Originally posted on the GBI Portal – Page 39

Innovating in Afghanistan

The following post was written by Rajiv Shah and appeared in the USAID Impact Blog.

In 2002, fewer than 200,000 people in Afghanistan had access to telephones. Today, some 15 million Afghans use mobile phones and a full 85% of the population lives within the combined network coverage of the four major telcos. This technological leap connects Afghans to each other and to the economy in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. And the mobile phone now opens up a world of possibilities for finding solutions to some of the challenges that Afghans face every day. One important use that is quickly becoming a reality in Afghanistan is the creation of a nationwide mobile financial services sector – using mobile phones to transfer money safely and instantly, reducing the need for cash and giving millions of Afghans who may never see the inside of a bank the ability to use their handsets to conduct basic financial transactions. The possible applications for mobile money in Afghanistan are limited only by our imaginations.

USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah and Afghanistan’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amirzai Sangin test a mobile money application at the ceremony in Kabul. Photo Credit: Barat Ali Batoor/US Embassy

Today I had the honor of announcing three USAID innovation grants, totaling just over $2M, to develop applications in this field and begin to create a mobile banking system that could include all Afghans.

At the grant kick-off event, the Afghan Education Minister highlighted the urgent need for mobile payments in Afghanistan by telling us about his staff member who was killed just three weeks ago while transporting cash in a remote province in northern Afghanistan in order to pay a teacher. He expressed his frustration that thousands of his teachers, who are so critical to Afghanistan’s future, often wait months to get their salaries due to the difficulties of transporting cash in the country. I am delighted that USAID is able to help seed a partnership between the Afghan Education Ministry and the mobile operator MTN to begin paying teachers in ten provinces over the mobile platform, thus ensuring they get paid in time and in time, and more importantly, that no Ministry employee loses his life for a duffle bag of cash. And if successful, we expect much of the Afghan civil service to eventually benefit from a mobile payments system that will help the government develop its own capacity as our troops transition home.

The second grant links up telco Etisalat with the new Afghan electricity utility. To my mind, this partnership to design mobile phone-based billing and payment systems for electricity service represents the true art of development by using creative, commercially viable systems to help the Afghan utility collect real revenue. At the end of the day, delivering electricity to all Afghans will require a revenue model that will sustain operations, motivate more public and private investment, and expand Afghanistan’s energy grid so that fewer communities live in the dark. This novel concept applies to any kind of service. In Kenya, some rural communities are sustaining water systems thanks to a mobile phone-based payment system. The concept is simple: consumers use a phone-based app to pay for the water they need, enabling the maintenance required to actually keep the system up and running. Although mobile payments are a simple concept, the possibilities they offer are revolutionary for truly under-served communities.

The third grant funds a partnership between Afghanistan’s mobile money trailblazer, Roshan, and a micro finance consortium whose clients are predominantly women. The concept is to further extend the reach of credit into areas otherwise inaccessible or simply too costly to reach. Running loan extensions and repayments over mobile phones significantly reduces the need for loan officers and clients to travel. This cost savings can be passed on to the customers, making credit more affordable. In culturally conservative Afghanistan, our hope is that this innovation will better serve women who might otherwise not be able to participate in loan programs.

Finally, today we kicked off a contest USAID is co-sponsoring with the Afghan Mobile Money Operators Association to tap the minds of creative young Afghans. University students are being asked to submit ideas for mobile money applications they believe will make a difference in the life of Afghans. Designers of the eight most interesting proposals will receive cash awards and, more importantly, the mobile operators will implement and market the winning apps. We hope this contest will not only drive uptake among a key early adopter demographic, but will also unleash the creativity of young Afghans who have so readily adopted cell phone technology.

With 3G looming just over the horizon (the Afghan Government issued the first tender earlier this month), it is clear that Afghans will increasingly use mobile phones and other modern technologies to build a healthier, better educated and more prosperous society. The days of land-lines or coal-fired development are rapidly being replaced with these new innovations, and I am proud that USAID is able to help unleash Afghan innovation to lead the way.

PS – Check out this video on Afghanistan’s emerging mobile money sector.

August 24, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Asia, Connectivity, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Where we work

3 million impoverished to gain mobile numbers

U.K. startup Movirtu has announced plans to help 3 million or more people in developing countries gain access to mobile services by giving them personal phone numbers – not phones. Movirtu plans to work with a U.N.-affiliated initiative called Business Call to Action (BCTA) to offer the numbers which will be called “mobile identities”.

