[UgaBYTES] [KenTel] Mobile Revolution Can Benefit Youth

Thu Jan 7 16:03:25 EST 2010

Dear Sulah,

Mobile phones have a key role in the future of the telecentres, reflecting
back on the India Visit late last year, it appeared that most of the
services offered by the common service centers and all the other centers we
visited gave the telecentres booming business, the model was great, Private
Public Partnership well established, high population with purchasing power
maybe because they had to since the government offices were far away, indeed
the telecentres offered a perfect solution to them.

What I did notice though was the low use of mobile phones to offer some of
the services, Ideally, very few of the people currently using these centers
to pay electricity bills, buy train tickets, pay other utility bills like
water, obtain ration cards etc would have a reason to visit the telecentres.
Why? because they would be able to do all these from the comfort of their
bedrooms.

Most would agree that there is a great shift of the e-services to
m-services. Very soon or already I see things like M-goverment rather than
E-goverment, M-learning rather than E-leanring in Africa.

Watching CNN and seeing some of the news items that citizen journalism
submit through mobile phones, leaves me puzzled and wondering what role the
many mobile subscribers in Africa have as regards this and whether these
gudets will soon drive the photo journalists home as well.

"if you can not beat them join them", I think telecentres have an
opportunity here, so as not to allow (#1 'mobile phone' waters leave the
telecentre movement earth behind them to become extinct or merely
rudimentary?  &

#2.telecentre movement earth to dissolve in the waters of the mobile phone
to create planned bigger hypes in Africa?),

we must venture into serious local content dvelopment which the mobile phone
users can buy into and access from their homes rather than visit the
telecentres. With the age of digital broadcasting TV stations will need
local content which in most places in africa is little explored........

Best Regards.
Cleopa.

On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 3:01 PM, Ndaula Sulah <ndaulasula at ugabytes.org>wrote:

