Tanaka Mutakwa

Tiny Israel, a country embroiled in conflicts for decades, has managed to transform itself from a stretch of farmland into a high-tech wonder. Israel currently has almost 4,000 active technology start-ups – more than any other country outside the United States, according to Israel Venture Capital Research Centre. In 2010 alone the flow of venture capital amounted to $884m (£558m).

How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million people, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources—produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the United Kingdom? A 2009 book by Dan Senor and Saul Singer (Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle) is about the economy of Israel. It examines how Israel, a 60-year old nation with a population of 7.1 million, was able to reach such economic growth that “at the start of 2009, some 63 Israeli companies were listed on the NASDAQ, more than those of any other foreign country.”

Key factors leading to Israel’s high-tech success:

• Israeli culture – the lack of hierarchy, a constant drive for individualism, regular risk taking. Engineers in Israel seem unfazed by the high-pressure environment of today’s technology industries, it is because many have been trained under life-and-death circumstances.
• The government played a key role in the rapid rise of this start-up nation. “The government jump-started the industry. One way they did this was through the creation of the Yozma programme in 1993, a so-called fund of funds set up to invest in local venture capital funds that would channel money into new technology firms. Soon numerous start-ups dotted Israel’s industry landscape, and venture capital funds mushroomed all over the country – a blooming industry that quickly attracted foreign investors.
• Israel’s defence forces are also boosting entrepreneurship. Military service is compulsory, but besides regular military units, the army also has designated hi-tech units, where computer-savvy conscripts are constantly prompted to come up with innovative ideas in disciplines such as computer security, cryptography, communications and electronic warfare.  The military enables young people in certain units to get technological skills, to run large technological projects at a very young age, where they need to improvise in order to get fast solutions. Once back in the real world, many military alumni use the newly acquired experience to launch their own technology start-ups.
• And then, of course, there is Jewish immigration – a key driver of the country’s economy since its foundation. The biggest and the most important wave of immigration came from Russia. Many were very smart people with technological background. Maybe they were not so much entrepreneurs, but when those guys met Israeli-born guys, many interesting things happened.

Developing countries can learn valuable lessons from this success story. Further they can also learn from other successful implementations of technology in developed countries and fellow developing countries. Governments in developing countries need to assess the conditions of their countries and identify the ideal context in which they can apply technology in order to improve the daily lives of their citizens.

References:

How Israel turned itself into a high-tech hub, 22 November 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15797257

Technology of Business: How Israel became a hi-tech hub, 22 November 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15822293

How The Israeli Startup Scene Imploded, May 2011, http://www.businessinsider.com/israel-what-happened-to-the-biggest-startup-nation-in-the-world-2011-5#your-book-is-subtitled-how-the-top-1-percent-of-entrepreneurs-profit-from-global-chaos-how-does-israel-fit-into-that-idea-1

 

Most people are aware that it was World AIDS Day last Thursday. World AIDS Day on 1 December brings together people from around the world to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic. The day is an opportunity for public and private partners to spread awareness about the status of the pandemic and encourage progress in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care in high prevalence countries and around the world.

Between 2011-2015, World AIDS Days will have the theme of “Getting to zero: zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS related deaths”. The World AIDS Campaign focus on “Zero AIDS related deaths” signifies a push towards greater access to treatment for all; a call for governments to act now. It is a call to honor promises like the Abuja declaration and for African governments to at least hit targets for domestic spending on health and HIV.

