[UgaBYTES] WEEKLY NEWS ROUND UP-AFRICA (WEEK 47)

Fri Nov 20 13:00:30 GMT 2009

*Growing Use of Cellphones for Family Planning*

19th November 2009

 The growth of cellphone use, particularly in the developing world, is
providing health experts with a new channel of communication to provide
family planning information. "The number of mobile subscribers is increasing
at a dramatic rate with the number of global cellphone subscribers in 2006
being estimated at 2.5 billion of an estimated global population of 6.6
billion," says David Cantor, a senior technical manager of ICF Macro - a
U.S.-based research firm.

"These figures are expected to grow to 3.3 billion or approximately half of
the world’s population by 2010, with the greatest growth in Asia, the Middle
East and Africa." Cantor, who was attending the International Conference on
Family Planning held in Kampala, Uganda Nov. 15-18, says there is growing
interest in the health sector in capitalising on this rapid uptake of mobile
communication. One World’s Mobile4Good in Kenya uses cellphone technology to
inform subscribers about opportunities for free exams or treatment, and also
provides a question-and-answer service that allows individuals to ask
sensitive health questions. In South Africa and Botswana, cellular
technology is being used to remind people needing to take medicines at
regular intervals.

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=49343

*Seacom wins award for bandwidth connectivity*

 20th November 2009

Undersea fibre-optic cable operator Seacom has been named the best Pan
African initiative at the AfricaCom Awards in Cape Town. The award
recognizes initiatives to improve telecommunications at a regional or
continental level.  Other than Seacom, there are other three cables expected
to connect the region to the rest of the world, including, Teams, Eassy and
Lion. “Seacom is honored to have been recognized for its effort in bringing
much needed bandwidth connectivity to east and southern Africa. With more
and more countries getting connected to the rest of the world through the
Seacom system, it is only a matter of time before we see the direct
socio-economic benefits that cheap and readily available bandwidth will have
on the region,” said Seacom CEO Brian Herlihy.

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/691826/-/u4qysaz/-/index.html

*Youth multimedia conference to be held in Nigeria*

18th November 2009

The Federal Capital Territory Administration will host the 1st African
Children and Youth Multimedia Conference as part of efforts to improve the
participation of children in multimedia activities in Nigeria.

The event which is being organized by the Glorious Diamond productions in
collaboration with Children and Young Persons Development Centre and African
Children Broadcasting Network, is billed to hold in Abuja from the November
16, 2009. Briefing journalists at the pre -conference summit, the Programmes
Coordinator, Nkem Orakwue, stated that the conference would among other
things advocate for the enactment of the Child Rights Act in other African
countries.

http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9728:fct-to-host-youth-multimedia-conference&catid=19:city-news&Itemid=26

*Africa urged to take advantage of technology for development*

11th November 2009

For sub-Saharan Africa, building a knowledge economy “is no longer an
option, it is a necessity”, World Bank Institute economic adviser Shahid
Yusuf said last week at a University of the Witwatersrand symposium on
research and training for sustainable development in Africa. The region
could no longer rely on its resources alone to promote economic growth. It
had to find ways of taking advantage of the opportunities inherent in
technological change because economic growth was increasingly dependent on
technology and knowledge, he said. Skills development deserved priority
because better skills improved economic management and innovation, Yusuf
said.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=87098

*Why privacy on internet must be addressed*

15th November 2009

East Africans welcomed the undersea fiber optic cables with much excitement
and great expectations. When it comes to on line business transactions,
concerns about cyber security, legal and ethical issues start to come up.
The question of privacy must be addressed. Constitutions, legislations and
past court decisions have however indicated that the right to privacy is not
absolute and that privacy must be balanced against the need of society.

To gauge the seriousness of the question of privacy, consider how personal
computers, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, databases and the
Internet have made it possible for others to access your personal data.
Other web sites collect information in more subtle ways like recording your
computer address, the web pages you visit. Web sites do this by placing one
or more "cookies" on the hard drive of the computer you are using.

http://www.busiweek.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2672&Itemid=30

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