Low(er) cost computing
In the middle of everything else that’s going on right now, we’re working to get the latest FrontlineSMS ready for launch. Among a few of the more minor changes (bug fixes and additional language support, for example) this new release will see the inclusion of FrontlineForms, a fully integrated SMS-driven data collection tool. Although it’s been ready for some... Read More
The "long tail" revisited
Four years ago was a very lonely time. Not for me personally, understand, but in the social mobile space. The wider non-profit world was just beginning to take a serious interest in what the technology had to offer, and in 2004 I’d just co-authored one of the earlier reports – funded by the Vodafone Group Foundation – on the use of mobile technology for conservation... Read More
Invention. Collaboration. Integration.
The past couple of weeks have been particularly exciting for Ushahidi and FrontlineSMS. Independently they’ve been featured on the BBC and CNN websites, where their use in the DRC and Malawi respectively continues to gain traction. Jointly they’ve appeared in Forbes Magazine in an interview given by Ory (which was predominantly about Ushahidi, but given the enormous... Read More
Empowering Africa's youth
Taken at a Plan International workshop in Kenya, December 2008. Plan projects working with primary school children throughout Africa will soon be implementing FrontlineSMS in their work. (Photo: Erik Hersman) Read More
Pocket messaging?
During the recent Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellows boot camp in Camden, Maine, I had the pleasure of sharing a cabin with Erik Hersman of White African, AfriGadget and Ushahidi fame. Despite knowing Erik for a couple of years or so, it was the first time we’d managed to sit down over a prolonged period and chat Africa, mobiles, innovation and technology. It was great... Read More
Fireside chat
If I was ever asked to give a short, informal introductory fireside talk about FrontlineSMS, it would probably go something like this… FrontlineSMS was originally released at the end of 2005 based on a hunch that there was a need within the grassroots non-profit community for a simple, easy-to-use replicable text messaging tool which didn’t require the internet... Read More
#Pop!Tech08
You can always tell you’ve been to something quite special when the bar rises not only off the scale but out of site. “Amazing. Inspiring. Community. Friends. Special. Overwhelming. Over-fed. Unstoppable”. Just some of the words used by delegates in the closing session on Saturday to describe their Pop!Tech08 experience. Mine would have been “Spiritual”.... Read More
Social mobile: Doing what it says on the tin
About a year ago I was asked to give an interview to the Africa Journal. They were looking at ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in Africa and I agreed, despite being mildly uncomfortable being labelled an ICT innovator or an entrepreneur (and an African one, at that). At the end of the interview, however, they captured a brief moment which beautifully encapsulated what FrontlineSMS... Read More
Cometh the hour. Cometh the technology.
For NGOs and developers alike, the ICT4D space can be a tough nut to crack. While NGOs generally struggle to find the tools they need to meet their particular needs, developers face the opposite problem – getting their tools into the hands of those who need them the most. Attempts to connect the NGO and developer communities – physically and virtually – continue... Read More
Empowerment: It's the users, stupid!
Empowerment (em-pou-er-ment) The process of transferring decision-making power from influential sectors to poor communities and individuals who have traditionally been excluded It’s been an interesting last few days. I’ve just finished giving talks at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and the ICT4D Group at Royal Holloway. Both may be ‘London-based’... Read More
