Archive for category: Technology

Information and stories about technology news.

AMGO App Brings Movies to Africa

Movies to Africa
Mobile network provider MTN Ghana has partnered with African Movies on the GO (AMGO), a content provider, to provide over one billion movie lovers access to any of their favorite movies online using their smartphone devices.

The AMGO app will put unlimited African entertainment in the hands of movie lovers on the continent and abroad at a moderate cost. Users can easily watch downloaded videos offline anywhere and anytime on their smart mobile device, and movies can be paid for using MTN Mobile Money or any other electronic payment service of choice.

Apps like AMGO are especially important in the drive to connect more smartphone users in Africa. The continent is already seeing substantial positive change, with the number of smartphone connections almost doubling over the last two years, reaching 226 million. This means that today more than half a billion people across Africa subscribe to mobile services, with the number expected to grow to 725 million by 2020.

The mobile ecosystem indirectly and directly contributed to 3.7 million jobs in 2015. This could potentially help the continent grow its job sector; and if mobile device prices continue to drop as they have, Africa could potentially move over the affordability barrier.

The AMGO app will help the continent do just that by promoting digital access to media and entertainment. The app, specifically, could present a great opportunity for African movie producers according to the CEO of AMGO Group LLC, Nana Osei Aboagye. Equally important, it will also sell African content to the outside world in an effort to change the narrative of the continent.

The ultimate hope is to enhance the lives of the users by enabling them access to these benefits. Currently, the app is available on Google Play for Android devices, but the company plans to get other operating systems on board.

With the release of the AMGO app, Africa will take a big step forward in its digital revolution and enhance its people’s lives.

– Mayan Derhy

Photo: Flickr

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2KUZE Mobile Marketplace

Mobile Marketplace
Let’s grow together. This is what MasterCard enabled with the launch of the 2KUZE mobile marketplace in January, which connects smallholder farmers, agents, buyers and banks in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Users can buy, sell and receive electronic payments for their crops through a mobile app. 2KUZE mobile marketplace makes the selling of crops more efficient for farmers, eliminating the need for them to travel long distances to markets. The platform also gives them access to a wider marketplace, allowing them to seek out the best price for their crops. Women will benefit from selling their crops through the platform, as their duties often prevent them from leaving home.

Through the app, buyers can post orders with the help of an agent. Farmers can see the orders and accept them. Agents then collect the produce from farmers and deliver it to buyers. The agents also pay farmers through a bank transfer or cash.

Eighty percent of African farmers are classified as smallholder farmers, who own small plots of land and rely mostly on family labor and grow only a few cash crops. Smallholder farmers often work with limited resources and incomes, which makes it difficult for them to improve the profitability and sustainability of their crops.

Named after the Swahili words for “let’s grow together,” the 2KUZE mobile marketplace was developed through MasterCard Labs for Financial Inclusion. There are currently 2,000 smallholder farmers in Nandi Hills, Kenya using the marketplace to sell their produce and work with agents to reach the best buyers at the best price.

MasterCard Labs for Financial Inclusion, in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, collaborates with local expertise to improve access to financial services. The initiative works to empower the 500 million people previously excluded from financial services and promote more inclusive growth.

MasterCard also collaborated with Cafédirect Producers Foundation to introduce the 2KUZE mobile marketplace. This British nonprofit works with 280,000 smallholder farmers across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The smallholder farmer-led organization allows farmers to share knowledge and develop their own projects.

Cell phones are now as popular in Nigeria and South Africa as they are in the U.S. While smartphones are not as widely used in Africa as basic cell phones, the availability of low-cost smartphones has caused smartphone ownership in Africa to increase rapidly.

In 2016, the Pew Research Center reported that 40% of adults in Kenya own a smartphone or use the internet. Twenty-one percent of adults in Tanzania and 11% of adults in Uganda reported in the same study that they use the internet or own a smartphone.

– Cassie Lipp

Photo: Flickr

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Water Conservation in Kenya – There’s an App for That!

