Archive for category: Technology

Information and stories about technology news.

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Water Energy: Where We Are Heading

Water-Energy
Over the last 10 years, the quality of renewable energy has steadily increased. According to the European Commission, between 2003 and 2013, the quality increased by 83.4% – an average of 6.3% per year. Throughout 2013, the European Union (EU) produced 192 million tons of oil – about 24.3% of all energy used.

Biomass and renewable waste are the primary clean energy sources in the EU. Hydropower, which uses water as a renewable energy source, closely follows.

Hydropower is a clean energy source that has yet to be used to its full potential. It “captures electricity by using water that flows through a pipe to turn micro turbines in a line, or by harvesting energy from stream flows in irrigation canals and streams,” as explained in a CNBC report.

At Columbia University, researchers looked at water energy in a different way – they used evaporated water as the source. The researchers took bacterial spores that contract and expand based on the humidity of the environment and placed them in rows on tape that were then put together. This created a mass of rows that contracted and expanded together based on the environment. The bacterial spores had enough power from the air to move a toy car.

The technology is not yet powerful enough to work in a real life scenario and cannot compete with solar energy in efficiency. However, researchers believe it could harness enough energy to power a phone, even if it will not change the transportation industry.

Over in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Navy is sponsoring another way to use hydropower – using waves and ocean currents. This is exactly what the Azura Wave Energy Device is testing in Hawaii. Azura is a 63-foot-long, 10-foot-wide, 45-ton device that rotates as the incoming wave approach to extract energy.

CEO and co-founder Steve Koft explains, “the wave energy is much more predictable than solar or wind.” They are hoping this is the future of clean energy, but Azura is still a prototype. By harnessing the energy of waves, they have potentially found a way to capture predictable, consistent and clean energy to use.

Water energy is being explored more in depth everyday, and has huge potential to reduce the use of nonrenewable energy sources.

– Hannah Resnick

Sources: CNBC, European Commission, KITV, Quartz
Photo: Institution of Chemical Engineers

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The Importance of Data Collection in Global Health

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Data collection is essential to address public health concerns in the developing world. If a nonprofit or government institution cannot identify risk factors, outbreaks, health trends and vulnerable populations, aid cannot be targeted effectively at the people who need it the most. As Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization puts it, “without these data, countries and their development partners are working in the dark – throwing money into a black hole.”

That is why the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced the Roadmap for Health Measurement and Accountability and a Five-Point Call to Action. These initiatives are meant to encourage the governments of developing countries to strengthen their public health registration systems, with the goal of making health aid more effective while avoiding some of the data-collection pitfalls of the past.

While previous data-collection initiatives, many motivated by the Millennium Development Goals, led to dramatic improvements in public health knowledge gaps, they also had some negative consequences. These were mainly a result of the programs’ tendencies to fragment as well as detract from country-led approaches to data collection.

Jimmy Kolker, assistant secretary for global health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, points out that data collection should not be an “end in itself.” To be effective, governments need to have the political capacity to support, and act on, the data that they collect. In contrast to previous initiatives, the Roadmap and Call to Action are intended to empower countries to develop their own integrated health systems, which should be more sustainable and robust in the long-term.

The Five-Point Call to Action includes some very specific public health monitoring goals. For example, the third point emphasizes a need for adequate civil registration systems, with the goal of registering all births by 2030, as well as registering 80% of deaths and their causes. The reasoning behind being so specific in establishing broad standards is that in the past, data collection efforts were hampered by a lack of coordination; a poor focus on specific health issues also failed to reveal broad trends and strengthen public health systems. Thus, these initiatives emphasize establishing accurate measurements of a few basic indicators, such as births and deaths, as well as having basic reporting and public access mechanisms in place.

The Call to Action calls for adequate data collection and interpretation through modern technology, not just traditional registration systems. Point four emphasizes that by 2020 all countries should have “real-time disease surveillance systems in place, including the capacity to analyze and link data using interoperable, interconnected electronic reporting systems within the country.”

As technology has developed, aid agencies and governments have an ever-growing list of resources that can help them monitor, collect, and interpret health-related data. Up to two-thirds of the world’s population in 100 countries is absent from public registration systems, a gap that must be filled by modern data-gathering and reporting solutions. Mobile technology is an enormous boon to governments trying to build data collection and dissemination systems.

