Mobile Social Networks | johnkaranja.com

John Karanja at MWEA2010

Opening Remarks
Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to the second day of the first Mobile Web Conference in East Africa. Technology today, in particular Mobile and Web technology is increasingly becoming an essential part of our life. Today more than 30 percent of East Africans have access to mobile phone technology. Internet adoption in this region is also amongst the fastest growing in the world.

This has improved the livelyhoods of many citizens of EA by allowing them to interact more easily with other individuals, many whom are in far flung areas of the region.

The mobile phone for example allows us to conduct business at an interpersonal level which is crucial for the economic development of the entire region as a whole.

Today we have a line up of fantastic speakers, in many different sectors that make up social life in Kenya as well Africa.

Closing Remarks
Many of you might recall, when just 11 years ago Kenya and much of the region was at the cusp of the mobile revolution, communication was difficult and our telecommunications infrastructure at the time was unreliable, if it existed at all in many parts of this region.

The last 10 years has seen a rapid growth of not only mobile technology but internet use of which many in this room rely on for their day to day livelyhood.

Today, we face a new challenge, albeit not very different from the one we faced 10 years ago. We find ourselves situated once again at the cusp of what is surely a revolution , a revolution that we will not only participate in, but lead as well.

At stake is the economic fortunes of not only the countries in this region but our very own individual fortunes. So, we are called to define the path for this journey we are about to take.

Ladies and Gentlemen in this regard i wish you all the best of luck as you seek out to achieve your dreams and the dreams of this country and continent.

Thank you all once again.
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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.