The service will be called Cloud Phone and will be offered through commercial carriers in developing countries in Africa and South Asia. The name Cloud Phone should not be confused with cloud computing which operates through the internet.

Movirtu is aiming to get 3 million people to use their mobile service for the pilot phase. Movirtu expects about 75 percent of its users to be women, because women in Africa and South Asia are statistically far less likely than men to have their own phones according to Ramona Liberoff, executive vice president of marketing at Movirtu.

The pilot phase will take place in Madagascar through the carrier Airtel. “Madagascar is a perfect market for Movirtu, because Airtel has built an extensive network but many people in the country can’t afford to buy a phone,” Liberoff said.

Owning a mobile identity as opposed to owning a personal mobile phone can save money for the users. For those living at poverty levels, affording a mobile phone may be impossible. A mobile identity allows users to use mobile services without having to purchase a phone.

Also, according to Liberoff, “the cost of prepaid service from a carrier typically is less than what consumers in those countries pay someone to borrow a phone. The average savings from using regular prepaid service instead is estimated at about $60 per year.”

Users can get a mobile identity by going to one of the mobile carrier’s shops. When the user wishes to borrow a mobile phone, the user enters a shortcode for the Movirtu service and then punches in their individual phone number and a personal identification number.

After that, the temporary user can access all the services available through the phone, as well as a personal carrier home page where they can manage and replenish their prepaid account. The system works on any GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) phone, using USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data), a GSM protocol for communicating with a service provider’s computers.

Following the pilot in Madagascar, Movirtu plans to open up the Cloud Phone service in at least 12 markets in Africa and South Asia by early 2013, reaching at least 50 million potential users. “The two regions were chosen because they are home to about 1 billion of the 1.3 billion people in the world who rely on borrowed phones,” Liberoff said.

If successful, these mobile identities will allow mobile services to be physically and financially accessible to the poorest of the poor. This will greatly benefit aid parties since according to Liberoff, “In many cases, there are great NGO programs that can’t reach 80 percent of their base because those people don’t have their own phones.”

The overall goal with Cloud Phone should be to bring the impoverished out of poverty by giving them access to a brand new set of tools.

Giving rural populations and women access to mobile services will empower them, and get them involved economically and socially. It will enable them to enter a mobile world which billions of others have already tapped into, opening up many opportunities for development.

August 22, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Basic Education, Education, Education, Higher Education, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Changing Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs with ICT Programs

Photo: OLPC

In a pursuit to understand the core principles in successful M&E of ICT-based education programs, I spoke with Daniel Light, M&E expert at the Education Development Center (EDC). Light has evaluated EDC and USAID tech-related education programs for around twenty years. As he explains, ICT education programs are only effective to the extent that the teachers utilize ICTs for learning activities and make the student the center of focus. In other words, ICTs cannot add to education much unless the teachers utilize the tools correctly.

Traditional evaluation of education programs focuses on easily quantifiable indicators, such as teacher and student attendance, and student test scores. Though these indicators are important, Light argues that the quality of teaching and learning is not fully captured in these statistics.

Instead, evaluation should consider what researchers know about education quality, namely teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices. In education, teachers that focus on rote memorization and lectures are generally less effective than teachers who engage the students in activities and who adapt their lessons to meet particular students’ needs and interests.

Student-centered pedagogical beliefs are especially important in education programs that include ICTs. For example, computers are most likely to be effective tools when each student has access to a computer, and has a teacher to direct their usage. If the students aren’t the ones controlling the mouse, then much of potential knowledge to be gained is lost; they need to direct their own learning.

Photo: Microsoft

Many development funders now require randomized control trials (RCTs) to evaluate the impact of their development program. There is a problem with the emphasis on RCTs, Light argues. RCTs measure specific behaviors, but education is inherently unpredictable in its outcomes, and technology is similar in that regard. Combined, ICT education programs have many unexpected consequences. Many funders want to secure a particular impact, like increased mathematics scores, and want to do so by increasing students’ ICT usage. Light, however, contends that ICT education programs can improve mathematics scores, especially when they are directed to do so, but they will always have other impacts, unforeseeable before the start of the program.

A better way to measure the impact of ICT education programs, says Light, involves a series of phases, lasting about one year per phase. The first phase should be exploratory, to see what is actually happening in a program compared to what was originally planned. Since outsiders design many development programs, implemented programs often turn down different pathways over time. After exploring the program implementation, evaluators should fine-tune their methods, progressively tightening their measurements. They should engage in group observations, participant observations, and focus groups. Through these methods, they can design interview and survey questions, eventually measuring particular behaviors amongst the population under study. RCTs at this stage in the research process are appropriate, since the researchers should have outlined the behavior methods through their observations and discussions with participants.

