Title: Towards an Open Dar Es Salaam
Author Editor: Joshua Goldstein
Source: Promoting Information and Communications for Development (IC4D)
Publisher: The World Bank Group
Date (published): 28/11/2011
Date (accessed): 03/12/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Jeff Jesse, a Tanzanian student leader who has been collaborating with the World Bank team at the Open Development Technology Alliance, suggested an exciting idea over on the Daraja blog:
Why don't we open Dar Es Salaam, we could even call it Open Dar Es Salaam, where the City can come to young people to make maps, and then hackers can make new mobile and Web apps to help with different problems like education or trash collection. We have tons of talent here and people who want to do something good for the community.

Jeff's post reflects the excitement felt by many following a recent community mapping exercise in Tandale, an unplanned community in Dar Es Salaam. In Tandale, community residents joined Ardhi University School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP) to use low-cost GPS devices and free and open source software stack to mark the location of roads, streets, street lights, trash dumps and upload urban infrastructure information to Open Street Map (OSM), a free and open online mapping platform. The training, provided by youth leaders involved in Kenya’s Map Kibera project, took only a few days in the field and computer lab."

Title: Cutting-edge ICT incubator set to unleash entrepreneurship in Tanzania
Source: infoDev
Publisher: The World Bank
Date (published): 01/11/2011
Date (accessed): 20/11/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Technology accelerator Dar Teknohama opened in Tanzanian capital

A new ICT business incubator was inaugurated on October 31st by business and government leaders in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The new Dar Teknohama Business Incubator (DTBi) will support local technology-based companies and other young entrepreneurs with high growth potential.

Business incubator DTBi works to lower the risk of starting a new business and accelerate the growth rate of early-stage enterprises by providing ICT entrepreneurs with business advice, mentoring services, networking opportunities, and access to finance, markets and shared facilities. Tanzanian entrepreneurs and small enterprises are critical drivers of innovation, but they face numerous challenges. Business incubators can be effective mechanisms for helping them establish themselves and become competitive. The business incubator aims to boost the local ICT sector so that it creates jobs and leads to economic growth."

Title: The digital revolution in sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Laila Ali
Source: Al Jazeera English
Date (published): 12/10/2011
Date (accessed): 17/10/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Much has been written about the role technology played in bringing social and political change across much of the Middle East and North Africa, but less is known about the technological revolution that is taking place and transforming people's lives in sub-Saharan Africa.

It is estimated that by 2015 sub-Saharan Africa will have more people with mobile phone network access than electricity access at home. People with internet and no home electricity will reach 138 million, according to the Cisco Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2010-2015.

This deep and rapid mobile penetration is catapulting developing countries into the 21st century and bringing new and previously unimagined opportunities. While schools in the developed world enforce strict policies to keep mobile phones out of the classroom, African schools and universities are now exploring the use of mobile technology to assist teaching.
...
Mobile education
Under the BridgeIt initiative, known locally as Elimu kwa Teknologia or Education through Technology, teachers download video content using Nokia N95 mobile phones, which are connected to TVs in their classrooms, allowing rural schools and communities access to a digital catalogue of locally-developed or adapted educational content.
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E-learning
In South Africa the concept of using mobile technology to support distant learners is also gaining ground. Pretoria University considers it an extension of e-learning - where distance learners use the internet to access materials to support their studies.
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An app for that
The use of mobile technology in Africa is not limited to the field of education. In Kenya, high mobile penetration spurred the development of ground-breaking applications that are positioning the country as a regional leader in technology."

Title: From ICT towards information society : Policy strategies and concepts for employing ICT for reducing poverty
Author: Hannes Toivanen
Pages: 42 pp.
ISBN: 978-951-38-7500-8
Source: VTT Working Papers 158
Publisher: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Date (published): 23/02/2011
Date (accessed): 22/07/2011
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"ICT is recognized as an important vehicle to address global development challenges. As a general purpose tech- nology, ICT has the evident potential to improve the delivery of basic services, such as health, education and information, in under-served areas and regions, and thereby address many of the deprivation conditions that cre- ate and maintain poverty. Deservedly, policy frameworks and practices of harnessing knowledge, new technolo- gies and ICT for the benefit of the world’s poor are being re-considered in the developing countries, donor gov- ernments, as well as by academics and other stake-holders.
This paper approaches the possibilities offered by ICT in development specifically from the vantage point of the new ICT ecosystem, as proposed by Martin Fransman, and its underlying sectoral innovation system. While this may be un-orthodox and unaccustomed perspective in the context of development and poverty alleviation, it enhances our understanding how different stake-holder groups, even regions and countries, can relate and employ ICT.
Regions, countries, organizations, communities and people differ greatly in their capacity to create, adopt and use new technology. Economic, social, cultural and technological factors determine to a great degree how people can access and shape new technologies and their applications. These varying factors are well identified in litera- ture on development of ICT in Sub-Saharan Africa, but less attention has been given to how hierarchically organ- ized ICT ecosystem, consisting of technological, economic and social elements, shapes these opportunities.
This report offers a short theoretical and conceptual discussion of ICT strategies in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, and investigates in more detail the Tanzanian case."

