http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2006/09/27/how-africa-lags-and-leads-in-the-ict-world Comments for "How Africa Lags and Leads in the ICT World" en http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2006/09/27/how-africa-lags-and-leads-in-the-ict-world#comment-2071 I found the article another great example of what innovative and technically savvy the BOP can be. I might look into see what else is happening around the BOP and see if I can dig up some resources. Any readers have some?<br class="clear" /> Thu, 28 Sep 2006 16:00:40 -0400 _cweinman comment 2071 at http://www.nextbillion.net http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2006/09/27/how-africa-lags-and-leads-in-the-ict-world <p><img src="http://blogs.ittefaq.com/tech/archives/MobilePhonesAfrica-thumb.jpg" border="0" alt="cell africa" title="cell africa" width="250" height="179" align="left" />Ethan Zuckerman, a fellow at the <a href="http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/">Berkman Center for Internet and Society</a>, reports on the <a href="http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=1003">state of African connectivity</a> development, which remains hampered by very high costs. In West Africa, for example, connectivity costs more than 66 times as much as it does in the United States--$8 per kbps versus a typical cost for US universities of $0.12 per kbps.<br /><br />But Zuckerman also <a href="http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=1003">suggests</a> 4 areas where Africans are leading the rest of the world:<br /><br /><em>- Narrowband - innovative connectivity solutions that use very little bandwidth, like the Ghana “Javelin” project</em></p><p><em>- Localization - Translation of open source software into a wide variety of languages, especially through the help of organizations like Translate.org.za. </em></p><p><em>- Radio - Use of community radio for information dissemination, integration of data and radio in projects like Geekcorps Mali.</em></p><p><em>- Urban wifi - with huge wifi networks in Accra, Bamako and other African cities.</em><br /><br />I would add one more to the list—financial services over mobile phone networks. <a href="/search/node/celtel">Celtel</a> was an early pioneer with Celpay, and <a href="/activitycapsule/wizzit">Wizzit</a> in South Africa has been among the most innovative in this space, along with <a href="/node/1428">Smart</a> and <a href="/remittances-mobile-globe-cash">Globe</a> in the Philippines. <br /><br />It is remarkable, as Zuckerman points out, that Africans are able to innovate around myriad regulatory and price barriers to lead in these areas. That suggests the question: what is the comparable list for other developing regions?<br /></p><br class="clear" /><p><a href="http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2006/09/27/how-africa-lags-and-leads-in-the-ict-world">read more</a></p> http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2006/09/27/how-africa-lags-and-leads-in-the-ict-world#comment Telecommunications and IT Wed, 27 Sep 2006 13:03:08 -0400 Al Hammond 3400 at http://www.nextbillion.net