subsiding as companies continue to overcrowd the market while trying to gain more clients. Sizeable investments and how businesses aim to win over customers’ favour was investigated in a new report.

Bitange Ndemo, secretary of the Kenyan Ministry of Information and Communications

As one boom ends, another begins Bitange Ndemo, secretary of the Kenyan Ministry of Information and Communications, believes. (image: file)

As one boom ends, another begins Bitange Ndemo, secretary of the Kenyan Ministry of Information and Communications, believes. (image: file)

The Morgan Stanley Research report, a global investing firm, says as firms backed by big money, like Bharti Airtel, continue improving their network coverage and decrease tariffs, Africa will become more competitive. Old timers, such as MTN and Safaricom, that have enjoyed market dominance are set to be affected the most. According to the report, the boom will be replaced by market driven innovation, new products and expanding data services.

“All companies are focusing on driving data usage, and new services to reduce churn. The most important are mobile money services like M-Pesa, where innovation take-up is high,” the report says.

“We expect mobile revenues to grow from 3,4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011 to 3,7% by 2015, as we believe mobile revenue growth will outpace GDP in the next four years,” the report says.

Bitange Ndemo, secretary of the Kenyan Ministry of Information and Communications, says there is little room for new entrants in the local market.

“Unfortunately, there has been market erosion of about 20%, mostly because of competition that has seen cuts in tariffs in the sector. A new entrant would have a lot of problems as the four firms (Safaricom, Bharti Airtel, Yu Mobile, Orange) are struggling due to stiff competition,” Bitange told Daily Nation.

Industry analysts agree with his conclusion. ”What we are seeing is a correction of factors like the supernormal profits that some telecoms have been enjoying in the past,” Techie Makau, a Nairobi-based telecommunications consultant, said.
Makau added that providers now have to focus on provision, customer service and value addition. In the Kenyan market, the average price per minute fell by 80% due to competition largely from Bharti Airtel, between Sh2 and Sh4 ($0.03-0.05).

Despite the report, Bitange believes the data market is set to kick off next. Kenya’s internet penetration is only 30%, so once fibre optic cables expansion starts he believes we are set for another boom. “The data market is beginning to take shape as the fibre optic network continues to expand,” he said, adding: “this will see a lot of consumption of broadband… and that is what the companies should be looking at.”

Nico Gous

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Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach mHealth Project to Improve Cardiovascular Disease in Resource Scarce China

Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach™ initiative, the strategic initiative of the wireless chipset manufacturer, has partnered with Life Care Networks and the Community Health Association of China to start a mHealth project focused on improving prevention and care of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in rural China. The project, Wireless Heart Health, was launched back in September in community health clinics in three provinces (Shandong, Anhui, and Sichuan) and one municipality (Chongqing).

ECG-enabled Smartphone

Photo Credit: Qualcomm

In the past, most mHealth projects in rural areas have focused on acute diseases. These diseases are easier to handle via treatment and/or prevention, which allows for numerous mHealth interventions including appointment and pill reminders as well as data collection and information dissemination. But chronic diseases are becoming a larger public health issue in rapidly developing countries. Within China, CVD is the leading cause of death. By leveraging mobile technology to reach the rural community clinics, patients and health workers in rural areas can be connected directly with trained medical personnel in an urban area. While this type of connection is common in many countries (see MTN CareConnect in South Africa), the level of technology sophistication in this project allows for more in-depth data to be gathered and transferred to trained doctors.

 

Project Details

Life Care Networks developed a cardiovascular monitoring system that uses China Telecom’s 3G network to send heart data to cardiac specialists, who can provide rapid patient feedback. The system includes an electrocardiogram (ECG) senor on a smartphone, electronic medical record software, and workstations at the community clinics. The ECG-enabled smartphone has a gold rim around the outside part of it which is the senor. The patient simply holds the top and bottom of the phone in order for it to read their heart data. The medical records software is web-based and includes all past data collected in the clinic. This allows for both the community health workers and the doctors in the call center to have access to historical data in order to provide better care to the patients.

Within the project, the community health clinics are connected via the 3G network directly to cardiac specialists in the Beijing Life Care Networks Call Center. Using the ECG sensor along with the software and workstations, the patient data is sent to the call center and allows for real-time feedback either by SMS or voice. The call center is open 24-hours a day, and their services range from monitoring and diagnosis to treatment and referral. Referrals are especially important in these clinics as the clinic staff often do not have the knowledge and expertise to treat complicated cardiovascular issues. Because the smartphone sends the patient information directly to a trained doctor, it allows for referrals to happen swiftly, cutting down the time it usually takes. Also the smartphones are available for patients to rent in order to monitor their cardiovascular information.

