Archive for category: Technology

Information and stories about technology news.

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Solar-Powered Lanterns Boost Grades for Kenyan Students

Solar Powered LanternsMore than one billion people around the world do not have access to electricity, as is the case in northern Kenya. When the sun sets, many families and health facilities rely on kerosene lamps as a source of light. These, however, are a major hazard, especially for young students who need to be able to study late into the night. Not only do they cause a fire hazard but they can also cause a strain on vision and respiratory problems.

The Panasonic Corporation began The Solar Lantern Project to provide a safer alternative for light in northern Kenya. The company donated more than 2,000 solar-powered lanterns to schools and clinics in the counties of Samburu and Isiolo.

The solar-powered lanterns have become a huge success in the schools of northern Kenya. They are recharged there during the day and are taken home by students at night to allow them to study and complete their homework. Students are not risking their health when they use the lamps.

Parents of students in northern Kenya can save almost two percent of their monthly expenses when their child brings home the solar-powered lanterns. In an interview conducted by Medium, a Kenyan mother stated that she “had to spend 20 shillings on kerosene every day.” Thanks to the solar-powered lanterns, she saves “around 1,000 shillings a month.”

Solar energy has become a popular alternative to electricity in many poor countries. It is accessible anywhere and an alternative source that is sustainable. According to research conducted by the International Energy Agency, “enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 90 minutes to meet the entire planet’s energy needs for a year.”

The environment also benefits from using the Panasonic solar-powered lanterns instead of kerosene lamps. The fumes that come from burning kerosene contaminate the air and only further global warming. If one million lamps are in use by the end of 2018, they are “expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 30,000 tonnes between 2014 and 2018.”

Panasonic’s solar-powered lanterns may seem like a small solution, but they are allowing students to learn better and more safely outside of the classroom. The benefits of these lamps will continue to improve poverty in Kenya, slowly, but at least in the right direction.

– Mackenzie Fielder

Photo: Flickr

New Smoke Detector Bolsters Fire Safety in Kenya

Fire Safety in Kenya
In the slum communities of Nairobi, Kenya, residents often lack basic protections from the risk of fire. Poor electrical wiring, risky cooking practices and poorly constructed housing create a deadly environment for the city’s poorest residents.

One technology company, Halo Smart Labs, has developed a smoke detector that can dramatically increase fire safety in Kenya, especially in the country’s urban fringe.

The poor neighborhoods that ring Kenya’s capital city are largely “informal” communities, built spontaneously and out of urgent necessity, with little to no concern given to potential hazards such as floods or fire. Electrical grids exist but are often temperamental and dangerous, with wires hanging loosely from casings; death by electrocution is not uncommon. Homes are constructed using cheap materials and cooking is often carried out using paraffin stoves with adulterated fuel.

2011 was a particularly devastating year, when an estimated 25,000 Kenyans were left homeless from blazes. All of 2014 and June of 2017 also saw major fires rip through communities.

A smoke detector system is desperately needed for Kenya’s urban slum dwellers – which led to the development of a device able to be installed in ill-equipped communities. Halo‘s technology allows an alarm to be placed in a home for minimal cost and without the need for a reliable electrical connection. An SMS feature also allows nearby residents and fire fighters themselves to receive instant updates on a developing situation.

The organization has partnered with the Kenyan Red Cross for the venture, which has already carried out a successful trial run. Company executives conducted site surveys, trained local administrators and oversaw initial testing. Combined with the Red Cross’s community connections and local expertise, the device has the capability to drastically improve fire safety in Kenya and its vulnerable urban centers.

Plans are currently underway to expand the rollout of the device. In terms of how many users the smoke detector could acquire, Halo has set an ambitious goal of one billion by 2025.

Even without reaching this lofty goal, Halo’s technological innovation can dramatically reduce the fire risks that too frequently come part-and-parcel of living in slum communities around the globe.

– Jonathan Riddick

Photo: Flickr

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Using Technology to Collect Poverty Data

Collect Poverty DataIn order to provide an impoverished area with the necessary aid, extensive and detailed data needs to be collected. Data can identify specific regions in poverty along with the types and causes of poverty in those vicinities. Yet, traditional pen and paper data collection is time consuming and error prone. Using technologies such as mobile phones and tablets as well as developing new information-collecting technology is a way to collect poverty data that can solve the glitches data collection has suffered in the past.

