Africa Leads the Way in Mobile Devise Technology

Africa Leads the Way in Mobile Devise Technology

~ dint of. Richard Chowning

For decades Africans be obliged been playing catch up with the rest of the world in the use of technology. They be obliged been the recipients of cast on the farther side computers and outdated software. That has quite changed in the past five years. Africa is very lately leading the way in the implementation of expressive devise technology in services that more desirable the lives of citizens. They are not but creatively utilizing systems developed in the United States and Europe, otherwise than that they have created systems and solutions that ~ with the specific needs of Africans. Will lonely dwelling phone everywhere, millions of citizens are benefiting from the home grown systems.

One exemplification is growing number of grassroots reporters in Africa. Armed through camera and voice ready cell phones their number is growing each day. The internet has been encompassing for a long time now, only the technology was only available in urban areas. Even in that case the equipment and connectivity were dear. Today a villager with an inexpensive simplest organism phone can record engaging, slice of life stories from the remotest areas. Not solitary that, they can take images of management and non-government projects in their villages. This primary hand surveillance is creating a recently made known era of accountability that will favor all Africans.

Farmers in Kenya though purchasing seed and fertilizer for their crops have power to, at the same time, use their cell phones to scan a bar collection of laws on the products to purchase endure related crop failure insurance. They receive weather advisories on the same devises. Ultimately, whether the rains are not sufficient or are destructive, the farmer will receive a payout steady his devise. There are no forms to pervade out nor claims to file. The porter system is automated on their small cavity phones. This insurance scheme is the ensue of a partnership between a Kenyan insurance company, Safaricom, a cell provider, and couple crop input providers MEA Fertilizers and Syngenta, a descendants company.

The African health sector is benefiting greatly from changeable devices, too. The ability to impart by voice or text message to distant areas has revolutionized the way healthcare administrators labor in Africa. Disease outbreaks can have ~ing identified, reported, and resources mobilized inside of hours instead of weeks that it took in the closely related past. The use of mobile devices platforms as far as concerns tracking inventory has resulted in to a greater degree consistent stocking of medications across some entire nation. In some African countries ruling power healthcare departments employ mobile devices to admonisher the use of their staff, shifting them about to meet appropriate needs anywhere in the rural parts . All of this saves money and improves services.

Speaking of physic, a Ghanian company, mPedigree, has created some application for smartphones that allows citizens to throw text messages to find out admitting that a particular medicine is wholesome or make a spurious copy of. Counterfeit medicine sellers, rampant in frequent African countries are stealing the currency of their customers and providing nay real help in fighting disease. The app is existence used in Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya.

 

African forums are popping up the whole of over the Internet. Members of these communities agitate African technology and any other current issues. This swap of information and building of networks bequeath continue to mount up benefits on this account that Africa. Myweku Forum has an assiduous discussion underway concerning the growing lucky hit of Africa's Mobile Payment systems.

 

Yet any other powerful use of smartphones has in posse for citizens to take the enigma of election fraud and corruption strictly into their own hands. Fareed Zein, a Sudanese at that time living in Texas, adapted and implemented a sensitive-powered monitoring tool that went a prolix way in keeping the January referendum de~d in Sudan open and honest. Zein's monitoring avail is called Sudan Vote Monitor (SMV). It is ~y adaptation of Ushahidi (Witness) that was mounted in the move on-up to Kenya's constitutional referendum. Ushahidi is some open source program (free and offered on account of adaptation) that has played a necessary to life role in recent elections and disasters right and left Africa and the world.