Title: Pedagogical Integration of ICT: Successes and Challenges from 100+ African Schools - 3rd edition
Authors: Thierry Karsenti, Simon Collin and Toby Harper-Merrett
Pages: 349 pp.
ISBN: 978-2-923808-16-1
Publisher: IDRC
Date (published): 18/11/2011
Date (accessed): 19/11/2011
Type of information: research book
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"The PanAfrican Research Agenda aimed to better understand how the pedagogical integration of ICT can improve the quality of teaching and learning in Africa.
In the first project phase, national research teams gathered data on the educational use of ICT in 13 countries: Ghana, Gambia, Senegal, Central African Republic, Uganda, Mozambique, Mali, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Congo, Cameroon, and South Africa, and Zambia. Data were collected according to a mixed-method approach, using quantitative data (e.g., questionnaires) and qualitative data (e.g., interviews, observations) on how ICT were integrated into education. In all, 120 schools, 800 school administrators, 8 940 teachers, and 242 873 students participated in the project.

Phase 1 of the PanAf project primarily involved collecting 20,000 pieces of data following a rigorous indicator procedure that was determined based on the literature as well several meetings between the researchers from the participating countries. All the gathered data are available on the Observatory for the pedagogical integration of ICT at www.observatoiretic.org (briefly presented in section VI).

Analyses of the raw data are also provided at the Observatory, and are available not only to PanAf researchers, but to all researchers in Africa and around the world. The clear advantage of these data, beyond being freely accessible at all times, is that they allow a deeper understanding of Africa's ICT policies and a greater awareness of the impacts of ICT on learners and educators. Note that these data frequently highlight gender issues and uncover inequalities throughout education systems. Last but not least, phase 1 of the PanAf project has fostered the development of research skills in the project teams."

Title: DSpace in Africa: Growing Open Access to Knowledge and Culture
Author: Carol Minton Morris
Source: Open Access Week
Date (published): 21/10/2011
Date (accessed): 25/10/2011
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"PART ONE: Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana This is the first of a five-part series that looks at Open Access repository development in twelve African countries in celebration of Open Access Week Oct. 24-30, 2011…
…
In Africa and in many countries around the world the need to manage, preserve and create open access to formerly “locked down” knowledge and culture has become apparent. Developing countries have recognized the need to utilize knowledge resources in order to leverage economic development, research and educational opportunities. One example is Kenya Open Data (http://opendata.go.ke/) which creates greater government transparency by providing open access to original data.
“This site makes public government data accessible to the people of Kenya. High quality national census data, government expenditure, parliamentary proceedings and public service locations are just a taste of what's to come. There's something for everyone: maps to start exploring, interactive charts and tables for a deeper understanding, and raw data for technical users to build their own apps and analyses. Our information is a national asset, and it's time it was shared: this data is key to improving transparency; unlocking social and economic value; and building Government 2.0 in Kenya.”

DSpace has been a player in creating open access to information since it was launched in 2002. This open source, easy-to-use repository application has been instrumental in providing universities and institutions all over the world with a tool for getting resources online and making them accessible. In 2004 there were 9 DSpace instances in Africa. Due the work of DSpace Ambassadors and other community outreach efforts that number has increased to 46 today. For the next five days DuraSpace will offer a glimpse into what’s “in” some DSpace repositories in Africa on each day in celebration of Open Access Week 2011 (http://www.openaccessweek.org/)."

Title: Making the Most of Mobiles in Africa
Source: Africa the Good News
Date (published): 13/09/2010
Date (accessed): 21/09/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"It is not often a technology guru will say, “Forget the internet!” but Ken Banks, founder of Kiwanja.net, advocates going back to basics – using mobile phones rather than the internet, and pretty basic phones at that.

While mobile phones are ubiquitous in Africa, the internet has nothing like the same penetration and is almost non-existent in rural areas. Says Banks: “For example, in Zimbabwe, there’s 2-3 percent internet penetration. If your amazing, whizzy mobile tool needs the internet, and you are looking to deploy it in Zimbabwe, you have lost 97 percent of people before you start.”