For example, since 2008 Bangladesh, with relatively little funding and prior to the aforementioned initiatives, has managed to strengthen programs for establishing electronic medical records, centralized databases, accessible online resources for data-entry and reporting, and citizen feedback mechanisms. Bangladesh is a great example of how a low-income country can rapidly modernize its public health data resources cheaply and efficiently, a model from which other developing countries might learn, spurred on by the recent initiatives by USAID, the WHO, and the World Bank. Perhaps, with some financial and technical support from these institutions, developing nations can create their own path toward improved public health.

– Derek Marion

Sources: MA4Health, World Bank, Devex
Photo: Leaning Forward

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A Children’s Storybook App, Sir Roger Moore and UNICEF

A Children's Storybook App, Roger Moore and UNICEF- TBP

Sir Roger Moore is lending his voice to a worthy cause. The James Bond veteran partnered with GivingTales, a new app geared toward children, to raise funds for the United Nations Children’s Fund, more commonly known as UNICEF.

Released on June 18, 2015, GivingTales is a collection of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales, narrated by Sir Moore, Dame Joan Collins, Ewan McGregor and Stephen Fry. The free children’s app is available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

“I’ve been a long time admirer of Hans Christian Andersen’s work, and I think it’s a wonderful collection of fairy stories for children and adults alike,” said Moore, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador since 1991.

Moore’s narration of “The Princess and the Pea” is included with download, but other stories narrated by Collins, McGregor and Fry are available as in-app purchases for $3.99 each. Thirty percent of the proceeds will be donated to UNICEF United Kingdom to help children and mothers in developing countries around the world.

The stories in GivingTales are presented in a contemporary yet timeless way, teaching important lessons with lively animation and modern language.

GivingTales CEO Jacob Moller explained that the app seeks to keep the essence of Andersen’s work, while simultaneously condensing the stories into 6 to 10 minute shorts. Through A-list narration and animated illustrations by Hungarian artists, GivingTales provides classic stories with a breath of fresh air and entertainment.

Developed by renowned illustrators and producers, GivingTales is confident that it will succeed in the tech market, having future plans to introduce a new story with a new narrator every six to eight weeks. According to Sir Moore, American celebrities will also eventually narrate. Currently, the app is only in English, but will be available in other languages in the near future.

Having a strong relationship with UNICEF, GivingTales hopes to positively change the lives of many children around the world with the profits that they earn. Additionally, the children downloading and listening to the books will benefit educationally, from reading along or learning a new lesson from the story.

Because GivingTales is new and young, it must fiercely market itself in order to successfully contribute to UNICEF. Tech savvy Sir Moore, however, is already busy promoting the app on his Twitter account, advocating for the children who need it most.

– Sarah Sheppard

Sources: The Guardian, Look to the Stars
Photo: iDigital Media

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Computer Game Educates Players About Global Issues

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Five years ago, a group of students from the Philippines created the computer game “Wildfire” to win the Microsoft Imagine Cup Game Design Competition, one of five major categories in the annual contest. The theme of the contest was, “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.”

The technology competition brings together students from all around the world with the goal of helping solve the globe’s biggest issues. Overall, the 2010 contest saw over 300,000 students from more than 100 countries go head-to-head.

The five creators of “Wildfire,” a mix of college students and graduates, call themselves By Implication. The group of friends decided to enter the contest after Typhoon Ketsana brought devastation to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, in 2009.

On its website, By Implication stresses that worldwide problems must be tackled head on, as they cannot be overcome by using magic or potions.

“Wildfire,” which is free and can be played an unlimited number of times, demonstrates just this. The computer game educates players about global health issues and how they can help solve them.

Designed and created with a virtually nonexistent budget, the game permits users to navigate their own city in an attempt to defeat the health issues, known as the “bad guys.”

Players are on their own until they collect “inspiration points,” which they can then use to obtain the assistance of volunteers around them. This teaches that a player is powerless if he or she is alone. Transition to the real world, and this idea illustrates that by working together, people have the ability to do something great.

In addition, the computer game educates players with informative buttons. A player can encounter the buttons, which contain short facts about crises including poverty and water quality, while navigating his or her own city. In the end, if players and volunteers can defeat not only the problems they encounter, but also the time limit, their city will thrive.

