Archive for category: Technology

Information and stories about technology news.

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Etisalat Raise ICT Literacy Through Donations

EtisalatEtisalat contributed 30 desktop computers in an attempt to improve Information Communication Technology (ICT) education at the Nuhu Bamali Primary School in Kano State. Etisalat hopes the computer donations will raise ICT literacy at the primary school.

The computers were presented to the school during a commissioning of facilities ceremony where Etisalat also unveiled school renovations, according to It News Africa.

The Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Etisalat, Ibrahim Dikko, said the donation was in line with their commitment to improving education in Nigeria through partnerships with the government.

ICT education has become a basic component of learning and will provide a greater benefit if students in primary and secondary schools are exposed to it early on. The company is dedicated to creating an improved and conducive learning environment for Nigerian children, according to Dikko.

Headmistress of Nuhu Bamali Primary School, Hajia Asmau Mohammed Lawan, hopes the computers will go a long way in giving pupils the cutting edge education to prepare them for their individual career paths according to It News Africa.

In October 2015, Etisalat donated desktop computers to the ICT center of Girls’ Government College in Nigeria, which is also located in Kano State.

According to Etisalat’s Head of Government and Community Relations, Mohammed Suley-Yusuf, “Etisalat is proud to be able to contribute positively to achieving the government’s objective of improving Kano State, especially in the area of education.”

Etisalat Group is a telecommunications provider who offers services to 18 countries throughout the Middle East, Asia and Africa. It is one of the world’s leading telecom groups and ranks among the most profitable telecom groups in the world. They work with the British Council to provide a Pan-Nigerian teacher training program and they continue to focus on improving education through their Adopt-a-School program.

The company is currently working on an initiative to create an Etisalat Telecommunications Engineering Postgraduate Program within the education sector.

– Jordan Connell

Sources: Etisalat, It News Africa, Prompt News Online
Photo: Manic

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Yudala Makes First Drone Delivery in Nigeria

YudalaYudala made the first drone delivery in Nigeria during its Black Friday sale.

A group of spectators and several media organizations came with camera crews to watch the drone take off from the Yudala headquarters in Gbagada.

The drone delivered a Nokia smart phone to a customer who ordered from the Yudala website. It flew all the way to an Access Bank branch located along the Gbagada-Oshodi Expressway where the item was successfully delivered, according to Vanguard.

The customer who received the smart phone, Yetunde Lawal, said, “I am extremely delighted and indeed short of words to explain how I feel to be the first person to receive an item via drone delivery in Nigeria, all thanks to Yudala. This is an innovative concept in the evolution of e-commerce in the country, which I am sure other competitors will want to copy.”

Yudala continued to make drone deliveries throughout the rest of its Black Friday sales, which took place from November 26 to November 30.

Lawal said, “Yudala has met and exceeded my expectations, and I can only encourage all my colleagues, friends and family to shop and shop on Yudala. Black Friday is here, and I am glad that the Yudala offer will run till Monday.”

Companies such as Amazon are working to incorporate drone deliveries into their businesses, according to CNN. Drone deliveries are believed to be the future for online delivery companies.

Yudala is Nigeria’s first true composite online and offline retail chain. The word means “best wishes, peace of mind and prosperity” and is the first organization in Nigeria to combine an online platform with offline stores located in cities across Africa.

According to MSN News, Yudala has a strong ambition to control the pace and set new milestones for online and offline retail business. The company started up four months ago and has been very successful ever since.

They have been working on some powerful campaigns to break through to Africa, including “Neighbor to Neighbor Mega-Deals” and “October Mid-Day Madness,” according to Innov8tiv.com.

They have also entered into partnerships with other companies such as HP, Lenovo, Apple, Microsoft, Sony and Dell.

– Jordan Connell

Sources: CNN, Innov8tiv.com, MSN News, Vanguard
Photo: Somtoo

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Google Launches Wi-Fi in Uganda

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Google launched Wi-Fi in Uganda for the first time as part of a project to broaden access to affordable high-speed Internet.

Google is making the wireless network available to local Internet providers, who can then charge customers for access. Wi-Fi is now available in 120 key locations in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.

According to statistics, Uganda has nearly 8.5 million Internet users, which makes up 23 percent of the population.

The use of smartphones has dramatically increased in Africa, but high-speed Internet access continues to be too expensive for many Africans to enjoy. Google is working to make access to high-speed Internet affordable for them.

Google estimates that one day of unlimited data using the network will cost around 1,000 Ugandan shillings, the equivalent of 30 cents in the United States, but local providers will ultimately decide how much they want to charge customers for access to the network.

Google said they hope that by improving Internet capacity in the city, local companies will be able to offer faster broadband access for cheaper.

Ugandans would like to see Internet access in rural and hard to reach areas as well.