Dillon Dhanecha's company, The Change Studio, was trying to distribute management tools and training through the internet, and admits it fell into exactly the trap Banks was describing. “We were developing short YouTube clips and so on, but I was in Rwanda a few weeks ago and trying to access our site from my Smartphone, and it just wasn’t happening.”

But there are plenty of options with even a not-very-smart phone: one of the pioneers was M-Pesa, designed as a tool for repaying microfinance loans. But Kenyans found all kinds of other uses; for instance, people afraid to carry large sums of cash while travelling would send it to themselves for collection at their destination. It was also key to the recent Kenyans for Kenya drought aid funding drive."

Title: In African agriculture, information is power
Author: Ken Banks
Source: News Watch
Publisher: National Geographic
Date (published): 05/09/2011
Date (accessed): 07/09/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"You don’t have to spend long in many African agricultural markets to realise the need for better information. Farmers lack prices, traders need transport and new contacts, projects and governments need a better way to reach out to people, businesses lack real-time updates on their stock and the value of their harvests. The list goes on.

In this installment of Mobile Message, Sarah Bartlett – Director of Communications and Research at Esoko - explains how African technology is being used to power agricultural markets across Africa, filling an ‘information void’ for local farmers in the process.

Mobile Message is a series of blog posts about how mobile phones are being used throughout the world to improve, enrich, and empower billions of lives."

Title: African Cashew Initiative: Cooperation to Use ICT for the Benefit of Cashew Growers
Source: ict4d Newsletter
Publisher: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Date (published): July 2011
Date (accessed): 10/08/2011
Type of information: short notice
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"We recently published, in collaboration with our colleagues from the African Cashew Initiative, a short paper “Virtual Cooperatives: ICT for African Cashew Farmers” on a development partnership with SAP Research in Ghana.
The development partnership utilizes Information and Communication Technologies to provide the means to enhance the productivity of Cashew farmers, to strengthen farmer cooperatives, and to enable them to do collaborative business with the established economy in a transparent and sustainable way.
To learn more, you can download the paper here or visit the website of the African Cashew Initiative. Also, Deutsche Welle, the German international TV channel, has produced a short video about the pilot of the project in Brong Ahafo, Ghana."
via https://twitter.com/#!/ictdev

Title: Fingerprints, the Next Big Thing in Banking
Authors: Alan Gelb, Caroline Decker
Source: Global Development: Views from the Center
Date (published): 21/07/2011
Date (accessed): 22/07/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"With the expansion of cell coverage and mobile banking, millions of poor and rural people can now access financial services. But as financial institutions reach new populations, it is becoming clear that there are other issues keeping people from formal banking, such as the need for identification. Thankfully, there seems to be an easy solution. Just as mobile phones have helped overcome the issue of proximity for banking, biometrics could do the same for identification.
...
Since 9/11 there has been increased pressure on governments in the developing world to implement policies consistent with international Anti–Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) standards. Included are the Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations requiring financial institutions to identify their clients to better record financial flows. Regulations typically require customers to present some form of official identification, such as proof of employment or address. For those of us in the developed world, this doesn’t seem like a big deal. But in sub-Saharan Africa where only 50 percent of the population has birth certificates, requiring formal ID excludes millions of citizens, especially poor and rural populations—women in particular.

To get around this, financial institutions have begun turning to biometrics. When Opportunity International (OI), an NGO which provides financial services to the poor, came to Malawi they quickly realized many of their target clients couldn’t provide the required KYC documents. OI approached the Central Bank for an exemption; instead of the required passport or driver’s license and proof of employment to open an account, OI clients are identified simply by their fingerprints. And to access their accounts clients use their fingerprints and smartcards at participating ATMs or points of service (POS)."

