November | 2010

Creatives Meetup at the *iHub_

Earlier this Month, we met and had our very first creative meet-up brainstorm. This meet-up attracted a good number of creatives living around Nairobi. After quick introductions, we dove into the main agenda that was, if creatives could welcome the idea of a Monthly Creative Meet-up then the group tried to identify some of the activities that we would have during these meet-ups and possibly even, activities outside these Main Monthly meet-ups.

This Friday the 3^rd marks our very first official Creatives Meet-up to be held at the *iHub_. We plan to first of all, introducing the idea to the new creatives, talk about the purpose of the meet-up, expound and develop more on objectives for the Meet-up.

The primary objective is to bring together the creatives in town under one roof. We see this group as a synergistic entity that will help all of us with information on the latest creative ideas, software, technology and other issues. We would like to see the group become the catalyst to organize creative talent but it will be impossible to do it alone so we need to band together, first, because creatives are different people. We see the world in shapes, colors and how it touches our emotions and so we need to get together and relate to people that see the world as we do. Second, things are constantly changing in our industry and we need to stay abreast of it.

So if you are interested, Join us this Friday at 5.30 and get to meet the other creatives around town. The meetup is open to everyone but to be able to keep intouch for any upcoming events/sessions, please sign up your email address using this FORM so we can have your contacts.

By: Tosh

29-11-2010

Community Entrepreneurship iHub Members Mentorship

Intellectual Property Law & Rights Talk

Copyright includes literary works, such as novels, scripts, and films, and musical and artistic works, such as paintings, photographs, sculptures and architectural designs. Industrial property rights include patents and trademarks, which are used to protect inventions and source identifying marks and symbols.

While providing an open platform for Innovation, the *iHub_ is more than happy to welcome John Syekei to engage with the community of innovators and inventors, taking them through different laws and Rights on Interlectual Property. He will be giving a talk on this Thursday the 2nd at the *iHub_ starting 6pm.

This is a free to attend event and open to all, but you must R.S.V.P. as seats are limited.

About John Syekei
He was recently ranked by Managing IP and The International Who’s Who List of Trademark and Patent lawyers, both highly respected listings based on client and peer recommendations, as the leading intellectual property lawyer in private practice in Kenya.

His practice areas and experience cover advice on trade mark, patent, copyright and industrial designs protection and enforcement both locally and internationally under the MADRID and ARIPO systems. He also advises on national protection in countries around the world for local clients, drafting and negotiation of technology related agreements, outsourcing, E-commerce, IT, anti- counterfeit strategy, anti-counterfeit actions, and intellectual property litigation.

In recognition of the role and visibility he enjoys as a leader in the field, He was recently appointed by the Law Society of Kenya to sit on the Committee reviewing the Remuneration Order of Advocates practicing in the area of IP.

He is am a member of the Law Society of Kenya, International Trademarks Association, Federation of Private Practitioners in Patent Law and Licensing Executives International.

By: Tosh

28-11-2010

Community Events iHub Members

Microsoft ‘Open Door’ Event

Join us at the Microsoft Technology Update event that we have dubbed ‘Open Door 2010’ where the Microsoft team will present and showcase their latest technology.

You will have the opportunity to get the latest news about recent released Microsoft technologies, tools, platforms and services as well as industry trends first–hand from Microsoft experts and independent specialists.

Immerse yourself in learning opportunities with distinguished speakers and community influences.

Engage and collaborate with peers and the Microsoft team

Explore further learning paths and prepare yourself for upcoming opportunities

Have Fun!

Date:
8thDecember 2010

Venue:
SARIT CENTRE, FOX CINEMA : Developers
WEST GATE , SILVERBIRD CINEMA : IT Pros

Time:
8.00am onwards

Please RSVP to book your seat as soon as possible!
Contact: Keru on 2868246/228/220

Email us on talk2us@microsoft.com

By: Tosh

25-11-2010

Community Events iHub Members

Forum Nokia Vice President at the *iHub_

We are happy to announce that Purnima Kochikar, the Vice President of Forum Nokia and the Developer Community will be at the *iHub_ this Wednesday the 1^st of December.