 

Partnership Model

By leveraging a partnership model, Wireless Reach has been able to expand many services into rural or resource scarce areas by working with both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. With the Wireless Heart Health project, Life Care Networks is a for-profit company that has a commercially available ECG monitoring service as well as products and services for personal care. They offer different levels of service, depending on the needs and desires of their clients. The other project partner, the Community Health Association of China, is a nonprofit organization that supports the efforts of the Ministry of Health in helping to strengthen the Community Health Clinics throughout China.

Wireless Reach’s partnership model does not only include bringing together for-profits and nonprofits to strategically work together. An important aspect of all Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach projects is that they tie directly to government policies and initiatives. For example, this project addresses one of the specific issues outlined in the recent 2009 Chinese Health Care Reform, which focuses on strengthening the country’s grassroots medical institutions to provide equitable health care for all citizens.By partnering with Community Health Association of China, Qualcomm is able to engage in a project that supports the Chinese government’s efforts to develop a primary health care system.

 

Sustainability and Scale

Another important aspect of Wireless Reach projects is the goal for them to sustain as well as reach scale. In some cases, the project and its products/services become commercialized. In other cases, they have been sustained by the relevant country’s government. Since this project is only months old, the long-term model has not been decided yet. But there is a plan to create sustainability in the short-term and answers the age old question of “who pays?” In the model, patients are charged a small fee to its patients to rent the specialized phone. This allows the clinics to generate revenue and creates incentives to actively use the products and services.

 

Current Results

As mentioned before, each of Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach projects are focused on reaching sustainability and increasing scale. For this project, Wireless Reach is focused on gathering information and creating best practices in order to keep the project sustainable and eventually scale up.  New impact data has recently been received and ranges from September 2011 to the end of January.

  • 46 community health clinic doctors have been trained on how to use the system.
  •  A total of 1033 patients have participated in the project.
  •  These patients have sent 2172 pieces ECG data.
  •  Out of that data, 513 pieces were identified as abnormal.
  • Out of all of the patient participants, 208 were screened for serious cardiovascular conditions and referred to higher-level clinics for further evaluation and testing.

 

Wireless Heart Health is an interesting example of how creating strategic partnerships, utilizing current technology and infrastructure (both telecommunications and health), and tying the project goals to current government policies can create a sustainable and scalable mobile health model.

Please also find below a video of the project:

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Africa’s 8 largest mobile networks

While MTN is Africa’s largest mobile phone network provider, how does it stack up to the competition? While MTN is a native to Africa, most of the continent’s big players are rooted around the globe with parent companies in different countries.

Red Vodafone sign with logo

Although Vodafone is one of the biggest mobile phone networks in the UK, it also has operations in Ghana, South Africa and Egypt (image: London Evening Standard)

Although Vodafone is one of the biggest mobile phone networks in the UK, it also has operations in Ghana, South Africa and Egypt (image: London Evening Standard)

1. Vodafone

A star in the UK, Vodafone also has operations in Ghana, South Africa and Egypt. With 439.6-million subscribers, it is the second largest network in the world, after China’s China Mobile. The Chinese company has 649.5-million subscribers of which almost three quarters is owned by the Chinese government.

2. Telefónica

Spanish mobile network Telefónica, which includes Movistar, O2 and Vivo, is currently ranked as the fourth largest network, with just over 231.8-million subscribers. Operations span from Latin America to Western Europe, running networks in Sudan (as Sudan Unicom), and Morocco.

3. Airtel

Airtel, one of Africa’s most popular networks, has a subscriber base of just over 227-million users. The Indian company operates in Burkina Faso, Chad (Airtel Chad), Republic of the Congo (Airtel Congo Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of the Congo (Airtel DRC), Ghana (Airtel Ghana), Kenya (Airtel Kenya), Nigeria (Airtel Nigeria), Uganda (Airtel Uganda) and others.

4. Orange

Orange, owned by France Télécom, is popular in several nations. With over 217-million users, the French network has set up shop in Botswana (Orange Botswana), Cameroon (Orange Cameroon), Egypt (Mobinil), Equatorial Guinea (Orange Equatorial Guinea), Ivory Coast, Kenya (Orange Kenya), Madagascar (Orange Madagascar), Mali (Orange Mali), Niger (Orange Niger), Senegal (Orange Senegal), Uganda (Orange Uganda) and Togo.