Kenya_Water
The unpredictable weather conditions in central Kenya create challenges for many small farmers. The country is categorized as a water-scarce nation, as most of its landmass is considered arid or semi-arid. To compensate, growers traditionally water their crops with cans or buckets, creating inefficient and uneven irrigation. This system resulted in irregular and costly harvests — until scientists from Kenya’s Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) stepped in to advance water conservation in Kenya.

Daniel Maitethia and a team of scientists from MUST discovered a solution: a “sensor-based automatic irrigation system” app. Launched last year at MUST’s own test farm, the system uses sensors strategically placed throughout fields. Drip lines are installed into subdivided portions and water is automatically channeled. When the soil is dry, the system then uses solar panels to open a water tank. The sensors then alert the system when enough water has been supplied, and then the irrigation shuts off — saving valuable water.

Water Conservation via an App

The secret to the system’s success lies in the user interface of the app. Farmers can operate the system remotely through text messages to the app. Some of the controls available at the push of a button consist of turning on water pumps, opening specified water valves, closing open valves and re-channeling irrigation.

There’s little doubt about the wide-reaching benefits of MUST’s system, especially regarding water conservation in Kenya. Additionally, labor costs can also be reduced. On-site farm attendants are no longer needed to oversee and implement irrigation daily. Any alerts in the system are sent to the farmer via text.

Cost Savings and Maintenance

Farmers like John Njeru are already realizing the benefits. He used to hire other farmers to help water his land, but with the system in place, he no longer needs the extra hands. He reports that his labor costs are reduced by 20,000 Kenyan shillings or $192 per month. Further, Njeru is seeing less food loss: “I used to lose up to 70% of my produce as a result of dry weather and inefficient irrigation, compared to only 10% now.”

Maitethia understands the need for potential troubleshooting and technical support. He advised that if there is a “glitch” in the system, the farmer will receive a text explaining the problem. He promised support, saying “a technician employed by the university will then help the farmer remotely with instructions, or physically come to the farm if needed.”

Maitethia remains hopeful for future expansion. He advised that the system received one million Kenyan shillings ($9,600) by the Water Services Trust Fund in November 2016 as the best innovation in the country in water resource management. He hopes that the award, coupled with other potential partnerships, will increase the availability of this system to benefit water conservation in Kenya.

– Gisele Dunn

Photo: Flickr

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Students Turn Coffee Grounds into Fuel for Refugees

Coffee Grounds into Fuel for RefugeesDozens of student teams at the University of Toronto (UoT) recently participated in the Clinton Global Initiative’s 2017 Hult Prize competition. Given today’s global context, the theme of this year’s competition was “Refugees – Reawakening Human Potential and Restoring the Dignity of 10 Million People by 2022.” Several students from UoT impressed the judges with their initiative to turn coffee grounds into fuel that can be easily implemented in refugee camps across the world.

The Hult Prize is one of the largest and most competitive student contests in the world. The competition focuses on improving social good, specifically reinstating the rights and dignity of communities affected by social injustice, politics, economic, climate change and war. The winners of the contest receive $1 million in start-up funds and mentorship from international business and humanitarian leaders.

The competition is run by the Hult Prize Foundation. The foundation has stated that it believes the number of refugees worldwide far exceeds the number estimated by the United Nations, which is partially what inspired this year’s theme. “Rather than focus on aid and charitable approaches to refugee migration, we focus this challenge on the reawakening of human aid,” says the foundation’s website.

In Canada, the government resettled more than 25,000 Syrian refugees between November 2015 and February 2016, so the theme of the competition is relevant for UoT students. Canada’s private sponsorship program continues to facilitate the relocation of even more refugee families from Syria.

Five students from UoT, Lucy Yang, Matthew Frehlich, Gotham Rakmachandran, Sam Bennett and Lucas Siow, have advanced to the regional semi-finals of the competition. They have designed a substitute for firewood, called Moto, made from coffee grounds, sugar and paraffin wax. The mixture is put into a loaf pan and baked. The product is easily produced and gets rid of waste from used coffee grounds.

