iHub-Research | *iHub

Day 2 of the IST Africa 2012 Conference

Day 2 of the IST Africa 2012 Conference continued with paper presentations using a parallel stream approach that started yesterday, with six on-going parallel sessions. Overall session topics today included: Internet of Things; M-Health; EGovernment & eDemocracy; Broadband Access in Africa; TV White Space Spectrum; Living Labs; ICT Entrepreneurship in Tanzania; M-Learning; ICT for Environmental Risk Management.

One interesting mobile application was discussed during a morning session on m-health. Brian Omwenga (Nokia Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya) presented “Buzzenger,” a free messaging platform based on missed calls (i.e. flashing). The platform basically formalizes the already established informal culture of “flashing” to tell people to call them back. The application does message encryption and decryption based on missed call durations. The application was developed in partnership with University of Nairobi and based on incremental prototyping. User feedback found that the application should be extremely fast (users didn’t want to go through a long process to send a message) because the flashing is often done because it is a very fast way to get a message across.

A big challenge for this application is the flooding of the operating network, which can come with sending of longer messages. This is the reason why Nokia Research decided to label this application as an “emergency” messaging system in order not to destroy relationships with mobile operators. Nokia Research realized while piloting the application that they cannot make “Buzzenger” a commercial product because it would get killed by mobile operators who do not make any money off of the application and whose networks would get flooded with the missed calls. Therefore the best use case for the application, Nokia Research decided, is for emergency situations only.

Another interesting presentation was during a session on “Sensors, Empowerment and Accountability,” SEMA for short. All presenters during the session came from ITC from the University of Twente, Netherlands and spoke on different aspects of the 3-year project that they have recently launched. The SEMA project looks at enhancing the relationship between citizens and government agencies through mobile communications and web technology in Tanzania. One of the project managers, Jeroen Verplanke, spoke on “slow burn” (I’m using an Ushahidi term here) versus crisis reporting. Ushahidi states that “slow burn” issues are ongoing over an extended period of time and don’t look to improve in the short-term. Verplanke noticed this phenomenon stating that daily needs that are not events do not often trigger app use because even if these daily needs are not met, coping mechanisms exist. On the other hand, a disaster or crisis situation is much more emotionally engaging as a reminder to report or act.

At the end of Verplanke’s presentation, he highlighted an often-repeated challenge that “technology can be an enabler, but you need the right processes and support in place.” This is so important to keep in mind in ICTD discussions; it deserves to be often repeated.

Follow #istafrica2012 for the last day of the conference tomorrow.

By: Research Admin

09-05-2012

iHub iHub-Research

iHub Entrepreneurs Report

By Hilda Moraa and Wangechi Mwangi

(Download the report here )

Abstract

This research aimed to understand the impact of the ICT Hubs to entrepreneurs. An ICT hub is a space where technologists congregate to bounce ideas around, network, work, program and design to bring their ideas to fruition.

The first ICT Hub of the 15 hubs to be profiled within this study series is iHub, Nairobi’s innovation Hub for the Technology Community. The study found that 100% of the entrepreneurs appreciate the iHub space as it has been a conducive and innovative co-working space that drives continuous networking through the events, community meet-ups that leads to collaboration and partnerships, sharing skills and knowledge through teamwork among others.

This is likely because most of these talented entrepreneurs having graduated with no formal job opportunities, have had their talents and skills nurtured and housed under these hubs. Overall, the entrepreneurs believe that the iHub can further sustain this co-working spirit by building more capacity through communal projects and active virtual member interaction among others.

The iHub Study

The first part of the iHub study described the various factors that make up the iHub model which you can download at this link. The second phase of the study was aimed at assessing the impact of that model to the entrepreneurs. After our initial pre-test findings, we made necessary amendments to our methodologies and we settled on a mix of methodologies: in-depth interviews, observation, and interactions were used for the Green and Red members, as those members were more easily available since they work from the space. Focus groups with the start-ups were also used.

E-surveys and phone interviews were used for the white members since they access the iHub services and community virtually, and it was harder to find them due to their busy schedule and the fact that most of them are not based within the iHub space.A total of 25 members: n=15 (60%) Green members, n=5 (20%) Red members and n=5 (20%) White members formed the sample population. A criterion was used to select the sample size based on the period they have been on the space, have attended at least 2 events and are working on different aspects based on their skills set.