For the creators of “Wildfire,” they hope that by learning about certain issues, those who play the game will become motivated to help solve them.

– Matt Wotus

Sources: ABC News, Imagine Cup, Imagine Cup Wildfire by Implication
Photo:Neogaf

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E-Libraries Bridge Digital Divide Across Sri Lanka

E-Libraries Bridge Digital Divide Across Sri Lanka-TBP
The Sri Lankan government installed e-library computer centers in hundreds of community centers and places of worship across Sri Lanka to combat the country’s digital divide, increase digital literacy and stimulate the economy in rural areas.

The Program, e-Library Nenasala (eLNP), is completely free to the public, no matter what background a person comes from. “The eLibray Nenasalas have literally opened the gateway to wisdom and knowledge in rural Sri Lanka,” explains Nenasala’s website.

The program originally began in an environment of despair and desparation— the tsunami in the Indian Ocean of December 26, 2004. A total of 35,000 Sri Lankans died that day. Family members and friends urgently needed access to communication and information, and both were facilitated by the e-library program.

The computer centers across Sri Lanka have increased the country’s computer usage and technological literacy rate from below 10 percent in 2004, to nearly 40 percent today.

Computers and internet access have given communities access to life-changing services and information. Children can stream videos on learning the English language; women can learn about nutrition, breast-feeding, sanitation and vaccinations. Farmers can learn how to increase their crop yields, and entrepreneurs have access to information on how to start a business. Migrant workers staying in Sri Lanka can also Skype with family members in far-away countries.

Community members, thanks to their access to computers, now have access to assistance with how to write a resume or conduct a job search. Adults can fill out important applications online such as passports or driver’s licenses; they can also take government examinations.

The Nenasala computer centers also bring the community together; teens are trained in computer skills, and then volunteer to teach older community members.

“Without a doubt, the e-Library Nenasala Program is making a real and lasting impact on the lives of poor rural residents throughout Sri Lanka. People are getting locally relevant information and hands-on experience in the subject areas that matter most to them. Community members have a real investment in these centers, which promotes their longevity and sustainability for many years to come,” explained Deborah Jacobs, who directs the global libraries initiative at the Gates Foundation.

So far, 283 e-Library computer centers have been built. When the program first began, the government “knew that the low-income, rural residents it was targeting wouldn’t necessarily flock to the Nenasalas, or ‘wisdom centers.’ Fear, distrust, or just plain unfamiliarity would likely keep them away” explained Impatient Optimists, The Gates Foundation’s website.

For this reason, the e-library computer centers are based in some of the most trustworthy places of all— places of worship. This unconventional cultural adaptation has been critical in the success of the E-Library Program. “These institutions are seen as community centers and places of learning. They are familiar, welcoming, and trusted,” said Impatient Optimists.

E-Libraries can be found in Muslim Mosques, Buddhist Temples, Christian churches and Hindu Kovils across Sri Lanka.

Temples have been an especially effective location for the e-libraries because of their traditional, ancient association with learning as well as their role as the center of the village. The temples of Sri Lanka are also open to all people, no matter the race, gender, age or even religion. Small donations from the community help to keep the e-libraries functioning and up-to-date.

The eLNP program has been so effective that it received the Gates Foundation’s Access to Learning Award, a one million dollar value. The award began 15 years ago to promote providing the world’s poor with access to technology.

The organization plans to use the money to upgrade hardware at various locations. eLNP also plans to begin a new program where community members can temporarily rent tablets and install education software for children where there is not ample access to schooling.

The Sri Lankan government hopes to increase computer literacy and usage rates through the Nenasala computer centers to 75 percent by 2016.

– Aaron Andree

Sources: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Impatient Optimists, Philanthropy News Digest

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How One Woman and Her Phone App Fed the Hungry

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According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, ranking behind paper, food is the second largest source of waste.

Twenty-five-year-old Komal Ahmad, who graduated from the University of California at Berkley in 2012, is solving this problem by feeding millions of people with her phone app, Feeding Forward.

In 2011, Ahmad was approached by a homeless man who asked her for money. Instead of cash, Ahmad offered to take him to lunch. As they ate, she discovered he was a returned soldier who, after some bad luck, now made his living begging on the streets.