While leading the Mobile developer community, Forum Nokia partners with third-party software developers to maximize the value of Nokia devices by fostering the creation of engaging applications and services that deliver rich new experiences for end users, additional revenue flows for operators, and exciting business opportunities.

As Vice President, Forum Nokia and Developer Community, Purnima is responsible for strategy and growth opportunities with Nokia’s third party developers to create a vibrant Nokia ecosystem. She will talk about Forum Nokia and what Nokia’s plans are for the Kenyan developer community.

She joined Nokia in 2003 as Senior Product Manager for Multimedia Solutions in Nokia mobile phones, with previous roles as Director, Strategy and Business Development for Enterprise Solutions and Director, Market Readiness for Consumer Messaging before taking on her current role. At Nokia, Purnima has been recognized for her contributions to the mobile messaging business.

Please R.S.V.P here to attend this session as seats are limited. The session will start at 6pm

Forum Nokia at a glance
What Forum Nokia Offers to third party developers:

Facilitate pre-load of apps on millions of devices
Help drive opportunities with Nokia services (Ovi Store, Share on Ovi, Maps on Ovi)
Foster strategic partnerships with Nokia, Aggregators, Operators

Technical support

Consultancy
Tools and Remote Device Access
SDKs
Device Prototypes
Trainings
User Testing

Information Exchange

An active developer community with over 1.5 mn unique visitors per month on http://forum.nokia.com
Specialized eLearning and Webinars
FN Discussion Board and Wiki
Newsletters
Industry expert guest bloggers

Program Support

Forum Nokia Pro Accelerator
Forum Nokia Pro
Forum Nokia Launch pad
FN Champions Programs
Marketing Programs/Events

See you then!

By: Tosh

22-11-2010

Community Entrepreneurship Events Members

CIMply Digital Event

Digital creativity can best be described as a “plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose”. People’s lives do not revolve around your brand. They revolve around life. Everyone on the internet that is not you, is your competitor. Build a relationship between your brand and people’s lives. And just because it’s measurable does not mean it’s worthwhile. Branding is like a relationship.

If your brand is acceptable to everyone then it won’t be exciting to anyone.

So how do you make people connect with your brand on digital platforms?

The Chartered Institute of Marketing presents Kenya’s first full digital event. CIMply digital – a gala dinner that is geared towards showcasing digital marketing tools in Kenya. If you are a businessman, come gain a new perspective on how you manage your business in the new digital age.

Christian Bitti, CEO, Digital Brands Group will be the key speaker of the evening and he will be speaking on available digital platforms and how to successfully target your audience in the digital space. He will also give case studies as he discusses the future trends in the digital world.

A graduation ceremony for the 2010 CIM graduants will also be held during the same event.

The event will be held on 26^th November 2010 at the InterContinental Hotel. For more information and registration, Click Here

By: Angela Oduor

20-11-2010

Events

Mobile Boot Camp: Day 1

Dr. Joe Sevilla kicked off the event, welcoming participants to what is actually the 5^th (not the 4^th) Mobile Boot Camp, whose theme was “Mobile Applications: Impacting Africa”. He gave an overview of what to expect from this boot camp and announced the competition that would be open for participants of this mobile boot camp. He encouraged participants to participate in such competitions and develop mobile applications, by mentioning a few of the success stories of Strathmore University Alumni such as Alex Nyika of iCheki and Susaneve Oguya from M-Farm.

Dr Sevilla kicks off the boot camp

Next Up was David Muturi from Ericsson, the platinum sponsors of the event, who gave a brief overview of the history of telecommunications. He highlighted the transition from landline technologies till 4G technologies today. He also gave an overview of the various Mobile OS platforms, as well as challenges faced in the mobile application development field. The rest of the Ericsson team then gave an insightful presentation on the Youth and Mobile application development in Africa, showcasing some of the innovations that Ericsson has come up with. A question and answer session with the Ericsson team ensued, right before tea break.