In the past, enumerators, or data collectors, would travel house to house and conduct paper surveys in order to acquire information on those living in poverty. These answers would then be manually transferred onto a computer.

Now, enumerators are using tablets that send survey answers to a centralized system. The tablets also have a GPS system that tracks the enumerators’ processes and makes sure they are in the right area. The tablets also allows for enumerators to record video interviews. This provides a visual context for the living conditions in certain impoverished areas.

Mobile phones are another great resource for data collecting. The World Bank’s Listening to Africa initiative uses cellphones to send out surveys as well as to monitor crises. The initiative plans to pass out phones and solar chargers to all respondents who don’t already own them. Mobile surveys provide a cheap way to gather frequent data from a large amount of people. Crises such as famines and natural disasters can be reported and monitored in real time as well by calling those in affected areas.

New information gathering technology is also being developed to make data collecting easier. Satellite imagery is being used to measure how many people live in poverty in certain areas and assess living conditions of these populations. Likewise, Smart Survey Boxes are being installed in households to automatically monitor power outages and energy quality in areas like Tajikistan.

With extensive data that’s up to date, the causes of and solutions to poverty can be better understood. Using technology to collect poverty data may be the solution to providing better aid to the world’s poor.

– Hannah Kaiser

Photo: Flickr

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3-D-Printed Prosthetic Limbs

3-D-Printed Prosthetic LimbsCompanies have started using 3-D printing technologies to create prosthetic limbs for amputees in developing and war-torn countries. The loss or congenital absence of limbs is prevalent in many third-world nations. Reasons for this, according to The Guardian, include war, disease and random accidents.

Amputations are an especially heavy burden in cultures based around agriculture. An inability to farm leads to causes families to provide support for amputees, a heavy burden for those already poverty-stricken.

Typical prosthetics are incredibly expensive for citizens. Many of them can run up to thousands of pounds, according to The Guardian. 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs, however, are much cheaper. In fact, the cost of acquiring one is sometimes as little as 40 pounds.

Regular prosthetics also take a significant amount of time to make. The Guardian estimates that the process of measuring a prosthetic for the right fit, building a mold and getting amputees used to prosthetic can take up to a week.

However, turnaround times for the 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs streamlines this process. TRT World explains how scanners can take an amputee’s measurements in minutes, reducing the construction of 3-D limbs to several hours.

3-D-printed prosthetic limbs are also convenient for child amputees because they are still growing. According to TRT World, prosthetic limbs have to accommodate for children getting taller and gaining and losing weight. 3-D models can be sized and adjusted for the patients’ particular necessities.

Another appeal specifically towards children is the variety of appearances that 3-D-printed limbs can take. The limbs often come in many different colors and designs. For example, the Cyborg Beast prosthetic hand designed by Jorge Zuniga is created specifically to look like a robot for the enjoyment of children.

However, 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs are not without their faults. According to The Guardian, the prosthetics are often too heavy to maneuver, and they can melt in high temperatures.

Regardless, 3-D printing technology is improving. Companies Po and Thalmic Labs, for example, have created the MyPo, which uses 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs and muscle and nerve-reading technology to simulate the movement of natural limbs.

In spite of their shortcomings, the technological advances show that 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs are worth the investment of time and resources.

– Cortney Rowe

Photo: Pixabay

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Kenyan Teenagers Develop an App Fighting FGM

App Fighting FGMFive Kenyan teenage girls have been invited to participate in the finale of the international Technovation Challenge in Silicon Valley in August. They have developed I-Cut, an app fighting FGM, or female genital mutilation.

I-Cut offers help to girls that are in danger of FGM or have already experienced it: it connects them to rescue centers and gives them information about where to get legal or medical help. In situations of immediate risk, girls can also use the app’s panic button to alert local authorities.

FGM was outlawed in Kenya in 2001 already. Its prevalence has since declined: from 37 percent in the late ’90s to 21 percent in 2014. Young women today are less likely to get cut than their mothers.