Given that this was the theme of the week, I decided to go and research the various ways in which technology is being used to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and tackle the virus. I stumbled upon many interesting ways in which technology is being used in the fight agianst HIV/AIDS, from using mobile games to sending millions of free text messages a day to push people to be tested and treated. Below are  links to some of the interesting articles I found:

• HIV/AIDS and mobile technology: sms saving lives in Africa
• Texts tackle HIV in South Africa
• Mobile technology battles HIV
• Fighting HIV/AIDS by using mobile phone games

Imagine a world where banks are nowhere near where you live. The nearest branch is 10 kilometres away, but it takes you almost an hour to get there by foot and bus because you don’t have your own vehicle. With waiting times at the branch, that’s a round-trip of two hours – a quarter or so of your working day gone. The bus fare is about a quarter of the money you make on a good day. This means each banking transaction costs you the equivalent of almost half a day’s wages. Then, imagine a world without credit instruments or electronic payments. No checks, no cards, no money orders, no direct debits, no internet banking. All your transactions are done in cash or, worse, by bartering goods. All exchanges are physical, person-to-person, and hand-to-hand. Consider the hassle and the risk of sending money to distant relatives, business partners, or banks. How would you operate in such a world?

A recent book, Portfolios of the Poor (Collins et al. 2009), documents how poor people cope. How they save to ‘push’ some excess money from today to tomorrow, how they borrow to ‘pull’ tomorrow’s money to fund some needed expense today. They store some cash at home to meet daily needs, they park it with a trusted friend for emergencies, they buy jewellery because that represents a future for their children, and they pile up some bricks for the day when they can build an extra room in their house. They make regular contributions to a savings group with a circle of friends to build up a pot, and one day it will be their turn to take that pot home to buy new clothes. They also borrow from friends, seek advances from their employers, pawn some of their jewellery, and go to the moneylender.

It is estimated that over 2 billion people need to cope with such circumstances. The lack of good financial options is undoubtedly one of the reasons why poor people are trapped in poverty. They cannot sustain or even aspire to higher income because they are not able to invest in better farming tools and seeds to enhance their productivity, start a microenterprise, or even take the time to search for better paying employment opportunities. Their income is volatile, often fluctuating daily, so without reliable ways of pushing and pulling money between good days and bad days they may have to face the stark decision to pull the kids out of school or put less food on the table during bad patches.

In Kenya, prior to 2007, a large number of the nation’s population faced the problems stated above. Mobile phone operator Vodafone changed Kenyans lives when it launched the revolutionary M-PESA (“M” for mobile and “PESA” for money in Swahili) through its Kenyan affiliate Safaricom in March 2007. Most of us have heard of M-PESA before, but what is this M-PESA thing that has become such a buzzword and is mentioned almost instantly in ICT4D (Information and Communications Technologies for Development) conversations?

M-PESA is a small-value electronic payment and store-of-value system in Kenya, accessible from ordinary mobile phones. It has seen exceptional growth since its introduction in March 2007. As of November 2011 M-PESA has over 14million subscribers and well over 28000 agents across the country—the system processes more transactions domestically than Western Union does globally. There are now nearly five times the number of M-PESA outlets than the total number of post offices, bank branches, and automated teller machines (ATMs) in Kenya. M-PESA’s market success is the result of the interplay of three factors:

• Pre-existing country conditions that made Kenya an ideal environment for a successful mobile money deployment.
• A clever service design that facilitated rapid adoption and early capturing of network effects.
• A business execution strategy that helped M-PESA rapidly reach a critical mass of customers, thereby avoiding the adverse chicken-and-egg (two-sided market) problems that afflict new payment systems.

To access the service, customers must first register at an authorized M-PESA retail outlet. They are then assigned an individual electronic money account that is linked to their phone number and accessible through a SIM card-resident application on the mobile phone. Customers can deposit and withdraw cash to/from their accounts by exchanging cash for electronic value at a network of retail stores (often referred to as agents). These stores are paid a fee by Safaricom each time they exchange these two forms of liquidity on behalf of customers. Once customers have money in their accounts, they can use their phones to transfer funds to other M-PESA users and even to non-registered users, pay bills, and purchase mobile airtime credit. All transactions are authorized and recorded in real time using secure SMS. Customer registration and deposits are free.

Video link – Safaricom’s short documentary on how M-PESA is changing lives in Kenya.

What M-PESA has done in Kenya is phenomenal. Other developing countries can learn valuable lessons from this success story. It is important to remember that Kenya’s conditions made it ideal for a successful deployment of M-PESA. Likewise, fellow developing countries need to assess the conditions of their countries and identify the ideal context in which they can apply technology in order to improve the daily lives of their citizens.