Title: Product Innovation Knowledge for Developing Economies, Towards a Systematic Transfer Approach
Author: Johan Carel Diehl
Pages: 303 pp.
ISBN: 978-90-5155-068-9
Source: Design for Sustainability program publication nr. 22
Publisher: University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
Date (published): 26/11/2010
Date (accessed): 10/02/2011
Type of information: PhD Thesis
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"There are different strategies towards economical development for developing countries. One of them is to increase the local capacity and implementation of product innovation. According to the World Bank, OECD, and other financial and research institutions, the transfer of product innovation knowledge to developing countries is expected to be one of the key drivers for competitiveness and economical growth, and part of the solution to environmental and social challenges. However, at the moment, the majority of this knowledge is generated in developed countries. Because of the local deficiency in the coming decade in regional knowledge on product innovation, companies and universities in these countries have to (partly) rely on the acquisition of knowledge from outside sources until sufficient local capacity has been built up. The current transfer of product innovation knowledge is considerably finance and staff intensive and its content and transfer mechanisms do not always fit the needs and characteristics of the knowledge recipients in developing countries. Subsequently, in order to answer this increased need for knowledge on product innovation in developing countries, more efficient and appropriate knowledge transfer methods will be needed. Although interest in the transfer of product innovation knowledge to firms and universities in developing countries is increasing significantly, there is a general lack of systematic interest of knowledge institutions and international organisations in how the current transfer takes place and how it can be improved. The present study focuses on this underexplored research area."
via https://twitter.com/#!/jnndbr

Title: The Innovative Use of Mobile Applications in East Africa
Author: Johan Hellström
Pages: 104 pp.
ISBN: 978-91-586-4129-7
Publisher: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida
Date (published): 03/06/2010
Date (accessed): 15/06/2010
Type of information: report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
This report gives an overview of the current state of mobile phone use and services in East Africa. It outlines major trends and main obstacles for increased use as well as key opportunities and potential for scaling-up mobile applications. The report draws on secondary data and statistics as well as field work carried out in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya during 2008 and 2009.
The report identifies relevant applications in an East African context for reaching and empowering the poor and contribute to social and economic development. The identified mobile applications, listed in Appendix 2, range from small pilots to scaled-up initiatives – from simple agricultural, market or health information services to fairly advanced financial and government transaction services.

Title: ICTs for democracy: Information and Communication Technologies for the Enhancement of Democracy - with a Focus on Empowerment
Author: Association for Progressive Communications, APC
Pages: 94 pp.
Publisher: Sida, Department for Empowerment
Date (published): 05/10/2009
Date (accessed): 18/02/2010
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf, 2,07 MB)
Abstract:
This report examines the potential of information an communications technologies (ICTs) for advancing democracy and empowerment, with a special focus on Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Access to and the strategic use of ICTs have been shown to have the potential to help bring about economic development, poverty reduction, and democratisation – including freedom of speech, the free flow of information and the promotion of human rights. Based on signs of current democracy deficits in the case study countries, it is crucial that ICTs be made central to development cooperation and to approaches to advance democracy in the three countries.
...
The report concludes by making a set of recommendations of possible strategies and actions to support democracy efforts in the three countries, though the use of ICTs. Three strategies are proposed as priorities:

Raising awareness and building understanding of (I)the potential of ICTs, particularly in the context of the vast numbers of people who are now able to connect in some way through mobile phones; (II) democratic principles and practice; and (III) the potential of ICTs for advancing democracy.
Institutional strengthening of CSOs, NGOs and media practitioners to engage critically on issues of democracy as well as institutional strengthening of state actors to enhance transparency and good governance.
Strengthening community voice in public debate and decision-making and in maintaining transparency and accountability by government.

Title: SMS Project Fights Malaria In Africa
Author: Mitch Wagner
Source: Information Week
Publisher: United Business Media LLC
Date (published): 15/12/2009
Date (accessed): 21/12/2009
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
IBM interns are teaming up with Novartis and Vodafone to use text messaging and the Web to fight malaria in Africa.

The three companies, along with the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, are piloting a project called SMS for Life to use text messaging and Web sites built with Lotus Live collaboration tools to track and manage supplies of anti-malarial drugs, IBM said.

Title: Increasing education access through open and distance learning in Tanzania: A critical review of approaches and practices
Author: Willy L.M. Komba
ISBN: 1814-0556
Source: International Journal of Education and Development using ICT, Vol. 5, No. 5 (2009)
Publisher: International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology
Date (published): 24/10/2009
Date (accessed): 12/12/2009
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
With an area of 943,000 square kilometers, Tanzania has a population of about 34 million comprising more than 120 ethnic groups with diverse cultures and notable income differentials. Over 35 per cent of the people live below the poverty line which makes it difficult for an increasing number of people to access education at secondary, tertiary and higher education levels. The universalization of education and its worldwide acceptance as a continuous or lifelong undertaking, coupled with concerns about educational access and equity, as well as the prevailing level of poverty necessitates the use of various education delivery approaches to enable all citizens to benefit from this public good. The major objective of this paper is to document an discuss the initiatives that Tanzania has taken to expand educational opportunities at various levels using open and distance learning (ODL) approaches. The paper begins by explaining the socio-political context for ODL in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar and proceeds to recount the distance education initiatives that have been established over time using both the longstanding traditional technologies and new media and technology. It then analyzes the opportunities and challenges in these initiatives. It ends with the proposal of how to improve both access and the quality of education using emerging educational technologies.

Title: Can ICTs aid small-scale farmers?
Author: John Liebhardt
Source: Global Voices
Date (published): 24/11/2009
Date (accessed): 26/11/2009
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
With so many local, regional and international development organizations working with farmers, the possibilities for information and communication technologies (ICTs), are great. Still, the question remains: Can these technologies live up to the hype and actually help raise human development levels?