When used effectively, ICTs increase educational achievement and change teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices. In fact, they can change teachers’ role from talking heads to activity facilitators. ICT programs, then, can easily highlight the need for pedagogical teacher change. When they are then applied to national education policy, they can bring about national curriculum changes, affecting all education practices, not just for ICT programs.

August 22, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Infectious Diseases, Maternal & Child Health, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Tanzania tracks malaria prevention with mobile phones

Photo Credit: medatanzania.org

In Tanzania, a new voucher program started in late July that provides discounted insecticide treated bed nets for pregnant women and children. This program also takes advantage of mobile technology as retailers can inform local clinics when their shops are getting low on life saving supplies by text messaging.

The program which is being overseen by MEDA, a Canadian organization, integrates health clinics, wholesalers, retailers and bed net manufacturers. Pregnant women and families with children in rural areas are eligible to receive a voucher from health clinics to get discounted insecticide treated bed nets from health supply retailers at 500 Tanzania shillings (about $0.35).

Once a woman takes a voucher to a retailer and pays a discounted price, she receives a bed net in return. The retailer then uses his or her cell to send a text message back to MEDA, which helps run the program. That SMS provides crucial monitoring data that includes the number of bed nets provided to the community and how many are needed in their next shipment.

The use of mobile technology to monitor bed net stocks and shipments is the feature that set this bed net initiative apart from others.

Each shipment contains a predetermined number of bed nets for a specific region based on their unique needs. Once the bed nets are delivered and the vouchers are collected, the retailers receive monetary compensation.

Long lasting insecticide treated bed nets. Photo Credit: medatanzania.org

In the “fight” against malaria, insecticide treated bed nets are a cost effective and proven weapon, especially for families in rural communities. According to the Global Fund, more than 300 million bed nets have been distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2008. Moreover, Tanzania is a hard hit country as 2 million out of the 44 million people are affected by malaria.

Distributing vouchers for discounted bed nets is not a new method of tackling malaria. However, this approach produces a different sentiment amongst bed net owners than simply passing out bed nets to families for free.

Health workers have found that when a family makes a small investment in the net, it becomes a more valued commodity. Initiatives that pass out bed nets for free sometimes fail because families adopt the mentality that bed nets are valueless and easily replaceable.

This program distributes paper vouchers to the women that visit health clinics. Paper vouchers can easily be lost or ruined altogether. Therefore, keeping track of paper vouchers is often an obstacle. The next step is eliminating paper vouchers and developing text message based vouchers to make the process more efficient.

August 17, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Legal & Regulatory, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Fiber Connections Between Kenya and its Neighbors

Last week I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Bitange Ndemo, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of ICT in Kenya. He explained how Kenya is very close to being linked to all of its neighbors, and how the national backhaul system is fully operational. In a country with such massive economic and social disparity, I am hopeful that Ndemo’s efforts to bring ICT services to all of Kenya will serve as a catalyst for stability and equality of opportunity.

To where are Kenya’s cables extending?

Kenya has the most extensive backhaul terrestrial system, and they are reaching out to adjacent countries. According to Ndemo, Kenya has three cables into Tanzania, as well as three cables into Uganda. Some of these cables make up part of the East African Backbone system, which also includes Rwanda and Burundi, and cables from Kenya to those nations are still under construction. Laying the connecting cables has been more difficult for Burundi, since this is a new experience for them and they have lower capacity in this space.

Photo: BBC News

Ndemo also confirmed that there are current discussions and plans to bring fiber to South Sudan, though no construction is currently underway. There is only 60 kilometers between Kenyan cables already laid and the South Sudan border.

The possibility of connecting Somalia, however, is contingent on the political situation. Though Kenya has a microwave only 2 kilometers from the border of Somalia in the state of Mandera, they will not bring the connection across without complete assurance that there will not be privacy infringements. Both of these nations are quite close to being a part of the East African Backbone system.

August 17, 2011/by actualize

GBI Highlights, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

GBI to provide telecom training in Tanzania

GBI is pleased to announce it will deliver a comprehensive training workshop to representatives of African Universal Service and Access Funds, and other stakeholders in African rural communications, at the CTO’s 6th Annual Connecting Rural Communities (CRC) Africa Forum, due to take place in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania from the 24th to 26th of August 2011.