A 2014 survey from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees found that 90 percent of refugees in Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda rely on firewood to cook and keep themselves warm. Moto will prevent the dangers that come along with searching for firewood outside of the camps.

The creators of Moto have used the log substitute to boil water and cook lentils, successfully turning the coffee grounds into fuel. The log can burn for up to 90 minutes.

The goal for Moto is to connect the idea with businesses in Africa and refugees living in Toronto in order to tweak the design to best meet the needs of refugees living in camps across the world.

The design is simple so that people living in developing countries can eventually learn to utilize the technique themselves. The idea of turning coffee grounds into fuel is a revolutionary one that has the potential to make lives easier for refugees all over the world.

– Peyton Jacobsen

Photo: Flickr

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Kopernik: Using Technology to Improve the Developing World

Kopernik: Using Technology to Improve the Developing World

Billions of people all over the world lack the technology allowing them access to light, fuel-friendly cooking and clean drinking water. This is why Kopernik, a nonprofit technology company, is working to distribute simple, life-improving technologies to the world’s poorest communities.

The company provides these communities with items such as water filters, solar power lights and cooking stoves. Nicolaus Copernicus is the organization’s namesake since Kopernik is meant to be a catalyst for change and new ways of seeing the world. Kopernik distributes the best technology for the developing world through sourcing, connecting and reinvesting.

Sourcing

Kopernik uses its website to spread awareness about its technology. In response, countries submit proposals for the items they need the most. Then Kopernik publishes projects on the website in order to raise funds.

Connecting

Once the projects are fully funded — usually by donors — Kopernik ships the technology to its local partners. People then buy that technology at an affordable price through those local partners.

Reinvesting

Next, the local partners repay the money from technology sales to Kopernik. This money is then reinvested into new technology. Kopernik also works with local partners to assess the technology’s impact and share feedback with technology producers.

Funding

Kopernik is a nonprofit organization with a for-profit arm. The for-profit part of the organization is a consulting firm that works with technology companies in product development. The profits from the consulting business are then channeled toward the nonprofit operations.

Kopernik receives funding from companies, government development programs and individuals. Its partners also provide in-kind support such as free or discounted services. This keeps the organization’s operating costs low.

Technology

Kopernik is helping women access clean birth supplies and information about safe birthing practices. For example, in the Chittagong district of Bangladesh as well as Laos, the nonprofit provides JANMA clean birth kits to women. These birth kits contain sterile tools to reduce the risk of infection during childbirth.

In Vietnam, the organization has also connected 90 families with hearing-impaired children with affordable hearing aid technology. This makes it possible for children to learn to speak and form a better bond with their families and communities.

Impact

So far, Kopernik has served 396,325 people and distributed 90,359 technologies. It has funded 170 projects and reached 26 countries, among them Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ghana and Nigeria.

According to Patrick Vinck of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, “New applications of technologies to humanitarian action may be the most important factor influencing humanitarian effectiveness over the next decade.” In this regard, Kopernik’s emphasis on technology distribution represents great gains for the world’s anti-poverty organizations with only more progress to come.

– Liliana Rehorn

Photo: Flickr

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China Boosts Pakistan, Venezuela with Remote Sensing Satellite

China Boosts Pakistan
Recently, nearly 200 scientists, researchers and officials from the space industry participated in the Symposium on Space International Cooperation, promoting the economic and social development of the developing world. The symposium, held in November, in Beijing, was a joint effort put together by the International Academy of Astronautics and the China International Exchange Center for Astronautical Science and Technology.

During the symposium, Hiroki Matsuo, Vice-President of the International Academy of Astronautics confirmed China’s commitment to collaborating with developing countries in the areas of space-based navigation, manned and robotic space flights and data applications—namely with Pakistan and Venezuela. Matsuo declared, “Preparation work for the Venezuela Remote Sensing Satellite II project is proceeding according to schedule.” He also verified that a similar remote sensing satellite, to be used by Pakistan, would be finished in 2018.