Human communication has evolved over time. The history of communication dates back to prehistoric times, with significant changes in communication technologies (media and appropriate inscription tools) evolving in tandem with shifts in political and economic systems, and by extension, systems of power. From the days of the smoke signal to an instant chat message on a social networking site such as Facebook. The graph below shows the timeline of the various communication methods used by humans in history.

Most people I know have some social networking site (Facebook, Twitter, Mxit, etc) account which they use to share, inform and reconnect with friends and relatives. If you need to get in touch with them and catch up on any issues in their lives , they simply say “get hold of me on Facebook, Twitter or any other social network”.

The number social networking sites users is growing everyday in developing countries. A critical part of social network adaptation is a translation to many languages. For example, thanks to a group of Swahili scholars, Facebook launched a Swahili version of its network potentially targeting more than 110 Million people. Social networks are doing a great job in developing countries, driving ICT adoption especially by young people. However, critics may ask, “what are the real benefits of social networks? What is their real purpose apart from posting photos, chatting and playing games?” Some people are skeptical about the real impact of social networking in developing countries. My opinion is that, social networks can have a positive impact in developing countries, and we just need to exploit their true power. Below I outline a few examples of simple ways in which the power of social networks can be utilized for development.

Business

Most small businesses in developing countries have limited access to capital, hence they need to keep their costs to a minimum. Social networking sites are important especially for businesses as they are cheaper to setup and maintain for marketing purposes. They rarely experience frequent outage like some websites do and they provide an opportunity to reach out to a larger market for potential customers in different regions.

Education

Students and teachers can communicate via social networking sites. Groups of general interest can be created and members can join and discuss relevant topics. The distance barrier can be eliminated and students in developing countries can be assigned mentors from developed countries to assist them in life and career decisions.

Health

There is a severe shortage of doctors, nurses, health workers and drugs in a large number of developing countries. Many patients never see a doctor or visit a clinic and those who do visit one often do not receive the care and treatment they deserve due to lack of resources. Thousands of people, mostly children, die from mistreatment (and sometimes from no treatment) of illnesses such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, dehydration, malnutrition and malaria. There are some areas in developing countries where the closest qualified doctor is hundreds of kilometers away. Social networking sites can be used to bridge this barrier with a qualified doctor communicating directly with patients or with a standby medical representative of the area. Patients can relay the symptoms they are experiencing and a doctor can provide a diagnosis via a social network site. The model where the doctor is physically present is definitely ideal as they can physically examine the patients, however the social networking model is better than nothing at all.

Social networking sites can also be used as a platform to send messages in support of public health and behavioral change campaigns, information delivery to health workers, and to send and receive data on disease incidence, outbreaks and public emergencies.

Government

Social networking sites can be used for mobilisation as well as promoting certain causes/issues. This makes it possible to reach a wider audience, to get more support, for example, running a “say no to violence campaign”. A large part of Barack Obama’s successful campaign in the 2008 American election was due to presence on the social networking platforms.

Jobs / Recruitment

Social networking sites allow recruiters to establish relationships with candidates while promoting their company and leveraging relationships into placements down the road. The benefits of social networking sites as a talent acquisition tool are numerous.

Utilizing social networking sites allows recruiters to:

• Expand contacts.
• Search to find candidates that are not accessible elsewhere.
• Find passive job-seekers in a targeted manner.
• Get much more insight into a person than a just a resume.
• Build a new economic recruitment source (most sites are free).
• Interact with the candidates informally and easily.
• Reach individuals 24/7.

Individuals also benefit from being able to advertise their skills through an additional channel provided by social networking sites.

Social / Lifestyle

Parts of the developing world are missing a whole generation of youngsters who have left for the diaspora and left behind family and loved ones. This separation would have taken a huge toll on these social relationships in the snail-mail era. The ability to communicate with people who are thousands of kilometers away from us is crucial.