After the tea break, Michael Wakahe, from Shujaa Solutions was up next, giving a talk on Mobile Website application development. He gave an overview on the need for mobile web technologies as well as a brief history of mobile web applications, and the various technologies used for mobile web development. He also talked about the Shujaa Developer platform, pointing out that 70% of proceeds are awarded to the developer, and 30% goes to Shujaa Solutions. As a parting shot, he flashed his Nokia C3 and Amazon Kindle reader to the very excited participants (me included!)

Michael Wakahe from Shujaa Solutions

Wadzanai Chiota-Madziva, who worked at Safaricom Limited as a product developer for 9 years, was up next with a talk on Linking customers – Developing for the market. She brought to light the fact that most techies/developers make the mistake of not considering the users of their applications while developing. She advised developers to be consumers of their own solutions, to make use of their own applications as they develop, “Solve your own solutions; scratch your own itch.”

Charles Kithika was next with his presentation on Building good business models with IT projects. He advised developers NOT to overprice their applications, as is the case with promotions we have been seeing on our TV screens lately, where consumers are charged 60kshs per SMS. According to Charles, this is how to make money from your applications:-

One-off sale
Charge per service
Charge per use e.g SMS applications.

Right before Lunch, Ken Kasina was up on stage to vouch for development using Python. According to him, a developer is more productive with Python than with Java. Maybe it’s time for developers to explore the enigma that is Python?

The afternoon session began on a good note, with Erastus Njuki giving a presentation on SmartPhone application Development, who lived in Japan for a year developing applications for the iPhone. He highlighted the need for smartphones, as well as the fact that some of the key features of smartphones such as push notifications, smart links and GPS have been overlooked. He also gave insight on how the Japanese market was initially conservative, and iPhones were given out for FREE (yes, for FREE) to penetrate the market. He gave an example of how the smartphone was used to enable the Japanese tradition of Flower viewing, known as Hanami. An application was developed to inform of flower citing. His advice on how to start developing smart phones applications? Form teams.

Next up was Alex Nyika, who gave a presentation on the iCheki application, a matatu tracking solution. Alex, a Strathmore University Alumnus, is the brains behind the event registration module used for the mobile boot camp, which led him to win the previous boot camp competition. He also talked about his experience in Finland, where he won the top prize for his innovative idea iCheki. He encouraged participants not to underestimate all the competitions that come up, and take part in them. A challenge has been put forward to all mobile developers out there. Develop your ideas, you never know where it may take you.

Last, but certainly not least, were the all-girl M-Farm team, comprising of Lillian Nduati, Linda Kwamboka, Jamila Abass and Susaneve Oguya, who are also members of AkiraChix and recently won the top prize of 1 Million Kshs at the IPO48 event, to talk about their M-Farm product, an innovation that helps in creating a link between buyers and sellers of farm produce. According to the M-Farm team, this application cuts out the middle man monopoly, making selling and buying of produce a whole lot faster. The ladies pointed out that what they developed in the 48 hours of the IPO48 event was just a prototype, and that they are launching their Beta version on the 20^th of November, 2010, in Kinangop. From the Question and answer session(which was actually the longest of the day), it is evident that these ladies are a force to reckon with. The ladies seemed unperturbed by difficult questions thrown their way, showing how much thought, effort, and research that they have put into this venture of theirs, which is barely a month old. Kudos to you and we wish you all the best.

And with that, the moderator for the day, Miss Lillian Nduati, who is also a part of the M-Farm team, closed the event for the day.

Participants have registered for various lab sessions that will run on Friday the 19^th till Saturday the 20^th of November 2010, which include:-

Python
SMS/USSD
Mobile Web
Beginner Java ME
Intermediate Java ME
Android

There will also be presentation of prizes to winners of the previous mobile boot camp competition on the last day of the event, 20^th November 2010.

Photos from the event are available on Picasa and Flickr.

For those who want to share their photos of the event, join this flickr group.

Follow the Mobile Boot Camp on Twitter here for more updates.

By: Jessica Colaco

18-11-2010

Community iHub Members

infoDev Awards AkiraChix one of the Six Mobile Social Networking Grants

infoDev recently announced the first six of eight grants for mobile social networking activities under the Creating Sustainable Businesses in the Knowledge Economy program, part of a partnership among infoDev, the Government of Finland, and Nokia.

