Whive.com - Connecting Africa

Here is the Whive.com Mobile Web East Africa Presentation.

MOBILE WEB TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL PROGRESS

Social Progress Social Media

Manuscript Below

INTRODUCTION

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, and thank you for coming to my presentation, which is about mobile/web technology and social progress in East Africa.  As you have heard i am John Karanja the Founder of Whive.com a web and mobile social media platform for Africans.

FIRST SLIDE

On my first slide, there is an overview of the 6 main points of my talk. Let me go over them so that we are on the same page from start to finish.

• Where are we with regards to mobile/web technologies and social progress in East Africa?
• Where are we going?
• How can we get there?
• How long will it take to get there?
• What do we do when we get there?
• How do we remain competitive in the global market?

SECOND SLIDE

So let’s consider my first point Where are we?

• East Africa has 3% Internet use and between 30-40% telephone use. So there is a huge gap between access to mobile and web technologies.
• 10,000 KM of fibre optic cable throughout Kenya for example. The rest of the region is following this example to provide the crucial backbone for internet growth.
• East Africa also has on the one hand a AVERAGE 70% literacy rate in both English and Swahili which is  good  but on the other hand a poverty rate of 50% which is an undesireable obstacle to future growth.
• This mismatch between our literacy and poverty rate has to be addressed because this region has a potentially large market of about 120 million people, 60% of whom are under 24 years of age.

THIRD SLIDE

Now let’s move on to my next slide where I pose the question, where are we going?

• Would we not like to see 100% web and mobile coverage?
• Universal Literacy  will enable us to achieve 100% web & mobile coverage and this in turn will help achieve Universal Banking (e.g. MPESA). Equity has identified a niche whereby the will be banking the unbanked through Mpesa thus becoming the largest network of Mpesa in East Africa.
• If we achieve these goals this will allow us to deploy more web and mobile solutions such as social networks (Whive.com) to more people, which in turn will enhance social connectedness.
• One of the central keys which will be pivotal to the cost effectiveness of services will be to achieve the goal of universal banking through services such as mpesa. This will allow for the efficient flow of capital and ease of business transactions. Reduction of corruption because systems reduce the number of loopholes for corrupt practices.
• Building Distributed services for Health and Agriculture for example Brookside has developed a mobile distribution system for monitoring milk distribution.
• Only 10% of Kenyans are insured we need to develop these systems for them.

FOURTH SLIDE

Now How can we get there?

This can be achieved through Crowd sourcing and social mapping tools (e.g. USHAHIDI).

• I suggest using existing Networks both Social and Digital (e.g.  Mobile social networks like Whive.com can be utilized by existing social groups such as small investment clubs).
• Building Digital villages for capacity building.
• Increased competition in the ICT sector. Incentives for SME’s involved in ICT (e.g. Tax incentives and access to affordable technologies).
• Universal Primary Education in Basic Computing Skills. Youth are most creative. Rwanda is doing it so can we!
• Where is all this money going to come from to achieve this almost utopian dream. The Money to do this is in the pockets of Kenyans(Stock & Bond Markets, Private Equity and Venture Capital) .

FIFTH SLIDE

How long will it take to get there?

• Starting the journey is the hardest part!
• India achieved recognition in software development in 10 years.
• Kenya is already  earning a 1/5th of what India earns annually!!!
• Which means in essence we can compete with India in software development.
• More Social/Tech gatherings and building capacity for research in order to solve local problems and meet the computing needs  of people throughout the region.  e.g. This can be done through incubation centres such as iHub and ICT parks such as Sameer Business Park will be crucial in the short term.
• Concept ideas such as Malili Technopolis which is a city being built in Athi River modelled on Malaysian and Egyptian Digital cities will attract interest in this region in the long term.

SIXTH SLIDE

How do we remain competitive?

• Laying a stable foundation will enhance future growth.
• Technologies to connect villages (fibre optic, WI-MAX and 3g networks) are essential.
• We have to get the youth into the electronic and digital sectors  at the higher levels of education. This is because our Youth are the wealth of our nation and we should offer them Better employment opportunities.
• Expanding our own markets by localizing software (Whive.com).
• Increasing competition in ICT sector to get best prices possible(Regulation and Licencing such as CCK).
• Research, map social problems as they exist now to monitor social progress in the future (Ushahidi).

SEVENTH SLIDE

Conclusion
Just to recap my 5 main points…

• We need to assess where we are, our strengths and our weaknesses.
• We need to determine what we would like to achieve.
• We need to analyse what technologies and policies to implement to achieve these goals.
• We need to define a time line to achieve our desired goals.
• We need to establish how we shall remain competitive through giving incentives to SME’s and regulation to establish fair trade/play.

Have a look at www.Whive.com to see our social media project.
Download this presentation at www.JohnKaranja.com More content and analysis is available on the same website.