There are problems especially for youngsters who are not fully aware, not only of the benefits but also of the dangers associated with using the internet including social networking sites which store a lot of individual information. Security threats such as hacking into user accounts, stealing of private information, bullying etc and even human trafficking can result from the use of social networking sites. However with the appropriate education, these problems become trivial.

Distances and lack of transportation infrastructure hinders development of countries. Social networking, by connecting people from different locations will help lead to the emergence of projects with a wider foundation and effect. The main effect of these social networks lies in driving young people to develop relationships online or developing the existing ones. Social networking can contribute to attract these young people to the world of internet and ICT, and with the power of word and the spread of information more youth find themselves dragged to the cyber-space and this is a benefit that needs to be utilized. Nevertheless, social networking allows for the chance, to overcome social, political, governmental barriers, as well as the physical barriers of infrastructure.

I recently (3 months ago) purchased an Amazon Kindle electronic reader (e-reader) device and since then I have only read once hard copy book in contrast to the five electronic books I have read on the Kindle. E-readers have many advantages, they are optimized to reduce eye strain, books are cheaper, can carry multiple books on them at the same time, and they consume relatively little power: a one-hour charge typically lasts two weeks or more.

A few days after receiving my kindle e-reader I realized the device could play a big role in improving the educational system in developing countries. Education and literacy are critical drivers of economic growth. Yet in much of the developing world, children have access to a vanishingly small range of reading material. Transportation issues, logistical problems, payment difficulties — all reduce the availability of books and written material in the developing world. Imagine what children miss if they never discover an encyclopaedia, an explanation of our solar system, or a favourite book about dinosaurs.

Governments from developing countries are running initiatives to get books for every child in their respective countries. The Zimbabwean government is a recent example of this after they launched a US $10 million facility  to get books for students. This often entails providing a book for each subject a child enrols in. However as stated above there are many challenges that result due to this approach.

In a developing country’s educational system, digital books have three principal advantages over physical books. First, once e-readers are in place, schools and families have near-immediate access to hundreds of thousands of books, from new textbooks to current best-sellers. Second, the cost of shipping e-books is nearly zero, even to very remote areas, compared to $1.00 or more per book just to ship a container to port. And finally, the cost of digital content is falling quickly: many current and classic digital books are priced at one-half or less of the hardcover list price, and many others are free. Beyond these benefits, some e-readers have added features like text-to-speech for new readers or the vision-impaired, or for those children whose parents cannot read or whose native language is not the language of instruction.  Built-in dictionaries and access to Wikipedia can be very helpful. And digital distribution makes possible the publication of much more local content, including newspapers, magazines, flyers and newsletters, health and voting information, and more.

The ideal model governments and aid organisations should be aiming for is providing an e-reader for every child in developing countries. There would definitely be challenges in implementing this model. Lack of electricity, lack of connectivity in order to distribute books to the devices, theft and abuse of the e-readers due to poverty are just some of the challenges to be faced in this model. There are multiple solutions to some of these challenges though, for example the lack of electricity to charge the devices can be tackled by solar power (either generators or providing solar powered e-readers) or even car batteries as chargers. The possibilities are endless, it is just a matter of imagination.

Worldreader has successfully conducted a trial of a similar model. Their first two trials took place in early 2010. Their first trial was completed in Barcelona, Spain, and helped them understand logistics issues and classroom use.  Their second trial was in a village near Accra, Ghana, focused on logistics, power, support, and user experience in the context of the developing world. You can download a copy of the trial report and conclusions.

Children don’t really have a penchant for reading. They get bored easily. A great way to revive their interest is by using eReaders in schools. They are handy digital devices capable of storing several hundreds of ebooks which can be read at your convenience. They are well equipped with several useful features that can make reading a pleasurable experience. You don’t have to flip pages and neither do you need to lug around bulky books. All you need to do is click the right buttons to scroll through the book. Governments and aid organisations need to consider this as a possible option if they are to achieve the Millenium Development Goal of Universal Education.