Ahmad was overwhelmed by his situation. Determined to help others like him, she started a program at UC Berkley where cafeterias donated excess food to homeless shelters. Soon after, the program expanded to 140 colleges across the United States.

But Ahmad didn’t stop with the food recovery program.

“Imagine a football stadium filled to its brim,” Ahmad says. “That’s how much food goes wasted every single day in America.”

In 2012, Ahmad collaborated with a developer and they launched the Feeding Forward mobile app in 2013. The app originally targeted restaurant owners and event planners in San Francisco who could use the app to donate leftover food to homeless shelters. By entering their location into the app, a Feeding Forward driver picks up the leftover food and delivers it to shelters in the area.

In addition to the app, Feeding Forward has its own website.

Since Feeding Forward launched, Ahmad has recovered more than 691,896 pounds of food, which fed more than 570,000 people.

Now the CEO of her nonprofit organization, Feeding Forward, Ahmad says, “We need to figure out how to establish sustainable solutions that can distribute the food we already have faster and get it to people who need it faster and safely.”

Ahmad’s mobile app is proof that quick and successful distribution can feed the hungry.

In early June 2015, Feeding Forward partnered with the Bite Silicon Food Valley food-tech conference in Santa Clara, California. Over the course of three days, celebrity chefs prepared a wide range of meals. After the event, Feeding Forward collected 5,135 pounds of food which fed more than 4,279 people in eight different homeless shelters.

Around the world, the Feeding Forward app is praised and desired.

“I didn’t expect it to blow up,” Ahmad says. “People as far as Nairobi, Bangalore and Hong Kong have wrote us asking us to expand Feeding Forward to their cities and countries. They’re like, ‘Tell me what I can do to get it here.’”

The mobile app is currently being revamped. It will be available again in August 2015. The website, however, is still up and running.

Feeding Forward offers hope for other countries struggling with hunger and food distribution.

Ahmad says, “These are huge cities that have absurd amounts of food thrown away every day. We are trying to make the Bay Area a case study to say ‘Hey, if it works here, it can work anywhere.’”

– Kelsey Parrotte

Sources: CNET, Daily News, Feeding Forward, News Everyday
Photo: Architect Africa

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The Debate on GMOs in Nigeria

The Debate on GMOs in Nigeria

A small study conducted seven years ago showed that a majority of Nigerian scientists had low awareness about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their harmful effects. But today, with the help of the Internet and the explosion of social media in Nigeria, people are even more aware.

And with this awareness comes resentment and resistance.

By becoming educated about genetically modified plants, opponents have pointed out their damage to biodiversity. Native plants have become sparse compared to the genetically modified plants that seem to grow with ease.

Opponents have also raised the question over whether consuming genetically modified plants has negative health consequences.

Although Nigerian scientists and GMO supporters reassure that genetically modified food is safe for the consumer, the critics counter that developed countries do not consider GMOs to be safe. By taking into account that developed countries have even stronger risk assessment and regulatory systems, there are still many critics in Nigeria.

GMOs have been coined “the Monsanto Poison” in Nigeria because of the Monsanto Company’s role in Agent Orange. This herbicide was used during the Vietnam War by the United States and has had lasting effects on the health of veterans. Agent Orange was strategically used to deplete vegetation cover and as a way to force starvation on the population. This has caused Nigerians to have a generally negative view of GMOs.

However, there are still some scientists and proponents in Nigeria that would like to expand the use of genetically modified plants. By being able to modify the plants, scientists are able to better understand their biology and physiology.

Genetic engineering has also improved crops such as cotton, soybeans, tomatoes, coffee and bananas. Plants can also be modified to have a higher protein content and higher oil yield. This could all improve the nutrition of those that consume them.

Scientists in support of GMOs in Nigeria also note that GMO technology could be a solution to the challenges that face global food production. Climate change, population growth and competition for land have all affected how food is produced and its quantity.

The debate over the safety of genetically modified organisms has been developing for over 40 years. However, if this technology can be scientifically proven to be safe for consumers, GMOs could feed the world’s hungry. The approval of GMOs in Nigeria would not only be a huge success for science, but also for those in need of food.

GMOs could be the key to solving food shortages, but only time will tell if GMOs are deemed safe for consumers.