Key Objectives

As mentioned earlier the key objectives of the research was to investigate what factors make up the ICT Hubs model and how the model itself impacts to the entrepreneurs in the space, that make them to actively continue to use the space. In the coming months, the study will also focus on other initiatives in the eco-system such as innovations at high level of education and upcoming local tech companies’ in order to measure the innovation in the country, which will then be replicated to other hubs, and initiatives around Africa.

In the long run the research will aim to do a comparative study to identify what unique factors came out of the different hubs that make them successful creating an impaction on the economy’s development that is adoption of new technologies and innovations of employment leading to improvement in the living standards.

This research revealed how the iHub started, the impact of the iHub on the individual entrepreneurs, the kinds of members using the space daily or regularly (whether they are freelancers, people working in start-ups, people developing start-ups or employees of other companies who work at the iHub), how often they come to the iHub, what they do on a daily basis, whether the members skills are improving and how, what they appreciate about the space, the challenges they have faced while using the space and the overall changes they would like to see this year in the iHub.

The research was also specific in trying to understand how the entrepreneurs are working in their start-ups, what they are working on, whether the start-ups started before or after joining the iHub, where the team members met, the size of the teams, whether they have clients, investors, or mentors and how they make their money. It also gives more insights on the challenges that they have faced, the lessons that they are learning while working within their teams and from the community as well, how the friendships and connections that the members are forming while in their start-ups are affecting their start-up, the scale of growth of the entrepreneurs and the start-ups based on the growth parameters that they are using to determine this growth. Also key was the factors that make the entrepreneurs continue to use the space as illustrated below:

How the iHub Community Uses the Space

The iHub Community

The respondents appreciated the community, which stood to be a core aspect of the iHub. The community has a mix of skills to share and collaborate and many partnerships have emerged, potential clients referred, and friendships formed. Other significant factors included :the events, Internet connectivity, community, open culture, open innovation through the community sharing skills and working in teams, and the iHub physical space above all, have been significant factors of the iHub model that have added value to the entrepreneurial spirit at the iHub, and the wider technology community in Nairobi.

This research aimed to inform current and future African Hubs/Labs on the community’s opinion of areas of positive impact and areas of improvement for the Hubs/Labs. The study looks at the principles and organizational model adopted in existing African ICT Hubs to understand the impact of the Hubs on the entrepreneurs. Bearing in mind that the Hubs/Labs vary in implementation structure, there are numerous lessons to learn from each other for the benefit of the community of entrepreneurs that drive the spaces.

Conclusion

In addition to this report, the research team has formulated an internal report for the iHub that will help them to address specific key issues and targeted feedback raised by the members. The researchers will have a formal meeting with the iHub management to present the internal report.

This study is just the beginning of better understanding innovation in Africa. Simultaneously as African Governments and private sector stakeholders invest in ICT-related investments and infrastructure, there is a need for active participation from different ICT stakeholders to work on making local innovations a reality and accelerating them to the market through an ideal environment and favorable policies to encourage open innovation and entrepreneurship.

By: Angela Crandall

09-05-2012

Conferences iHub-Research

Day 1 of IST Africa 2012 – Developing Local Content

The IST Africa 2012 Conference started with an opening plenary where the Guest of Honor, Tanzania’s Professor Makame Mbarawa (Minister of Communications, Science, and Technology) kicked off the conference. A round table on the Implementation of the Information Society Track of the 8^th Africa-EU Strategic Partnership followed. For more information on the project, check out their website. The aim of the project is to strengthen ICT research and policy links between Africa and Europe. The project builds upon the substantial results obtained and the significant momentum created by several previous projects, designated over the years as the “EuroAfrica ICT Initiative.” The next EuroAfrica ICT Awareness & Training Workshop will be June 13 – 14 in Maseru, Lesotho.

After lunch, iHub Research presented our M-Governance exploratory survey results as the first speaker in the eGovernment stream which was chaired by Isaac Maredi, Director of ICT in South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology.

A reoccurring theme throughout the day was the development of local content.

Professor Nkoma of TCRA stated that challenges in Tanzania include lack of local content as well as last mile connectivity. Our Twitter followers agree that this is an issue not just in Tanzania but also in Kenya, Zambia, and across Africa. The question then arose, “Do people have the skills necessary to develop local content?” The KINU representative (Incubation Hub in Tanzania ) stressed the need for local capacity building in order to spur businesses and local content generation. Catherinerose Barretto (KINU) stated, “We need to foster innovation and creativity from an early age. In addition to mentorship and skills-based training on the job, we also need to teach students to question and think critically.”

