[UgaBYTES] Mobile Revolution Can Benefit Youth

[namulondo sylvia]

NAYE sLA DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN TO ME/  IT HASD BEEN BENQ
Sylvia Namulondo
Women Coordinator WEH Desk
Hunger Free World-UGANDA
P.O. Box 31067 Kampala
Plot 35 Kampala Road
4th Floor G.P.O Building
256-77-644-082


--- On Tue, 5/1/10, Ndaula Sulah <ndaulasula at ugabytes.org> wrote:

> From: Ndaula Sulah <ndaulasula at ugabytes.org>
> Subject: Re: [UgaBYTES] Mobile Revolution Can Benefit Youth
> To: ugabytes at lists.ugabytes.org, kentel at list.kenyatelecentres.org, "ciresearchers" <ciresearchers at vancouvercommunity.net>
> Date: Tuesday, 5 January, 2010, 10:17
> 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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