A 2014 study found that the prevalence of FGM in Kenya gets linked to the levels of education, socioeconomic status and media exposure. Additionally, girls are at a higher risk of being cut in rural areas. The highest prevalence got found in the North Eastern province, where 97 percent of women had undergone the procedure.

FGM does not entail any health benefits, but the risk of numerous immediate and long-term risks to the victims’ physical and mental health. Possible effects include infections, death, urinary and sexual problems, death, childbirth complications, PTSD, depression and anxiety.

I-cut was developed by Ivy and Macrine Akinyi, Cynthia Awuor, Stacy Adhiambo and Purity Christine, aged 15 to 17, who call themselves the “Restorers.” In an interview with Reuters, the girls said they had friends who became victims of FGM, and that they wanted to “restore hope to hopeless girls.”

The team beat nine other Kenyan semi-finalists and qualified for the finale of the Technovation Challenge, an annual event sponsored by Google, Verizon and the United Nations. Technovation challenges girls to create apps that address problems in their communities and translate them into a business. It aims at teaching girls entrepreneurial and leadership skills.

The girls will compete against five other teams of girls from all over the world in the competition’s senior division and hope to win $15,000 with their app fighting FGM.

However, it is not merely about winning. As Owino states, “Whether we win or not, our perspective of the world and the possibilities it has will change for the better.”

– Lena Riebl
Photo: Flickr

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New Apps That Are Helping Refugees

Helping RefugeesToday, web and cellphone apps are being used by billions of people around the world. With so many applications being free there is an increased number of people who can access them. Today new apps are being created in order to help those who are in distress, such as refugees. Here is a list of just three new apps of this year that are helping refugees translate, gain access to information and connect with their families.

Tarjimly is a new translator app that connects volunteer translators to people, such as refugees or immigrants, who need translations in real-time for medical or legal purposes. Tarjimly acts as a Facebook messenger bot connecting an immigrant or refugee to a translator in an anonymous conversation. This app just recently launched in February of this year and already has more than 2,000 translators signed up.

Arrived is another app that is helping refugees gain quick access to information. Called “the hub of immigrant information,” this app is free and is available on Apple and Android phones. One of the things the app provides is the latest news about immigration. This news section also provides analysis of legislative proposals and actions in Washington. Arrived also provides information about deportation processes, English lessons and a study guide for citizenship tests. There is a section of answered questions that are most common that have been researched and a map to show law clinics and sanctuary cities in the U.S.

RedadAlertas is a web app that has not been released yet but will be arriving soon. Created by Celso Mireles who was previously an undocumented immigrant, this app delivers alerts about what is happening in different areas. Notifications about areas that have ICE raids, checkpoints or any type of confrontation will be sent out to its users. The app will work through crowdsourcing, which relies on people at scenes of an area to verify and provide details about what is happening. RedadAlertas hopes to help vulnerable immigrants in risk areas while also allowing legal aid groups, community organizations or activists to help immigrants.

These apps are helping refugees and immigrants around the world. These apps are versatile and all free so that they can be accessible to all users. By providing access to information, translators and up to date notifications these apps are allowing refugees and immigrants to get the help they may need.

– Deanna Wetmore
Photo: Flickr

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STEM Programs in Kazakhstan Invest in Young Engineers

STEM Programs in Kazakhstan
Robot battles, solar trackers and a laser that shoots for the moon — these are the inventions of western Kazakhstan’s youngest engineers. As part of their experience with the Zangar Initiative, which runs several STEM programs in Kazakhstan, these students combined the math and science they learn in school with the technological skills and hands-on experience that the initiative provides. The results seem almost like science fiction.

The results seem almost like science fiction. Although supported by Chevron and the International Youth Foundation, the community propels the initiative. The young people and their families chose the name “Zanger,” which is Kazakh for “mighty.”
The participating students are taught to use the engineering design process, a step-by-step guide for how to turn a brilliant idea into a concrete model. The process gives students a straightforward way to address a problem. They also learn skills like C programming and 3D design, which are not in the school curriculum, and have access to high-tech equipment.

The teens who participate in the STEM Capstone after-school clubs learn more than just technical skills. They often work in groups and learn both teamwork and stress management. One of the key tasks of a teammate, besides helping with design, is to steer his or her fellow engineers away from the temptation to give up should the early prototypes fail.