– Kerri Szulak

Sources: Genetic Literacy Project, Risk Science Center
Photo: biodiverseed

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10 Facts About Internet in Africa

Internet in Africa-TBPWhile most members of developing nations have access to the Internet in their homes, in their workplaces and in various public locations, many Africans struggle to access the Internet. Here are 10 facts about the progress and struggles regarding Internet in Africa:

1. In October 2007, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held the first part of its Connect the World series in Kigali, Rwanda to demonstrate its commitment to foster development of telecommunications across Africa, a key aspect of the Millennium Development Goals.

2. As a continent, Africa has seen steady growth in Internet penetration since its rate of .78 percent in 2000. Internet has now reached 20.7 percent of Africa, but there are major disparities in Internet access and use across the continent.

3. The leading countries with the highest Internet penetration rates are Morocco at 56 percent, Egypt at 50 percent and South Africa at 49.8 percent. Meanwhile, various nations throughout the continent are still at rates below 2 percent. Despite these differences, all African nations have experienced Internet growth in recent years.

4. The majority of African countries have Internet penetration rates below 10 percent, which is well below the 20 percent benchmark rate determined for Internet access to benefit countries economically.

5. A total of 10.7 percent of African households have Internet access. Meanwhile, almost half of African Internet users access the Internet via mobile device. Social media usage accounts for about a third of Internet use for these users.

6. Bandwidth is significantly more scarce across Africa than in developing nations, making Internet access much more expensive across the continent. In recent years, increased investment in infrastructure such as national landing stations has allowed some bandwidth expansion, therefore slightly increasing capacity for connectivity.

7. According to Kojo Boakye, policy manager of the Alliance for Affordable Internet, no developing countries have met the ITU’s affordability benchmark of connectivity costing less than 5 percent of monthly income for the world’s potential users that survive on less than two dollars per day. He said that, for many countries in Africa, the cost of fixed broadband comprises almost half of an average citizen’s monthly income.

8. Internet users in Africa pay up to 40 times more for access than users in developed countries. There are many initiatives in place to decrease these rates, but there has been substantial difficulty in implementation. One of these goals involves establishing at least one Internet eXchange Point (IXP) in every African nation in order to promote the construction of infrastructure that makes Internet access cheaper and faster. Another initiative is in place to migrate from analog to digital broadcasting in order to free up unused spectrum, thus increasing access opportunities. However, by June 2014, only 19 countries had begun this transition and only three had completely transitioned. Another initiative is to accelerate adoption of IPv6, which ensures enough availability of IP addresses to allow anything capable of having an IP address to connect to the Internet. South Africa and Egypt account for 97 percent of all of the IPv6 addresses in the continent, which indicates major lagging for the rest of Africa. This development is seen as necessary for long term expansion of Internet.

9. The Internet contributes 1.1 percent to the overall African GDP, which is substantially lower than the global average contribution of over 4 percent. There are large disparities across the continent, with the contribution to GDP being 3.3 percent in Senegal and .8 percent in Nigeria. These rates are measured using iGDP, which evaluates use of networks and services in private consumption, public expenditure, private investment and trade balance.

10. Key players in Africa’s Internet community come together with global members of the industry for the annual Africa Internet Summit. Participants discuss the continent’s challenges and use it as a platform to exchange knowledge. This year’s conference was themed “Beyond connection: Internetworking for African Development,” and took place in Tunisia from May 24 – June 3.

– Arin Kerstein

Sources: All Africa, International Telecommunication Union, Internet Society, Africa Internet Summit, IT Web Africa
Photo: Africa Renewal

Artificial Trees Absorb a Thousand Times More CO2

artificial_trees
Scientists have been arguing for a reduction in carbon emissions ever since the effects of global warming were recognized. Now, to further aid the fight against increased global warming, some of these scientists have found a way to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This technology will manifest in the form of “artificial trees” that absorb up to one ton of carbon dioxide in a day.

These artificial trees look and feel nothing like real trees. In fact, they resemble cars in size and shape. Not only will they hey absorb carbon dioxide from the air a thousand times faster than a normal tree would, but they will also not release carbon back into the atmosphere unlike real trees.