The half-day workshop is being delivered as part of the Global Broadband Innovations (GBI) programme of USAID, which aims to catalyze the increased and equitable provision of broadband and related applications. The programme supports national governments to expand connectivity, as well as create and use development-related software applications and cloud services. It will initially focus on strengthening Universal Service and Access Funds (USAF), advising on appropriate ICT regulations and broadband strategies, as well as developing new business models that can incorporate low-cost technologies into existing mobile networks.

In addition to examining the latest trends in USAF, including issues of strategy, fund collection, expenditure as well as project evaluation, the workshop in Dar Es Salaam will also allow stakeholders to review various USAF development and assistance strategies.

Speaking following the confirmation of GBI’s participation in the 6th CRC Forum, GBI Program Manager, Joe Duncan, said “We know that access to telecommunications has enormous benefits, both socially and economically, to rural communities. This is a great opportunity to bring what we know about universal service to the men and women who are working so hard to provide rural connectivity in their countries.”

The 6th CRC Forum, which is organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), and hosted by the Tanzanian Ministry of Communications Science and Technology and the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority, will serve as a platform for in-depth interactive discussions on innovative strategies, business models, financing mechanisms and technologies for improving ICT access in rural areas and realizing their socio-economic benefits with the participation of policy makers, regulators and various market players.

August 16, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Mobile Money Donations for Drought Victims in East Africa

Photo credit: Mobile Money for the Unbanked

The vast arid plains of northern Kenya, central Somalia and eastern Ethiopia are suffering one of the worst droughts seen in recent times. Rain has not fallen in some of these areas for over a year and this has gradually resulted in a full blown humanitarian crisis. According to UNICEF, in some areas of northern Kenya, close to 40% of the population needs emergency feeding. In other parts of the affected regions, these numbers are reaching approximately 30%, twice the 15% emergency threshold. As in many crises, the worse affected are children. In a country like Somalia with a population of 3.7 million, this famine could be taking the lives of 1,200 children, with over 2.5 million children estimated to be acutely malnourished and in need of immediate life-saving help. Soaring food prices and the on-going conflict in the horn of Africa has only increased the intensity of the famine.

A massive fundraising effort has been initiated by ‘Kenyans for Kenyan’, a non-profit organization which aims to raise sh500 million in four weeks towards famine relief efforts. This initiative is a joint effort between various businesses including Safaricom, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), and the Daily Nation newspaper. During the first 24 hours of the launch of the appeal, the initiative raised over sh 13 million via M-PESA. A number that keeps growing now that Airtel Money and Yu Cash have been added to the list of mobile money options Kenyans can use to donate funds. This campaign’s success not only highlights the efficiency of a mobile money platform in distributing funds in times of need, but it also serves as a lesson for charities and development agencies of the value of leveraging mobile technology and social networking in fundraising and disbursal. At the time of writing, the latest mobile money donations exceed sh 208 million..

If you live in Kenya, please consider donating to the Famine Fundraising Campaign. The funds raised by Kenyans for Kenya will be administered by the Kenya Red Cross Society to help people worst affected by the drought. Follow the steps below on your mobile money menus:

Donating via M-Pesa

Select Pay Bill from the M-Pesa menu
Enter business number 111111
Enter account number 111111
Enter the amount you wish to donate
Enter your M-Pesa PIN
Confirm details are correct and press OK

Donating via Airtel Money

Select Send Money from the Airtel Money menu
Enter ‘redcross’ as the nickname
Enter the amount you wish to donate
Enter your Airtel Money PIN
Confirm details are correct and press OK

Donating via YuCash

Go to the yuCash Menu on your phone and select ‘Send Money’
Enter the Business Bill Payment No. (Short Code) ’200140′
Enter the Amount you wish to donate
Enter your Donation Instruction in the Message field – ‘Leave Blank’
View the Bill Payment Confirmation screen and verify all details. Press OK to continue.
Enter your yuCash PIN and press ‘OK’
Receive Transaction Acknowledgement via SMS

Alternatively, if you are outside of the region, you can donate online via the Kenyan Red Cross or UNICEF.

August 16, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Fiber cable cut in Egypt

Reports on Tuesday indicated that a fiber optic cable in the northern part of Egypt had been damaged, resulting in the loss of all telecommunications in Egypt’s second largest city of Alexandria and parts of the Nile Delta region.

Contractors lay the East African Marine Cable (image: Reuters)

One official told IT News Africa that “a Telecom Egypt fiber line near Alexandria has been damaged resulting in loss of telecommunications for all three mobile operators.”