Title: Technology a key tool in addressing environmental sustainability: ITU’s message to global climate change conference
Source: International Telecommunication Union
Date (published): 13/07/2011
Date (accessed): 13/07/2011
Type of information: press release
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Geneva, 13 July, 2011 - Ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP-17) in Durban, South Africa, attendees at the ITU Symposium on ICTs and Climate Change in Ghana have renewed calls for global leaders to recognize the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

An outcome document asks that ITU, as the UN specialized agency for ICTs, lead a coalition urging COP-17 delegates to look to the enormous potential of ICT solutions to cut emissions across all sectors. The document calls for the adoption of a ‘closed loop’ approach to manufacturing and recycling which will reduce the need to extract and process raw materials. It also asks for recognition of the value of ICTs in monitoring deforestation, crop patterns and other environmental phenomena.
....
During the event, ITU launched a project on ICTs and climate change in Ghana which will be based on two pillars. The first will look at how ICTs can be used to help Ghana adapt to the effects of climate change, and will be led by the Ministry of Communications and sponsored by Research in Motion (RIM). The second, which will be led by Ghana’s Environment Protection Agency (EPA) with sponsorship from Vodafone Ghana, will look at how telecommunications in Ghana can reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). This project will pilot, for the first time, the ITU methodology on Environmental Assessment for the ICT Sector."

Title: Futures of Technology in Africa
Author:Jasper Grosskurth
Pages: 83 pp.
ISBN:978-90-809613-7-1
Publisher:STT, The Hague, the Netherlands
Date (published):22/10/2010
Date (accessed):05/11/2010
Type of information:research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
„Technology holds many promises as a driver of positive changes, as a tool to address the problems and as an enabler to fulfil the potential. Economic development requires modern technology and technology plays an important role in most strate- gies for alleviating hunger and poverty. Technology can reduce transaction costs, save lives, facilitate education, strengthen entrepreneurship, provide access to markets and help to deliver basic ser- vices, ranging from water and sanitation to public administration. However, the same technology can also be destructive and a cause of problems. Some technological developments can be facilitated or managed, others happen and require an adequate response.
It is this manifold interrelation of technology with its environment that makes exploring the future of technology so interesting and valuable. There is a need to explore how technology in Africa will or might evolve; to discuss the drivers and the obsta- cles, the issues technology might resolve and the problems it might cause; to identify how technology changes society and how African societies might change global technology. These are big and com- plex questions and the STT foresight project, which ends with this publication, is a contribution to this discussion that is still in its infancy with respect to Africa.”
via http://twitter.com/#!/marcozennaro

Title: Internet bandwidth prices cut to half in Ghana
Author Editor:
Source: My IT Ghana
Date (published): 24/09/2010
Date (accessed): 26/09/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"The National Communication Backbone Company (NCBC) has reduced the wholesale prices at which it sells international and national bandwidth capacity to Internet Service Providers (ISP) by half as other international bandwidth providers enter the market, B&FT has gathered.
NCBC, which manages the SAT3 on behalf of Vodafone and the national broadband fibre-optic cable, has since the beginning of this month dropped the US$4,500 price tag at which it sells ... to ISPs to US$2,100.
Additionally, the average national bandwidth price has also dropped by about 53% amidst fears the existing carriers may lose customers ahead of the new cables landing in the country...
The fears, however, is that even as the wholesale prices of both international and national bandwidth drop, ISPs, who provide internet services to homes and offices, will keep their prices still high in an attempt to milk the consumer as cut down prices may not reflect at the retail level."
via http://twitter.com/phat_controller

Title: Demystifying Internet
Author: Linda Raftree
Source: Wait… What?
Date (published): 25/05/2010
Date (accessed): 26/05/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
I was in a workshop in the Upper West Region of Ghana this past week. The goal was two-fold. 1) to train a small group of staff, ICT teachers and local partners on social media and new technologies for communications; and 2) to help them prepare for a project that will support 60 students to use arts and citizen media in youth-led advocacy around issues that youth identify.

I was planning to talk about how social media is different from traditional media, focusing on how it offers an opportunity to democratize information, and how we can support youth to use social media to reduce stereotypes about them and to bring their voices and priorities into global discussions. But all those theories about social media being the great equalizer, the Internet allowing everyone’s voices to flourish and yadaya, don’t mean a lot unless barriers like language, electricity, gender, and financial resources are lowered and people can actually access the Internet regularly