Perseverance is always rewarded. Many of these students go on to win regional and even national competitions. One student who created a laser designed to beam Helium-3, a potential clean energy source, from the moon to the earth, received a scholarship to the university of her choice in Kazakhstan.

The students of these STEM programs in Kazakhstan gain confidence in themselves and have high motivation to continue learning. Many of them gain the courage to become entrepreneurs. The program also opens their eyes to the needs of the community, inspiring service work and volunteering.

In December 2016, the city of Atyrau hosted its first STEM and English fair, featuring games and activities provided by the Zangar Initiative. Government officials hope that STEM programs in Kazakhstan will inspire a new generation of scientists and entrepreneurs, promoting economic and technological development within the country.

– Emilia Otte

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On Board With India’s First Solar-Powered Train

Solar Power in IndiaWhile cars may not be able to fly, solar energy can now power trains and this might be the next best thing. On July 14, 2017, India’s first solar-powered train hits the railroad as the country looks to move toward more renewable energy sources.

As a nation, India has long relied on railroad transport to get from one place to another. With 68,000 kilometers of railroad, India is the country with the fifth-greatest capacity for rail transportation. These rails play a critical role in transporting both passengers and cargo around the country.

Railroads account for 85 percent of India’s passenger traffic and 60 percent of its freight capacity. However, railways in India emit a significant amount of carbon dioxide. As a nation, India contributes four percent of the world’s fossil fuel emissions, posing serious environmental challenges.

The DEMU (diesel electric multiple train) that was launched out of the Safdarjung train station in New Delhi is expected to offset these emissions. The DEMU train is significantly more environmentally friendly than previous train models and counteracts carbon emissions by nine tons per coach per year, with a total of six coaches.

The design for the DEMU train was completed by Jakson engineers after they were awarded this project by Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuels, a unit of Indian Railways focused on promoting biodiesel and other alternative fuels for India’s railways.

The solar panels on India’s first solar-powered train have the capacity to power its internal lights, fans, and other electrical systems within the train, generating a total of 7,200 kilowatts per system per year. Additional energy generated during peak hours will be stored in a battery.

Regardless, with India’s expanding economy, it is necessary to address the limitations of current methods of transportation. While a commitment to renewable energy sources like solar power curbs carbon dioxide emissions, India’s current transportation methods pose certain limitations.

Transportation infrastructure is strained and unable to support future economic growth that could help alleviate poverty for many. Trains in India do reach most of the population, but rural areas are often under-served and many of the poor are not connected to India’s main economic centers by road or railway.

While India’s current dependence on rail transportation poses economic and poverty-related problems, the shift toward more environmentally sustainable practices alleviates some of these issues and India’s first solar-powered train is a good step towards this.

– Jennifer Faulkner

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Closing the Gap in Global Education

Closing the Gap in Global EducationDebates about education often center on the quality of public schools, diminishing budgets, scarce resources and technological provisions in the United States. While a focus on domestic educational issues is commendable and necessary, there is a grimmer picture across the world. According to the World Inequality Database on Education, fewer than 50 percent of the poorest children have completed primary school in 39 out of 88 countries. The economic productivity and social quality of life of any country depends on its educated population, and closing the gap in global education is the key to global prosperity, safety and stability.

Indeed, education can eliminate bigger problems such as poverty, inequality, insecurity and disease. Equal access to a quality education, including access to content and means of delivering instruction and following a set curriculum, remains an unrealized dream and a struggle for many.

The last two centuries have seen an exponential increase in the number of children attending primary school globally, from 2.3 million to 700 million today. What is troubling is that children in the poorest households of developing nations, those arguably most in need of educational opportunities, are four times as likely to be out of school as those in the wealthiest households.

It is going to take another 100 years for children in developing countries to reach the education level of their counterparts in developed countries.

Access to a quality education remains a basic building block to success. Current approaches to educational equity necessitate a fundamental rethinking in that they must take into account that many children are unable to go to school because schools simply do not exist in parts of developing countries.

If schools do exist, teachers may lack proper training and simply be incapable of handling the demands of a classroom setting. Furthermore, barriers inherent in certain areas, such as societal demands and expectations, can hamper learning outside the classroom.