The official, however, did not give details as to why the cable was damaged, and it remains unclear whether it was an attack or a miscue on the operator’s part.

Telecom Egypt, the country’s state-owned fixed line monopoly is responsible for all ADSL Internet connections and the three mobile phone operators in Egypt also use the cables for connectivity.

Egypt is not unfamiliar to telecom cuts. In recent years, the country has lost Internet service after Mediterranean cables were cut, leaving the country largely blacked out for days.

The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, did say that they were attempting to rectify the problem “as soon as we understand exactly what happened.”

Users across the country reported immediate drops in speed and connectivity. At local cafes in Cairo, users immediately saw a difference in connection speed.

“I hope they get this sorted out quickly, because I have to upload things daily and this cut is affecting how I work,” said an Egyptian blogger and journalist, who added that the “Internet is my life. If it goes down, it really hurts my ability to work.”

Joseph Mayton

August 16, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

South African Govt partners with Nokia

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) in South Africa and Nokia Corporation have announced an ambitious new partnership aimed at implementing a number of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects, targeted at providing a thrust for innovation and growth across the country.

Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology in South Africa (image source: World Economic Forum)

This follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) by the DST and Nokia, establishing a framework on which potential areas of collaboration can be developed, funded and implemented.

Addressing the media on this partnership last week, the Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, acknowledged the role of ICT in stimulating economic growth.

“This is why the DST is leading the implementation of the national ICT research, development and innovation strategy. In this regard, we view public-private partnerships to be of importance for us in achieving this objective,” said Pandor.

One of the key expected outcomes of this plan is an innovative indigenous ICT industry that addresses South Africa’s ICT needs in the public and private sectors, and attracts investment by multinationals involved in innovation and manufacturing.

Vice President for Government Relations for Nokia Middle East and Africa, Jussi Hinkkanen, said South Africa has a thriving telecommunication industry with a lot of potential for disruptive innovation.

“Our objective is to support local talent in developing their skills, and then integrate them into both regional and global markets,” said Hinkkanen.

“As South Africa’s leading mobile company, it is our responsibility to identify areas where our technical skills can facilitate the development of society. We hope the educational focus under this collaboration will motivate thousands of South African learners to explore careers in technology,” said, Gerard Brandjes Nokia South Africa GM.

“Nokia Siemens Networks is using its global expertise in telecommunications and in-depth knowledge of the local South African market to advise the SKA bid teams, from both a technical and business perspective, about the best options to transport the huge volumes of generated data to the high-performance computer center of the SKA.

We have been involved in the project from the start, supporting and advising the project team on all technical requirements, capacity planning, provisioning and skills,” said Rufus Andrew, Nokia Siemens Networks South Africa MD.

The DST and Nokia believe that opportunities exist for bold interventions that will enable South Africa to secure a greater share of global markets, and help bridge digital divide.

Staff Writer

August 15, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

ICT & Environmental Education

Google

Young people around the world are doing splendid work to transform their societies through innovative use of ICTs. It’s important that we highlight these projects to inspire others to use technology and their know-how for safeguarding the environment. But too many young people have limited or no access to the ICT tools they need to strengthen their environmental work: advocacy, fund-raising, project implementation and campaigns.

One project that has been enabling youngsters to be more environmentally conscious is ENO-Environment Online, a global virtual school and network for sustainable development and environmental awareness based in Findland. Since its launch a decade ago, thousands of schools from 124 countries have tapped into the vast online resources and tools it makes readily available to them at no cost.

ENO environmental education tools for youth, which are used for learning and communication between participating schools, are varied: from basic tools such as word processors and spreadsheet programs, to more technical tools like digital and video cameras. Exposing young people to basic media tools and skills such as audio recording and editing is important given the dependence on radio for information in much of the developing world. (more on ENO Radio). These tools are delivered by a coordinator and frequently updated based on surveys of schools and local communities. ENO notes that The Research and Development Center for IT in Education helped to fashion and select the tools used.

So effective has this environmental education program been that the Global Knowledge Partnership(GKP), which has presented several Youth and ICT-related awards in collaboration with various partners since 2003, named ENO’s Education Department Coordinator Mika Vanhanen a youth and ICT leader at the launch of the award.

ENO’s approach is a testament to collaborative learning and how potent that can be when ICT tools are made available widely at little or no cost to users. Participating schools are merely required to sign-up for a login and participate in a tree planting day at least once per year between May 22 and September 21.

August 12, 2011/by actualize

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