Remote sensing satellites are dedicated to accumulating data about the earth’s surface and can help survey resources on land, monitor nearby oceans and forecast weather — something essential to crop planning and resiliency in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Both the Venezuelan and Pakistani remote sensing satellites are being developed by the China Academy of Space Technology. The company is also dedicated to expanding its services to other countries in the developing world, especially to countries in the Middle East that are new to the space market. To date, 11 satellites, developed in China, have been completed and exported to nine different countries, including Laos, Nigeria and Bolivia. The successes of the China Academy of Space Technology in working with the developing world can be attributed to their commitment to providing more than just the design and manufacturing of remote sensing satellites. They also incorporated launch, operations and training services into their business model.

Hu Zhongmin, the Director of the International Cooperation Department at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the parent company of the China Academy of Space Technology, is excited about further collaborations between China and other countries. Zhongmin and his company understand that multi-national exchanges of space technology can greatly benefit the developing world.

When it comes to manufacturing and launching satellites, China has had a long-running relationship with Venezuela. In fact, the Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite II, to be completed later this year, is the third collaborative effort between the two countries. The first was a communication satellite, launched in 2008 and the second was the Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite I, which was launched in 2012.

Pakistan is also a veteran to the world of space technology, establishing the Space Sciences Research Wing to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission in 1961. The original project from the program, Rehbar-I, was launched in 1962 and became only the tenth of its kind in the world. Data from this original Pakistan Space Sciences Research project helped officials study weather, cyclones and cloud formations above the Arabian Sea.

– Ashley Henyan

Photo: Flickr

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Mamaope Jackets Bring Hope

Mamaope Jackets
A new innovation from Uganda aims to reduce the often fatal misdiagnosis of pneumonia by providing jackets that identify symptoms unique to the disease.

A Ugandan man named Brian Turyabagye designed the biomedical smart jacket to identify such symptoms of pneumonia as breathing rate, temperature and sound of the lungs and to make a diagnosis three or four times faster than a doctor. The jackets are called “Mamaope,” meaning Mother’s hope, as they aim to provide hope to mothers in Sub-Saharan Africa where pneumonia killed 490,000 children under the age of five last year.

According to Turyabagye, many of these deaths are due to misdiagnosis. He explains that pneumonia is often misdiagnosed as malaria in regions where the latter is prevalent. Since the symptoms of pneumonia and malaria are very similar, Mamaope Jackets will focus on identifying symptoms that can differentiate them and lead to a more accurate diagnosis.

When Turyabagye was an undergraduate student in Uganda he accompanied a friend’s grandmother to the hospital after she became seriously ill. Doctors initially diagnosed and treated her for malaria, only realizing that she was dying of pneumonia when it was too late. This inspired Turyabagye to create a more effective and simple way to diagnose pneumonia.

According to UNICEF, pneumonia kills nearly 1 million children under five each year globally which is more than HIV/AIDS, diarrhea, and malaria combined. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for half of the pneumonia deaths of children worldwide, and the region lacks critical funding for prevention and treatment.

If mass-produced, the jackets will be distributed to health centers and hospitals where it will be used to more accurately diagnose pneumonia. Mamaope Jackets will focus on symptoms unique to pneumonia, which usually occurs on the sides of the body rather than just the chest or the back. Turyabagye believes that being able to distinguish between what is healthy and what is not is a significant step to preventing misdiagnosis.

If Turyabagya secures funding for mass production, there is hope that the jackets will create awareness and increase funding for pneumonia treatment and care. The jackets have the potential to make waves in the global health community and thus securing funding for the fight against pneumonia globally.

The jacket is currently a prototype, but it is expected to undergo a medical examination this month. If this is successful, the jacket will be certified for medical use this spring. Mamaope Jackets are on the shortlist for this year’s Africa prize for engineering innovation, and if they win Turyabagye hopes to use the £25,000 prize money to begin mass production and distribution.