Picture from infoDev.org

In Kenya the fabulous tech-girl group called AkiraChix won the Mobile Social Networking Grant to support preexisting or establish new social networking hubs and complementary online communication channels to foster collaboration among developers, entrepreneurs, mentors, partners, investors and other technologists working in the mobile field. In addition, these organizations will provide vital support for the creation of content for a mobile applications community of practice, along with other mentoring and concept incubation activities.

By: Jessica Colaco

18-11-2010

Community Entrepreneurship Events iHub Members Mentorship

Africa Gathering Nairobi 2010 on the 10th and 11th of December @ the *iHub_

Africa Gathering is a registered organization that encourages sustainable development across Africa and beyond. In line with their vision of sharing ideas for positive change, they are pleased to offer you an opportunity to engage in a vibrant exchange of positive ideas amongst some of the world’s most passionate thinkers, entrepreneurs and innovators who’ll be meeting at the conference at the *iHub this December. This year’s theme is: “Africa Innovating in ICT”

Africa gathering will be holding the following Workshops on Friday the 10th of December 2010:

Workshop 1-Governance and transparency
Positive Progress in Africa relies on Good Governance, transparency and Access. The Philanthropic investment firm, Omidyar Network will be running an interactive workshop on Governance and Transparency on Friday in Nairobi.

Workshop 2- Business Start up : Making your ideas happen!
By attending this unique workshop you will be shown a formula that will help you make your ideas happen and grasp all the information you need to become a successful and profitable entrepreneur in Africa.

Workshop 3- Social Media: Making an Impact in Africa
This exclusive workshop will highlight how Social Media should be used in Africa to change the current negatives narratives on the continent. It will also teach you how to get involve and converse with other. A Social Media Expert will be joining us via Skype from the USA

On Saturday the 11th of December 2010, we shall have an Open Session of Africa Gathering. Schedule coming soon.

CHARGES:
Student Rate: Kshs. 700 per day : Kshs. 1,400 (For both 10th/11th)
Non-Student Rate: Kshs. 1500 per day : Kshs. 3,000 (10th/11th)

Register here now!!!

By: Tosh

18-11-2010

Community Entrepreneurship Events Members

Importance of Confidentiality Agreements and their role in Intellectual property law

Intellectual property refers generally to creations of the mind that can be made into tangible objects, such as literary and artistic works, inventions, symbols, names, images and designs. Intellectual property law is the corresponding set of laws that protect the creators of these works. Since intellectual property, or IP, can encompass such a broad range of artistic or scientific creations, it is often divided into two categories: copyright, and industrial property.
Copyright includes literary works, such as novels, scripts, and films, and musical and artistic works, such as paintings, photographs, sculptures and architectural designs.
Industrial property rights include patents and trademarks, which are used to protect inventions and source identifying marks and symbols.

About John Syekei

He was recently ranked by Managing IP and The International Who’s Who List of Trademark and Patent lawyers, both highly respected listings based on client and peer recommendations, as the leading intellectual property lawyer in private practice in Kenya.

He is am a member of the Law Society of Kenya, International Trademarks Association, Federation of Private Practitioners in Patent Law and Licensing Executives International.

By: Angela Oduor

16-11-2010

Events

4th Mobile Boot Camp at Strathmore University

The 4^th Annual Mobile Boot Camp is here, brought to us by Strathmore University in conjunction with the platinum sponsors Ericsson.The event is set to be held at Strathmore University from the 18^th to 20^th November 2010.

A mobile boot camp is a crash-course session, usually spanning 2 – 3 days. The sessions comprise both theoretical and practical sessions whereby participants will gain insight on mobile application development and acquire practical skills on the use of current platforms, frameworks and tools used for the development of mobile applications.

The mobile boot camp aims to:

Help participants gain theoretical knowledge on mobile application development technologies.
Give participants an opportunity for hands on development of mobile applications for specific industries.

Some of the topics participants will be exposed to, under the theme “Mobile Applications: Impacting Africa”, include M-Health, Smart Phone Application Development, Introduction to Mobile Web Development among others.

Participants will also be able to choose a lab session to attend from the following selection of mobile development platforms:-