Digital Convergence & Innovation Driving Positive Change

In the digital era, access to information and the sharing of knowledge have created a new global currency that is transforming the fundamental economic, educational and social constructs of society, creating unprecedented opportunities for positive change.

Africa’s ICT sector is the fastest growing globally with mobile and broadband penetration rates set to continue to rise with lower cost high speed broadband now a reality companies must prepare and build solid foundations allowing them to take advantage of the opportunities, that this exciting industry and continent has to offer.

The region’s need to capitalize on convergent services and innovations is evident with IPTV, Triple Play and VoIP offerings growing, lower cost of access has created an increasing demand from the customer base. Service providers are locked in a battle to increase ARPU and boost customer loyalty, while maintaining lean and efficient operations. The demand on their networks and ability to deliver value to their customers is constantly growing.

Thus, the challenges to win in this new and dynamic environment are enormous making focus, speed, cooperation and ongoing innovation imperative to its many members.

The Digital Africa Summit aims to assist African operators by providing information that will aid them in developing a focused, practical strategy moving forward. This will be achieved by orchestrating a debate between:

• Leading regulatory authorities from Africa and the World
• Operators from Africa and the World
• Governments from Africa
• Industry Associations
• Financial Institutions and Investors
• Solution providers
• System integrators

We expect participating executives to leave this debate with greater clarity and understanding about the challenges they will face in developing their networks increasing connectivity efficiency and driving positive social and economical growth.

Find the Summit website at: Digital Africa Summit

The summit blog is at: www.digitalafricasummit.wordpress.com

Follow us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/DASummit2010

Find and discuss up to the minute summit updates on our Face book page

Makerere CIT Trains 150 Women in ICT

As the global race to bridge the digital divide between the North and the South is given impetus and incentive by the growth of southern economies, today this need is nowhere greater than in the emerging sub-Saharan markets. Seemingly trapped by illiteracy, overpopulation, breakdown in infrastructure, lack of access and soaring internet costs, the challenge to harness technology to aid Africa leap frog the divide seems even more daunting. Uganda serves as a microcosm for this African dilemma.

Another part of this complex conundrum is the fact that although women are substantially part of the business environment today, most of them know little or nothing about ICT and its potential to alter/or exponentially increase their access, use and leveraging of information technologies to help their businesses.

The Makerere University Faculty of Computing & IT (CIT) under its Community Outreach program has just finished training 150 women in basic ICT skills. The women are engaged in different business and entrepreneurship ventures but mostly consist of teachers.

The training included skills in use of Microsoft Word, Spreadsheets, Email, Introduction to computers and Power point Presentations.

CIT has done other trainings in the past for the Uganda Police Force, Uganda People's Defence Force, Makerere University Teaching and Non-teaching staff and will continue to train members of the public and private sectors as part of its commitment to increase ICT literacy in Uganda. Currently, 400 staff from Mulago Hospital is under ICT training at the faculty.

My big question is; Is it enough? Is it enough to train our women, and pump them with IT skills when they are still struggling under bad marriages and sexual harassment? As I ponder these thoughts what keeps coming to me is a phrase from a book I love deeply: Jane Eyre; where Rochester as he looks at the plain and yet deeply moving Jane says to himself and almost to God "It will atone." What will atone? The new life blood in this new young girl who he feels deeply about will atone for the trickery that led him to marry a woman with hereditary madness who he now keeps locked up in one of the rooms of his huge mansion. Can all those years of putting our women down be erased by giving them special treatment and advantages? I don't know anything for a fact but this I know: it will ATONE.

PRESIDENT OF BURUNDI VISIT TO CIT.

When the President of the Republic of Burundi, H.E. Pierre Nkurunzinza, visited Uganda a few weeks ago to sign a MoU with the Government of Uganda, he took some time off to tour and talk to the people at Makerere University Faculty of Computing & IT.

Apart from touring the facility [currently Africa's largest computing, teaching, research, and consulting facility], he thanked Uganda for continuing to be the regional educational hub. He talked of the possibility of training Burundi graduates at the National Software Incubation Center, instruction in IT, the newly introduced Software Engineering Bachelor's Degree, and the now looming possibility of Uganda as a Business Processing and Outsourcing center for the region.

Some pictures from that occasion:

President Pierre Nkurunzinza with Makerere University Chancellor, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera; and Faculty of Computing & IT, Head of Corporate Relations, Michael Niyitegeka

In the end, it matters more that he saw it fit to visit than that he signed an MoU with our government. the first counts, the second one, well...story of my life.

FACEBOOK ON MY KABIRITI!!

Only in Kampala, the city of cool do these things happen.

Blogville Brace Yourselves ! ! !

You can now update your facebook status from your mobile phone. Not your high end programmable phone with a camera and I don't know whatever; I mean a low down and cheap phone that has fallen in the pit a couple of times!

Jon Gosier, a business entrepreneur extraordinaire founded Appfrica.org has been busy! And so today he went live with Status.ug developed by Mr. Felix Kitaka, a young brilliant incubator at Appfrica.

"Appfrica.org facilitates, mentors and incubates entrepreneurs in software in East Africa and Uganda. It offers a physical space with a solid internet connection, servers, software and computers that allows students and recent graduates a place to develop their ideas in a constructive environment…"

Dig this, the place is complete with mentors!!

"… student projects are refined and prepped to help them secure funding and launch sustainable, profitable businesses. This project, loosely modeled after Paul Graham's Y Combinator, is better known as Appfrica Labs."

And I just lifted this off their site because its not so easy to paraphrase what they were saying.

"Appfrica Labs is a for-profit incubator and software development firm currently based out of Kampala, Uganda. The mission is to offer opportunities and work experience for East African software entrepreneurs so that they can then use their talents to bolster the growing local markets by offering products and services. Appfrica picks up where East African colleges leave off by offering hands-on experience in programming languages like Java, C++, C#,…."

You should check them out. And my life will never be the same again. Ever!

Oh I had forgotten you wanna register, right?

Ok you have to sign up at:

apps.facebook.com/status_ugtek

… Till then …