So far, Google has laid 500 miles of cables in Uganda in order to establish a fiber-optic network. They are working on a more expansive project to improve web infrastructure in Africa.

There are plans to expand the project to the Ghanaian cities of Accra, Tema and Kumasi.

Facebook and Microsoft are also working on their own projects in developing countries with hopes that the whole world will soon have access to Internet.

Tech Times said they believe the more connected countries are, the better the world could be. Google is working to do its part to ensure more places around the globe have Internet access. Wi-Fi in Uganda is just the start of what the company said they hope to achieve.

– Jordan Connell

Sources: AllAfrica, BBC News, Tech Times  
Photo: Flickr

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Break Poverty Hackathon Will Improve Lives of Kenyans

dev without borders
A 24-hour break poverty hackathon between Kenyans and Canadians aims to develop a solution to tackle rural poverty and to improve lives of Kenyans.

Developers Without Borders, a Canadian non-profit organization, hosted the hackathon. The non-profit runs an online platform connecting software developers worldwide with international development projects.

The hackathon took place in Nairobi and Toronto over Skype and provided an opportunity for more than 200 Canadian and Kenyan software developers to work together. The hackathon trained software developers to build SMS, hardware and mobile web solutions, which will improve health, education and agriculture to the people of rural Kenya.

Danielle Thé, founder of Developers Without Borders, said, “The core of Break Poverty Hackathons are to build cross-continental relationships between software developers in different countries. By listening to others before we build, hackathon attendees at Break Poverty will create technology that aren’t just cool, but immensely life changing for people living in poverty.”

Participants in Toronto spent part of the event learning about real issues on the ground in Kenya, then coming up with ideas that could improve conditions and issues people face on a daily basis. The developers worked together to create realistic solutions to education, business and farming problems. Some of the apps created could help residents in areas such as measuring the market prices of their agriculture or monitoring maternal health.

“The number one goal is increasing access to information,” Thé said.

The winning solutions from the Break Poverty hackathon will be implemented by Free the Children in some of Kenya’s most remote areas. Free the Children is an international charity and educational partner that works to free children and their families from poverty and exploitation.

Developers Without Borders believes that solutions to international development issues will not come about if people work in isolation. The non-profit wants to continue to tackle rural poverty around the world.

– Jordan Connell

Sources: Development Diaries, Disrupt Africa, Free the Children, Metro News
Photo: Devs Without Borders

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Fighting Malaria with Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

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Scientists have genetically modified mosquitoes in an effort to combat the spread of malaria globally. This technological advancement could substantially reduce the transmission of malaria which continues to have devasting impacts especially in developing countries.

Malaria Facts

According to the World Health Organization (WHO):

  • In 2015, there were 214 million malaria cases across the globe and approximately 438,000 deaths.
  • Sub-Saharan African countries, such as Chad, Sudan, and Angola, are the most at risk for contracting malaria and 90 percent of all malaria deaths occur in these areas.
  • Children are one of the most high-risk groups – 482,000 children under the age of five died from malaria in 2012 alone.

Researchers affiliated with Imperial College London will seek to genetically modify Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito species most responsible for malaria transmission. Using a technology called “gene drive,” the researchers will use a modified gene to “disrupt” the egg production in female mosquitoes, making them sexually unable to reproduce.

However, some mosquitoes will simply become carriers of the modified gene. The gene will then be passed down “at an accelerated rate to offspring,” slowly discontinuing the spread of malaria throughout the population over time.genetically_modified_mosquitoes

In order to test the gene drive, the team identified three genes that were important in female fertility. After diagnosing those genes, they altered them, resulting in an adjustment that “disrupted the activity.”

The genes were modified with the CRISPR/Cas9 endonuclease, a special type of tool that is able to cut designated parts of the genetic code. Having the enabled ability to cut DNA at an exact location, researchers could then mutate them, rendering female mosquitoes infertile.

The researchers are optimistic that the spread could not only drastically reduce the number of malaria cases, but, in three years’ time, local populations of malaria-carrying mosquitoes could be eliminated.

“If successful, this technology has the potential to substantially reduce the transmission of malaria,” said co-author Andrea Crisanti from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial.

The technique, although only targeting the Anopheles gambiae, could be tested on other mosquito species as well. The team did target other species while conducting their research; however, they decided to focus their efforts on Anopheles gambaie. Their range of testing proves that their “gene drive” is flexible and can be applied to a range of varied genes.

However, it will still be a substantial amount of time before the gene-altered mosquitoes will be ready. Professor Austin Burt from Imperial’s Department of Life Sciences told The Economic Times that he expects it will be “at least 10 more years before gene drive malaria mosquitoes could be a working intervention”.

Naturally, there is more work that needs to be accomplished before genetically modified mosquitoes can be introduced. Safety assessments and extensive reports must be generated before field trials can take place. However, the futuristic technology is encouraging and could dramatically alter the spread of malaria, as well as change the way scientists will attack other diseases.