– Eva Kennedy

Photo: Flickr

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Rumie: Providing Education Through Technology

Rumie: Providing Education Through Technology
A Toronto-based startup called Rumie is helping expand children’s access to education by providing them with tablets that are preloaded with educational materials.

In a global economy that is largely knowledge-based, insufficient access to education means that over a billion children worldwide are left behind. Providing education through technology is, therefore, more important than ever.

Rumie aims to combat this by providing low-cost, energy-efficient tablets to children in impoverished areas. These tablets come preloaded with a combination of educational materials and games that children can unlock by studying. These tablets are especially useful in areas where access to books, libraries or other educational materials are rare.

The tablets use LearnCloud to organize and distribute free educational materials to children who often lack access to the internet. All the materials on LearnCloud are free and available to anyone, and they can be uploaded by anyone. Once resources are uploaded, Rumie’s partners in each country organize them and upload them to children’s tablets.

The tablets cost $50 each, and the company raises money for them through a campaign on Indiegogo. They contain a “learn” section with educational materials and a “play” section which contains games that can be unlocked by a teacher or by doing educational exercises.

The tablets contain software that allows users to organize materials in a similar way to the organization on LearnCloud. This means that materials on the tablet are easy for students to access and work with. The tablets’ technology also allows Rumie to collect data and monitor the devices for feedback, therefore allowing them to improve as necessary.

Rumie provides tablets to children in North America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Their latest project, the LearnSyria initiative, aims to provide educational materials to children in refugee camps in three ways. People all over the world can choose to either upload topics and materials to the LearnCloud, they can donate money to help provide tablets to children or they can spread the word about Rumie’s mission.

Rumie tablets were shipped to Liberia with the intent to be used for rehabilitating child soldiers in 2014. Instead, these tablets became a source of entertainment and hope for children during the isolation and fear of the Ebola epidemic. Children were able to stay busy and continue learning even while confined to their homes, and the Huffington Post describes children holding their Rumie tablets with “a faint glimmer of hope and self-empowerment in what is otherwise an overwhelmingly dire situation in Liberia today.”

Rumie is taking bold steps by providing education through technology to empower children globally and create change for the future.

– Eva Kennedy

Photo: Flickr

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Virtual Reality Can Affect Global Poverty

Virtual Reality Can Affect Global Poverty
Although the technology of virtual reality (VR) is still in its infancy, it is steadily growing more advanced and more easily available to the public. VR is opening up all kinds of new opportunities and experiences, and they’re not just limited to video games – people around the world are finding that virtual reality can affect global poverty.

VR has made a strong impact in such fields as healthcare, manufacturing and even insurance. Many around the world see no reason why these advances shouldn’t also address humanitarian needs.

Researchers have found that virtual reality is incredibly powerful at building the feeling of empathy in users, which gives it obvious appeal to those in the non-profit world. With its ability to connect users to other people, the technology can make unprecedented strides in shining a light on the plight of millions.

According to Jeremy Bailenson of Stanford University, “Virtual reality transforms relationships that tend to be abstract to become visceral. Our research has shown that making this cause and effect relationship perceptual, as opposed to theoretical, changes consumer and other behaviors more than other interventions.”

Some non-profit organizations are now taking advantage of the fact that virtual reality can affect global poverty. HOPE International has found success by reaching out to potential donors with the technology by showing them exactly what problems their donations will be addressing. Boosted levels of empathy generate more contributions, helping to make a significant dent in global need.

Another organization, Trickle Up, combats poverty in some of the world’s poorest countries also by using virtual reality. By introducing VR experiences to donors at a fundraising gala, the organization was able to connect supporters to a local shop owner in Guatemala whose business would benefit from their donations. Trickle Up’s Communications Officer, Tyler McClelland, noted that having VR at the event increased interest and made guests more excited about the cause.