Technological tools and resources ignite curiosity and promote more efficient, up-to-date learning. A huge growth in social media platforms can certainly be aligned with classroom activity and curriculum, establishing more innovative ways for students and teachers to learn about global issues.

Though technology makes learning opportunities more widely accessible by decreasing the significance of geographical boundaries, a lack of technological infrastructure means that many children are deprived of the digital educational resources taken for granted in developed nations. For these students, the difficulty of closing the gap in global education comes with an additional cost: loss of productivity.

In 2015, the United Nations heavily promoted the Millennium Development Goals to achieve free universal primary education for all children by the year’s end.

Although it was unfortunate that the pace of improvement by countries could not keep up with the desire to have universal primary education, the primary school net enrollment rate did reach over 90 percent, and the number of out-of-school children fell from 100 million in 2000 to 57 million in 2015 . Movement toward closing the gap in global education is signified by the fact that not a single country in the world today is completely without a schooling system.

Today’s economy is knowledge-based and highly competitive. Schools in developed nations are entrusted with students who lack neither skills nor talents, but educational opportunities.

Some factors are beyond students’ control, such as where they were born and what their financial means are. But with the recent advancements in educational models, global education disparity can meaningfully be addressed and mitigated.

– Mohammed Khalid

Photo: Flickr

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Blockchain Technology and Poverty Disruption

Blockchain Technology and PovertySince its conception, blockchain technology has become widely synonymous with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. However, the utility of blockchain comes not necessarily from its manifestation in online currency but the nature of its security and accessibility. These two features are what make blockchain technology and poverty so interlinked. It holds promise as a secure and equalizing tool for the world’s poorest and most rural.

The inner mechanisms and mathematical coding of blockchain are highly complex. The principle is simple. It is a public ledger, stored and spread across multiple networks in countries around the world, making an impermeable information network. The decentralized nature of the data stored on blockchain allows for its application across all sectors without risk of disruption.

Significant to alleviating poverty, blockchain technology’s secure nature allows for it to be used as a financial services platform. In both urban and rural areas of developing countries, banks can be hard to come by, expensive to set up an account in and somewhat unreliable.

Cryptocurrency services can be scaled up and down to be incorporated into everything from the most basic phones to the world’s most sophisticated smartphones. This cryptographic technology would allow its users to send money directly to other individuals without a middleman or “trusted third parties” which take a percentage as a fee for its services and can be largely inaccessible.

Estimates suggest that by 2020 over 70 percent of the world will have access to smartphones. With financial technologies such as blockchain services, there is a real chance for those in rural or economically unstable countries to secure themselves without huge risk. Blockchain technology and poverty could have a progressive and important relationship.

By using cryptocurrencies or internet-money, individuals in financially insecure nations can take steps to avoid financial vulnerabilities, such as fraud or hyperinflation. M-PESA, a mobile money-transfer and micro-loan financing company, operates all across Africa and in parts of central Asia. Numbers from early 2017 suggest that M-PESA’s user base allowed approximately 186,000 families, two percent of Kenyan households, move from poverty into sustainable working conditions.

Blockchain’s financial services allow for mass participation in the most remote parts of the world. A wide range of business owners can build financial credibility. Currently, Chinese pharmaceutical companies receive assistance from Yijan, a blockchain created by IBM and Hejia, a Chinese supply management company.

Significant and notable players on the international landscape are quickly getting involved in blockchain techniques. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Level One Project aims to use digital financial services to bring the impoverished into the formal economic ecosystem, providing them with the tools necessary for financial mobility.

In early 2017, the United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP) incorporated blockchain technology and cash-based transfers into its humanitarian aid outreach in Pakistan. By using mobile-transfers, the WFP ensured that those in need were receiving financial aid without the risk of the disruption possible with cash-based aid. The technology-based transfers also allowed for the WFP to streamline its tracking system. Since the success in Pakistan, the WFP has chosen to expand blockchain to other humanitarian efforts.

These are a few of blockchain’s many applications. Its reach and potential as a tool for poverty alleviation are great, especially if utilized jointly by governments and NGOs. Although it may be no panacea, the incorporation of blockchain technology may be a significant macro approach in solving the systematic issue of poverty. Blockchain technology and poverty disruption may be one of the most exciting aspects of the new digital age.

– Sydney Nam