– Alyson Atondo

Sources: WHO 1, WHO 2, IFLScience, India
Picture: Flickr1, Flickr2

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Using Cell Phones to Measure Poverty in Developing Countries

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A new study published by the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley reports that mobile cell phone information can be used to measure levels of wealth and poverty in developing countries.

Historically, poverty data in developing countries has been difficult to measure because information is captured through door-to-door surveys.

“[Cell phones] could be a useful policy instrument to estimate the geographic distribution of poverty and wealth,” said Joshua Blumenstock, one of the study’s authors, in a NY Times interview.

Blumenstock and his colleagues used anonymous data from 1.5 million subscribers of Rwanda’s largest mobile phone network. The team analyzed billions of interactions which included the time and length of phone calls as well as text messages. Cellphone towers helped them get a rough idea of geographic location.

During the study, the researchers also interviewed 850 cell phone owners. The respondents were asked about their housing situations, the assets they had access to and other indicators of wealth or poverty.

The researchers used this information to create an algorithm that predicts a person’s wealth based on their cellphone usage. Using this model, the team was able to answer more specific questions including whether a house has electricity.

Notably, the resulting wealth and poverty maps closely mirrored the findings of the Rwandan government’s door-to-door surveys.

The researchers are trying to conduct similar work in Afghanistan because certain areas are dangerous or too difficult to access and door-to-door surveys are not possible.

“We do not think this method is the be-all or end-all, but in the absence of good information, this is better than nothing,” said Blumenstock. However, the researchers’ approach could lead to new ways to quickly analyze poverty at a fraction of the cost of other methods.

– Jordan Connell

Sources: PC Tech Magazine, The New York Times
Photo: Flickr

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MedicSMS Diagnoses Patients Remotely in Developing Countries

MedicSMS
A diagnosis could be as quick as a text message away through the program MedicSMS.

MedicSMS is a new way for doctors to give diagnoses to patients in developing countries. The service is provided by means of Artificial Intelligence (AI), an upcoming technology that is gaining credibility and popularity.

Many people in developing countries have access to basic mobile phones. According to the 2015 Ericsson Mobility Report there are 2.6 billion smartphone subscriptions that exist globally. By the year 2020, Ericsson predicts that number will jump to 3.5 billion.

MedicSMS capitalized on growing mobile connections, creating a new way for patients and their doctors to interact when “in-person” is not an option. The program works collaboratively with IBM Watson, a “supercomputer platform” that can “analyze health data” and Twilio, the SMS service used. The machine, using basic question and answer sets, will “reveal insights from large amounts of unstructured data,” according to IBM.

After the data is received from the patient, Watson goes to work. The AI interface translates the SMS into a “likely diagnosis,” according to MedicSMS. The patient is then delivered a set of steps to follow for their newly diagnosed condition.

After a diagnosis is made, patients can start a treatment regimen immediately.

A service similar to MedicSMS, called FrontlineSMS, is seeing success from its pilot project in Malawi, which is the world’s poorest country, according to data from the World Bank.

According to the FrontlineSMS website, the service saved hospital staff an estimated “1,200 hours of follow-up time and $3,000 in motorbike fuel.” The time saved by Frontline SMS could be allocated to other patients in need of “in-person” aid, while the financial resources could be stretched further to assist other people in need.

The MedicSMS AI interface also asks for a location from the patient. That information is logged and transported to local health authorities that can administer extra aid if needed, as well as medication that the patient requires.

The GPS location also allows health authorities to pinpoint where illnesses and diseases are taking place, helping them to be better prepared for future outbreaks of certain diseases.

Harley Katz, one of the Ph.D. members of the MedicSMS team, hopes that soon, health organizations can better understand where the epicenter for diseases and outbreaks are taking place.

“Eventually, we’re hoping to track much more, including where similar symptoms are popping up on the map,” he said.

– Alyson Atondo

Sources: World Bank, Ericsson, IBM, Frontline SMS, Techcrunch, Devpost
Photo: Google Images

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WeChat Wallet Launches in South Africa

WeChat_Wallet
Social messaging app, WeChat recently introduced a digital wallet service in Johannesburg, South Africa.

With WeChat Wallet, users can securely store bank cards and make instant cash payments just as they would with a physical wallet. The new service also enables users to electronically send cash to friends or family.

In addition, WeChat Wallet also offers the use of three chip, PIN debit and credit cards and the capability to transact via cards verified by Visa and MasterCard.

WeChat, which is owned by Chinese juggernaut, Tencent has partnered with Standard Bank for the launch of WeChat Wallet.

When registering for the digital wallet, users automatically become Standard Bank Instant Money users, which makes it possible for those without bank accounts to use the service. Accountholders at other banks are also able to access WeChat Wallet.