Previous inventions that removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere necessitated the processing huge volumes of air, since carbon dioxide makes up just 0.04 percent of the air we breathe. Artificial trees, however, will simply absorb carbon from the air into their leaves, which are coated with sodium carbonate. When sodium carbonate comes into contact with the carbon dioxide, it shall form a harmless bicarbonate – baking soda.

Klaus Lackner and Alan Wright, the brains behind this new technology, understood that carbon dioxide emissions needed to be decreased within the next few decades to prevent the non-reversible effects of climate change. Even if humans stopped all carbon dioxide emissions today, the amount left in the atmosphere would keep temperatures increasing for the next hundred years.

Artificial trees have the potential to reverse this trend. Ten million artificial trees could absorb 3.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year. This would amount to 10% of all global emissions. A single tree would initially cost $20,000, around the price of a car in the U.S. However, as production of these trees increase, price would also fall, making this initiative cost less prohibitive.

The carbon dioxide collected by the artificial trees could also be used or stored in few ways. It could either be transformed into a liquid and buried underground. Alternatively, hydrogen could be added to it to create hydrocarbon fuel. As long as the process uses renewable energy, this fuel would not release any new carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Furthermore, the gas could be injected into rocks such as peridotite, which can hold huge amounts of carbon dioxide.

The concept of artificial trees is a simple one, yet has immense appeal. The economy of energy would remain the same, enabling people to continue living existing lifestyles. Artificial trees would just allow us to maintain these lifestyles better. Noting that the U.S. will also be producing as much petroleum as Saudi Arabia by 2020, it is unrealistic to hope that alternative sources of energy would replace oil any time soon.

On the other hand, it is not economically sound for companies to invest in these artificial trees currently. Only when high penalty for companies that have huge emissions is put in place, will absorbing carbon dioxide be viewed as a solution equivalent to reducing emissions.

– Radhika Singh

Sources: BBC 1, BBC 2, National Geographic
Photo: Physics World

The New Blackberry Makes its Way to Africa

blackberry

In Nigeria and South Africa, Blackberry has launched its latest smartphone, the Blackberry Leap. According to the company, this smartphone offers more than a day’s battery life, even with heavy use.

This latest version of the phone has switched out its old keyboard to feature a new touchscreen, much like the Apple iPhone. The new touchscreen keyboard features error correction and multilingual support.

Many may question why a consumer would buy this phone when there are much more popular phones like iPhone, Android and Samsung.

The Blackberry, jokingly referred to as the “Crackberry,” was once the must-have device for executives. It was the first smartphone that allowed easy and constant access to email and the Internet. The easy-to-use QWERTY keyboard allowed executives to respond to emails without being tied to a computer.

But with the emergence of the Apple iPhone, it quickly lost its dominance as the number one smartphone in the market.

Would you buy an unpopular smartphone? The answer from consumers in Africa is… yes.

Over the past four years, the Blackberry Curve has been the most popular smartphone in South Africa. A recent survey conducted by Vodacom in South Africa found that Blackberries make up 23 percent of the smartphone market. In Nigeria, Blackberries make up 40 percent of the smartphone market.

But why have Blackberry phones become so popular in African countries?

The first reason is that Blackberries are a status symbol; they were once the phones used by top executives. People strive to achieve the same success associated with the phones.

Additionally, an attractive feature of this phone is its low-cost data bundles. In fact, Users can send messages for free using the Blackberry Messenger (BBM). This makes the phones well-suited for less capable mobile networks.

And lastly, Blackberries are able to stay updated without the purchase of a new smartphone. In developing countries, phones are upgraded less frequently. Before the introduction of the Blackberry Leap, the most up-to-date Blackberry in South Africa was 3 years old.

There is still room for growth for Blackberry in African countries. In a poll conducted by GeoPoll, 17 percent of people reported that they would buy a Blackberry as their next phone.

It is predicted to keep its number one spot in Africa as the most popular smartphone brand partly because of its popularity with students.

The Blackberry brand has transitioned from being known as the phone for high power executives to the most popular, affordable phone used in developing countries. Of course, affordability is an important aspect when purchasing a smartphone. Blackberry has allowed consumers in developing countries to afford a smartphone without sacrificing technology, mobile network service or various communication abilities.

– Kerri Szulak

Sources: Inside Blackberry, IT News Africa, The Conversation
Photo: TechLoy