5. Beeline

Beeline might not seem familiar, but the Russian network has 199-million subscribers across the world, and is owned by VimpelCom. Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris owns a large stake in the company operating in Egypt (Mobinil), Algeria (Djezzy), Burundi (Telecel), Central African Republic (Telecel), Namibia (Telecel) and Zimbabwe (Telecel).

6. MTN Group

MTN is the largest mobile network in Africa, in terms of indigenous network — where the top five are owned and operated by non-African companies. With a subscriber base of 152.3 million, the company employs 17 509 workers, operating in 21 African countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Sudan and Congo.

7. Etisalat

Ranked the 15th largest mobile network in the world (approximately 135-million subscribers), UAE’s Etisalat operates in several Gulf nations, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Egypt and Gabon, as well as Ivory Coast, Niger and Nigeria.

8.  Qatar Telecom

Qtel is one of the largest public companies in Qatar with about 2 000 employees, and operates in Qatar, Algeria and Tunisia. In 2009, the company had just over 82-million subscribers. In 2011, Qtel became the first company in Qatar to reach internet trial speeds of 100 megabits per second.

Charlie Fripp – Online editor

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Girls in ICT Portal: ITU Inspires Next Generation of Women

Photo credit: www.girlsinict.orgPictures of leading women in information communication technology (ICT) from around the world scroll across the main page of the UN International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) new Girls in ICT Portal, launched just last month.  Profiles like Sara Adams, Senior Software Editor at Google Germany, are accompanied by inspirational stories of each woman’s entry into the largely male-dominated field, just one of several ways the website aims to inspire a new generation of girls to explore career opportunities in ICT.

ITU, the United Nations specialized agency for ICT, created the new portal as part of it’s new 3-year campaign, “Technology Needs Girls”.  Susan Schorr, Head of the Special Initiatives Division at ITU, discussed the vital role that successful women in ICT can play during a brief presentation at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2012, currently being held in Geneva.

“It’s very important for women and girls to have role models,” Schorr said.  “We have already over 20 profiles of women spanning the globe from practically every region around the world and representing all kinds of ICT career paths because our message is that a career in the ICT sector can take many different forms.”

The Girls in ICT Portal also features an ICT studies and careers database.  Users can search over 400 programs including scholarships, contest and awards, trainings and internships, online networks, tech camps, and Girls in ICT Day activities, even refining the search by geographical region.  Because the portal is targeted towards young women from around the world, the website can also be read in Arabic, Spanish, French, and Russian.

In addition, a number of studies and white papers surrounding the prevalence of women in ICT can be found in the Trends, Analysis, and Profiles section of the website.  Over 100 regional and private sector organizations active in the ICT sector are also featured which include a link and brief description of each.

Photo credit: www.thenational.aeAlong with the web portal, ITU is planning to promote the new “Technology Needs Girls” campaign through two major events: An advocacy event in New York on International Girls in ICT Day, April 26, and the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2012 (WTISD): “Women and Girls in ICT”.  Aiming to raise awareness to the possible uses of ICT in bridging the digital divide, these two events will focus on encouraging young women, educators, and the industry itself to promote education and careers paths in ICT for girls.

“Technology can help people,” said Doreen Bogden, ITU’s Chief of Strategic Planning and Membership at the World Radiocommunication Conference.  “What we find is that girls often pursue careers where they think they can make a difference [by] becoming a doctor, becoming a teacher.  We believe the same is true for ICT.  It can make a difference, it can change people’s lives, and it can empower people.”

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Ruling on Tunisian internet censorship delayed

The Higher Tunisian Court trial about blocking certain websites has been postponed until 22 February.

Overhead veiw of boulevard in Tunis

Tunisian internet censorship issues remains undecided. (image: file)

The issue arose late last year after Tunisian lawyers filed lawsuits. They felt national policy was lax around access to adult websites. They proposed these be blocked, calling into question internet freedom.

The ATI (Tunisian Internet Agency) appealed the lawsuit, noting the financial and technical difficulties of censorship.

Throughout ousted President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali’s term internet filtering was implemented.

Tunisia’s has four million internet users. The government considers ICT central to helping the country’s growing economy.

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Using Radio to Improve Local Responses to Climate Variability: The Case of Alpaca Farmers in the Peruvian Andes

Photo Credit: CDI and IRDC

The Centre for Development Informatics (CDI) at the University of Manchester with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) recently released a report on agricultural adaption for climate change. This report, “Using Radio to Improve Local Responses to Climate Variability,” focuses on a radio program made available to alpaca farmers in the Peruvian Andes.