Brett Loubser, Head of WeChat Africa told IT News Africa, “The service is another way WeChat is merging the online and offline worlds, providing people with seamless payment integration in a single application. Now they won’t be inconvenienced if they forget their purses or money at home because everything they need is at their fingertips.”

WeChat Wallet is available to South Africans who are sixteen or older with a Valid ID who use iOS or Android phones. To register for the digital wallet service, all they have to do is log into WeChat, tap “wallet” then follow the step-by-step instructions.

To use the digital wallet service for in-store payments, customers simply need to scan the QR code located in stores that support this mobile payment platform and then enter the amount of their purchase into their phone. Users can even “cash in” and “cash out” via Instant Money vouchers at Standard Bank ATMs and other participating retailers.

According to Tencent, more than 200 million customers globally have added their bank cards to the mobile payment platform in November 2015.

– Jordan Connell

Sources: NFC World, It News Africa

 

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Intel: Preparing Nigerian Students for Future Employment

Nigerian_Students
Intel Corporation is using its resources to improve education in Nigeria by teaching educators to successfully incorporate technology into classrooms. The company believes this program will be the key to increasing 21st-century employment opportunities for Nigerian students.

Intel’s technology teacher training program is being implemented in conjunction with national governments and public institutions. The program focuses on a student-centered approach to learning instead of the traditional teacher-centric one.

Through this method, the teacher serves as a guide for students and helps maintain group collaboration. The students learn together and with each other. In addition, they also choose their own areas of study which keeps them engaged and fosters a passion for learning.

Another problem related to student engagement is the generation gap. Elderly teachers are not familiar with the latest technology and therefore, shun it in the classroom. This upholds the traditional pen and paper classrooms with their teacher-centered focus leading to boredom in the classroom.

Intel’s technology teacher training will help address this problem by educating instructors. For example, Dr. Kemi Banjoko, a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, said what intrigued him the most was “the use of mobile phone and tablets in teaching.”

Intel’s corporate affairs group manager, Babatunde Akinola, stressed the importance of this education for Nigeria. He said, “The world is getting more global and if you do not fit in, you face being dis-enfranchised.”

Nigeria is a growing country with massive oil reserves and a large youth population. However, the country lacks a strong education system. Notably, the primary school attendance rate for males is 72 percent but drops to 54 percent for secondary school. The government is hoping that the inclusion of technology will help keep Nigerian students engaged in learning.

Intel’s program has trained over 10 million educators in 70 different countries and Nigeria is hoping to benefit from the collaboration. Since 2013, Intel has teamed up with major educational institutions in Nigeria like Tai Solarin University of Education and Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education.

– Andrew Wildes

Sources: AllAfrica, Edutopia, Intel, TechTrends Nigeria, UNICEF
Photo: Flickr

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Why Drones Could Soon Be Delivering Health Care

DronesPending Aviation Authority approval, drones could soon be used to deliver healthcare to patients in developing countries.

Drones, or unmanned aircraft, can be controlled by remote or autonomously. They can be used for a variety of things including surveillance, leisure and weaponry. Now, the potential has been unlocked for drones to help the field of healthcare.

Timothy Amukele, a pathologist at Johns Hopkins, is one of the people exploring this possibility. Recognizing that access in many third world countries is inadequate and expensive, he thought, why not drones?

“If we now have a cheaper way to move samples, it’s a good thing, especially for patients who are hard to reach, whether they live in rural areas or places without good roads,” Amukele said.

In order to stabilize health throughout Africa, access to medicine is necessary. One of the main reasons medicine becomes undeliverable is poor road conditions.

According to the Africa Development Bank, in 2010 only 34 percent of rural Africa had adequate road access. That small percentage is further crippled by the fact that those roads are poor quality and the government was unwilling to grant money for their repair.

Right now, helicopters or motorcycles are the best means of transportation throughout rural Africa. While motorcycles are cheaper to operate, they also have their disadvantages.

Motorcycles are smaller, eliminating the possibility for large amounts of cargo to be transported. Helicopters, on the other hand, make more sense because they are larger and avoid roads altogether. However, the operational costs are excessive.

Drones, potentially, are a solution to that logistical issue. The unmanned aircraft do not need to deal with traveling across haphazard roads. They are also significantly less expensive to operate, as they do not require fuel.

Drones can also help alleviate the number of patients a physician has to help for non-threatening medical issues. According to the World Bank, Bhutan only has one physician for every 3,333 people.

Having the ability to send drones to deliver medicine would cut down on the number of patients a physician would have to see. This would free up time for doctors to be able to attend to patients in desperate need of care.

Even though the idea of drones providing healthcare services is new, there are many positive attributes. Still, more must be achieved and learned to allow for this conception to become a reality.

– Alyson Atondo

Sources: MIT, The Conversation, Washington Post, Benzinga
Photo: Flickr