Some have taken the involvement of virtual reality in the humanitarian world to an even more interesting level. Chris Milk of UNICEF partnered with Samsung in 2015 to create Clouds Over Sidra, a virtual reality film that follows a 12-year old girl, Sidra, through her day-to-day life in the Syrian refugee camp of Za’atari in Jordan. Winner of the 2015 Doc/Fest Award, the film breaks barriers in the documentary world, making the VR viewer an interactive participant.

While there is much time and research yet to spend on the technology, early success strongly indicates that virtual reality can affect global poverty. It has the power to break down walls and, as the creator of Clouds Over Sidra said, it “connects humans to other humans in a profound way I’ve never before seen in any other form of media, and it can change people’s perception of each other. That is why I think virtual reality has the potential to actually change the world.”

– Emily Marshall

Photo: Flickr

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Five Space Inventions Helping the Developing World

Five Space Inventions Helping the Developing World
From non-stick frying pans to squirt guns to keeping our homes warm, innovations that originated as space inventions are used each and every day right here on earth. But, some space inventions have become even more useful than ever imagined, and are now helping fight poverty in the developing world. Here is a look at five space inventions and some of the ways each helps to alleviate human suffering.

Baby Blankets

From NASA’s efforts in the 1980s to create a material that could both insulate and cool astronauts facing extreme temperatures during spacewalks came phase-change materials, or PCM’s. Although this material never made it into astronaut’s gloves, the space invention that emerged proved effective for insulating. In 2013, Jen Chen created a company called Embrace Innovations, which makes swaddles and blankets using PCM technology. The Embrace business model is simple: buy a blanket or swaddle for your baby and one is donated to a baby in need in the developing world. To date, 200,000 babies have been reached across 10 countries.

Solar Energy

When NASA began studying Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) to develop uninhabited aircraft that could sustain long-duration flights without interruption, the need for new innovative solar power sources became paramount. Among the space inventions that resulted: single-crystal silicon solar cells that significantly reduced the cost of solar power. With billions still living without electricity worldwide, solar power has proved effective in helping get clean water, mobile charging, and general illumination to the developing world.

Freeze-dried Food

Through an alliance with Nestle, in the pre-Apollo era, NASA developed a technique for freeze-drying food which made the transportation of numerous orbital delight feasible. Today, freeze-dried food is used to prevent spoilage while providing life-saving nutrient-rich substance to people suffering from hunger in the developing world. For example, Stop Hunger Now, a non-profit based out of Raleigh, North Carolina, operates meal-packing programs in 20 cities worldwide. They ship dehydrated rice and soy meals that are fortified with 23 nutrients and vitamins to not only help solve the problem of hunger in the world but also help provide essential nutrients to those living with a vitamin or mineral deficiency.

Baby Formula

In an effort to alleviate some of the challenges of eating in space while also reducing waste, NASA, with the contracted help of Marietta Laboratories, worked with micro-algae to develop a special three-in-one food source. The invention didn’t work out as space-food; however, Marietta’s research provided the technology used to place nutritional supplements into infant formula and baby food. One in four children around the world suffers from chronic malnutrition that stunts their growth. And, due to poverty and poor nutrition, an estimated 200 million children under age five suffer from under-developed cognition. With nutrient-enriched baby food, organizations helping to fight poverty and malnutrition in the developing world have a better chance to reach children during the most critical stages of development — conception to two years.

Satellites

Some space inventions have not only changed the world but also changed the way we look at it. While the link between satellites, NASA and space are obvious, their ability to help feed those living in the developing world is a bit more complex. Satellites can generate images of vegetation that, in turn, can measure “greenness” and provide real-time rainfall data and imagery. Thus, this space invention helps officials and policy-makers monitor for potential crop failures throughout the developing world. With better prediction capabilities comes better awareness, and with better awareness comes the ability to prevent food shortages. NASA has even teamed up with the USAID through a new environmental monitoring program in West Africa called SERVIR-West Africa. The program plans to enhance the use of data collected from satellite imagery to help fight hunger by helping officials better manage climate issues that affect crop harvesting and nutritional planning.

– Ashley Henyan

Photo: Flickr