Life of farmers in the Andes is difficult at times are made more volatile in light of climate vulnerability. Lately there have been unexpected cold spells coupled with heavy snowfall. Peru has the largest number of South American camelids (the animal group that includes llama, alpaca, vicuna and guanaco) in the world, providing a subsistence to 65,000 families at altitudes of 3,500 to 5,000 meters, where other forms of agriculture are impractical. With climate variations that have lead to below-average temperatures and water scarcity, there has been an increased death rate of livestock, the “main income source, this loss of animals condemns further those who are already living in conditions of severe poverty.”

The study notes a lack of adaptive capacity among farmers for short-term action. To address this, the CAMELTEC project was initiated from 2008 to 2010 by Peruvian NGO Desco with financial support of Oxfam GB.

CAMELTEC broadcasted technological, social, political, and institutional information with a heavy focus on meteorological warnings, market prices of alpaca wool and husbandry advice to remote communities. CAMELTEC also aired a weekly 20-minute broadcast called Amanecer Alpaquero (Alpaca Farmer’s Daybreak) that included more specific information and discussion on pertinent problems, the show “was popular with all members of Alpaca farming families not just because of the vital information provided, but also because of its use of humor and music in transmitting its message.”

Radio was chosen as the medium for engaging farmers because of its low setup, operating costs, and “the availability of cheap battery-powered AM radios means that the majority of Alpaca farming households have access to local radio broadcasts.” Radio is deemed the best option for communication because it has the best reception coverage in the andean topography where it has been “historically cost-prohibitive to construct infrastructure such as paved roads, electricity and fixed telecommunications up to the farmsteads.” Though most farmers have mobile phones, the utility is limited.

 

The CAMELTEC project had three goals:

– strengthen local organizations such as farmer-cooperatives to enable the introduction of sustainable (including climate-sustainable) livestock practices

– improve the quality and quantity of alpaca wool being produced, through good husbandry and reproductive management practices

– improve income through changes to wool output and through better market access

 

The project is deemed successful, decreasing livestock mortality by 12% and saving an equivalent of US $500 on average per farmer. Another benefit of the radio program was its access to females, addressing traditional gender barriers that make it difficult for women to be involved in community farming meetings. The program has encouraged “a more systematic approach to breeding, the utilization of farming cooperatives for marketing of alpaca wool, and a more commercial approach to farming; all of which have helped to either maintain or raise income levels.

Photo Credit: CDI and IRDC

What made CAMELTEC successful? “Deep local knowledge and experience were vital… building as it did on Demsco’s many years of working with local farmers” to gain trust and expertise. However the inability to deliver skill knowledge and the high price of batteries limited the project. The study concludes with the suggestion of strengthening radio programing related to climate change adaptation to improve institutional building.

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Moroccan telecom prices dropped by a third

Moroccan telecoms regulator ANRT’s latest annual report (Agence National de Réglementation des Télécommunications) found telecommunication service prices dropped by 34% between 2008 to 2011.

Abdeslam Ahizoune, Maroc Telecom Chairman and CEO

Abdeslam Ahizoune, Maroc Telecom Chairman and CEO (image: emarrakech.info)

Abdeslam Ahizoune, Maroc Telecom Chairman and CEO (image: emarrakech.info)

“Mobile service prices, including pre- and post-paid, came down by nearly 37% over four years, following a series of successive price cuts, notably since 2010,” the report revealed.

The country’s users saw a “perennial double and triple top-up credits from some operators, the alignment of off-net prices to on-net prices, per-second billing and lower international call tariffs”.

ANRT reported fixed voice calls prices dropped by 24% during this period, “due to a regular fall in international tariffs, higher top-up bonuses on capped services, and the offers of new generation fixed network operators”.

ADSL broadband prices dropped by 56% as bandwidth capacity increased.

“The business broadband segment saw its prices fall by 56% and the business fixed voice segment by around 45% over the same period.”

Joseph Mayton

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Nigerian ICT looks to mobile money

Nigeria’s $25 billion mobile money market is set to top the agenda at the 66th Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) meeting on Friday. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and telecom operators hope the conference will address challenges facing the industry.

Eugene Juwah, NCC Vice Chm

Eugene Juwah is gearing up for Friday's event. (image: file)

The monthly event, held in Lagos, brings together government and operators to discuss issues in Nigerian telecoms industry.

Eugene Juwah, the NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, said the topic of the next event will be “Mobile Payment: The Consumer Perspective”.

Total mobile money transactions in emerging markets is expected to grow at an annual compound rate (CAGR) of 54%. From $25 billion in 2010, to $215 billion in 2015.

“There is also a forecast that mobile money subscribers will grow from 133 million users in 2010 at a CAGR of 40% to reach 709 million users in 2015,” his office said.

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