> Dear Cleopa,
>
> As I rest for lunch now; I reflect on what happened in the night - it was a
> weird dream with mix talking parties all in me. But in the middle of the
> conversations a conclusion was drawn that - as the 'waters of the sea' rise
> or lower they leave the 'earth' behind them unless it 'dissolves' in them or
> becomes physically overpowered by their forces, other factors remaining
> constant.
>
> I woke up and scribed a few things including the examples the parties were
> giving within the conversation e.g in social change, ecological adaptation,
> tribal and language extinction, disease resurgence ... and of course
> technological uptake. Words in quotes were also addressed with broader
> meanings each time a new application was added into the discussion.
>
> But as found your mail this morning, I wandered whether the 'notes of the
> night' could add meaning to my search to understand the relationship between
> mobile platforms and other applications. or even the big world development
> pazzle. For example:
>
> #1 Will the 'mobile phone' waters leave the telecentre movement earth
> behind them to become extinct or merely rudimentary?
>
> #2. Will the telecentre movement earth dissolve in the waters of the mobile
> phone to create planned bigger hypes in Africa?
>
> #3. Will the telecentre movement earth be overpowered and merely pushed
> within the mobile phone?
>
> #4. How will the earth around the mobile phone sea look like when the
> waters find a stable height?
>
>
> Sharing the reflections at lunch...
>
> Best regards,
> ---
> Sulah
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 6:13 AM, timonson at gmail.com <
> timonson at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>> Quite an intresting and insightful read Sulah, many have always reasoned
>> technologically when it comes to the very reason for the explosive
>> penetration of mobile phones in Africa. The fact that mobile phones are
>> simple to master usage, can be used off power source, is low cost, very
>> portable etc, explain its wide use and adaptation in Africa, however now
>> that you brought in the oral nature of Afican populace, it makes much more
>> sence. Thanks.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>> Cleopa.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ndaula Sulah
>> Sent:  05/01/2010 1:17:36 pm
>> To: ugabytes at lists.ugabytes.org; kentel at list.kenyatelecentres.org;
>> ciresearchers
>> Subject:  Re: [UgaBYTES] Mobile Revolution Can Benefit Youth
>>
>> Hey Sandra,
>>
>> I have been following mobile technology with love - but not at all as an
>> expert but rather as a learner. When new ICTs (I mean computers and
>> internet)  first came to Africa, many researchers and practitioners linked
>> them to the "African Drum": the drum of community service, the drum of
>> death, the drum of harvest... and the socialization culture of Africans at
>> village level - at least in social development. That is why public access
>> centres were bound to succeed and that many organizations used the drum as
>> their symbol at a time e.g. Drum Beat to emphasis the place of ICTs in
>> social cultural roots of the continent. But not in practice.
>>
>> Picking pieces together, the technology had to sheer on the socio-cultural
>> and economic norms of the continent. The continent is largely oral:
>> messages
>> that are spoken fly x6 faster than those that are written. You may
>> remember
>> a common saying "if you want to rob an African write and if you want to
>> fail
>> speak". With this analysis, it was not surprising that later, after many
>> had
>> thought that new public access centres would replace radios, researchers
>> and
>> pac practitioners thought it fiting to incorporate community radio within
>> the PAC model to create CMCs. UNESCO and IDRC have been central here. The
>> intervention came in later, asserted more impact and empowerment. It was
>> the
>> perfect awaited recipe to push sustainability of telecentres to a new
>> meaning. These with commercial hung, were out to establish radios for
>> profit
>> in Africa - in uganda 212 FM radios have been established - all
>> successful.
>>
>> Reflecting on what I am say, I not sure am speaking. But when mobile
>> telephony came in with 100% oral focus, allowing people to speak their own
>> luganda, kiswahili, and the millions of dialects there may be in Africa,
>> wow
>> the adaption and adoption has been un measurable. The simplistic talk has
>> again grown that mobile technology will replace PAC which were thought to
>> replace radio and libraries ealier on. How interesting! But most of you
>> have
>> already seen how oral ICTs have intermarried to create bigger impacts than
>> either of them could. Look at the democratization of FM radios through
>> mobile technology - a typical example, isn't it?
>>
>> I have been wondering, how the siblings of present relationships between
>> mobile phony platforms and other communication and development sectors
>> will
>> look like in future. Will content be an issue? Who will own the voices and
>> trascation through the platform? How will the remittance systems be
>> handled
>> as most service begin to be delivered through the Mobile phone system? Is
>> there any anticipated takeove and major revolution say in the banks will
>> operate, etc.? ....
>>
>> Best Regards,
>> ---
>> Sulah
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 1:49 AM, Sandra Nassali <snassali at ugabytes.org
>> >wrote:
>>
>> > The explosion of mobile telephony in the just-ended decade shattered the
>> > myth that Africans are slow to take up technology.
>> >
>> > The mobile distribution, though still low by global standards, is one of
>> > the
>> > fastest growing in the world and proves one other thing - that
>> technologies
>> > which address practical problems will always be readily embraced.
>> >  Besides the difficult-to-compute millions of shillings that the
>> technology
>> > has contributed to the economy, at a personal level, it has
>> revolutionised
>> > how Africans communicate, transact business and even exchange money.
>> >
>> > The biggest segment of the community to benefit from this technology are
>> > the
>> > youth, who have opened myriads of retail mobile-related businesses, from
>> > the
>> > sale of sets, accessories, repairs, programming and many others.
>> >
>> > The momentum has only started and an even higher pace is expected in
>> coming
>> > years. And this is where young people can benefit by developing
>> real-life
>> > solutions to build around the technology.
>> >
>> > There is no doubt that a convergence of sorts will happen around the
>> mobile
>> > phone in coming years, and the biggest winners will be companies and
>> > individuals who today provide tomorrow's solutions.
>> >
>> > Largely, young people have shunned traditional engagements such as
>> > agriculture for not being trendy, but this time, with cash available
>> from
>> > the Youth Development Funds, there is no reason why they should not
>> invest
>> > in the business.
>> >
>> > We are optimistic that this time round, government regulatory
>> authorities
>> > will not stand in the way of innovations, and that it will provide the
>> > right
>> > policy framework in good time. It must also seek ways to thwart the
>> > manipulations of traditional corporate cartels.
>> > --
>> > Sandra Nassali
>> > Community Facilitator
>> > UgaBYTES Initiative (www.ugabytes.org)
>> > Telecentre.org  (www.telecentrecommunity.ning.com)
>> > Plot 2218 Ggaba Road,
>> > 2nd Floor Kangave House
>> > P.O. Box 6081 K'la
>> > Email  snassali at ugabytes.org
>> > chat    (skype)- n.sandra.
>> > Tel      +256-414-370163
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > ugabytes mailing list
>> > ugabytes at lists.ugabytes.org
>> > http://lists.ugabytes.org/mailman/listinfo/ugabytes_lists.ugabytes.org
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Executive Director
>> UgaBYTES Initiative
>> Tel: +256414370163
>> Mob: +256712314969
>> Skype: sulah.ndaula
>> Yahoo: ndaulasula
>> Email: ndaulasula@
>> (ugabytes.org,yahoo.co.uk or gmail)
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>
>
>
> --
> Executive Director
> UgaBYTES Initiative
> Tel: +256414370163
> Mob: +256712314969
> Skype: sulah.ndaula
> Yahoo: ndaulasula
> Email: ndaulasula@
> (ugabytes.org,yahoo.co.uk or gmail)
>
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>
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>

-- 
Cleopa Otieno
+254720950220