It was raised that the East Africa community has already seen the need to come together and create communities to catalyze innovation. iHub together with The KINU, RLabs, and HiveCoLab were mentioned as examples of the local community coming together to build local content.

A challenge was posed by Jussi Hinkkanen (VP, Corporate Relations and Business Environment, Nokia Middle East and Africa) around Innovation Hubs. “We know that Innovation Hubs (like the iHub, KINU, RLabs) work and have created a massive amount of progress. The next big challenge is how do we scale them up? How do we get iHub in every town around Africa? We have to let the innovators to really drive the innovation in Africa.”

Any thoughts from the tech community? What do you think?

Follow what’s going on at IST Africa 2012 (May 9 – 11) in Dar es Salaam at #istafrica2012.

By: Research Admin

09-05-2012

iHub-Research

The Dynamic Research Team

iHub Research is made up of a group of passionate individuals who are driven and motivated to deliver quality research in the ICT sector. The iHub Research team is drawn from a diverse group of talented individuals whose distinct skills make up exceptional synergy within the team. The team is committed to producing stellar content for its clients and to giving back to the larger technology community through their research insights.

Meet the dynamic team

Jessica Colaço – Research Lead

She is passionate about Innovation, Research Visualisation, Mobile Technology and Mentorship and Entrepreneurship in Kenya. Jessica mentors the team in research and research activities, leading the team in their day to day activities at iHub Research. Her primary activities at iHub Research include leading major research projects at the as well as courting local, regional and international stakeholders to adopt Kenyan- made solutions. She is also the Innovation advisor for different stakeholders that come to the iHub.

Angela Crandall – Project Manager

Angela’s main role is to coordinate and plan for the various iHub Research projects. She joined the iHub community in October 2010, and is passionate about innovation, especially in the agricultural sector, SME development and the appropriate use of IT. Her experience as a researcher in different countries provides invaluable insights – a great asset to the iHub Research core team.

Hilda Moraa – Research Strategist

Hilda spearheads the in-house research study on ICT Hubs. She formulates iHub Research’s capabilities, policies, processes using the different projects as a basis. Her experience in quantitative research, market research, management consulting, operations research in a fast-paced high-exposure environment has been invaluable in designing and managing research projects.

Leonida Mutuku – Research Analyst

This Actuarial Scientist, Researcher, Data Analyst and Writer is involved in both qualitative and quantitative research. She is the lead in the creative visualization of data as a tool to easily disseminate useful information to the general public. Her activities also include analysis and interpretation of data from the different iHub Research projects, tying this in with data visualization and reports. She advocates for a design thinking approach to research and innovation. She is passionate about the Open Data movement and leads on the Open Data initiatives at the iHub Research.

Lillian Nduati – Open Data Co-Ordinator

Brings on board her background in media and journalism merging this experience with her knowledge in technology in the country, specifically Open Data. Her main focus will be to steer the Open Data initiatives at the iHub Research. Her passion in media and entrepreneurship will be invaluable in coordinating media activities at the iHub.

Pato

Patrick Munyi – Lead Designer , Infographics Specialist

Patrick leverages his unique design talents to put to vision the creative aspects of the iHub Research projects. He takes the lead on design, creating visualizations from raw data to disseminate information. His work has been used by local publications in the country as well as internationally. He has distinguished himself as a data visualization authority.

Anne

Anne Salim – Events Coordinator

Anne coordinates all events at the iHub Research, which includes handling all aspects of event organization. The main core of her work is on Design thinking and User Experience (UX), with a special focus on UX Research – closely documenting the building of the UX Lab (by the iHub). She also supports research in iHub Research’s M-Governance project, participating in mLearning activities among others.

Robert

Robert Mureithi Njathika - Intern, iHubResearch

As an IHub Research intern, Robert’s main role is to assist the Research Lead and the Core research team. Robert uses his unique skills as a statistician to assist in the literature and report reviews. Before joining iHub Robert worked for the government, Ministry of Agriculture (Planning department) where he was in charge of the data centre. Robert is passionate about IT, Statistics and Creative Economy.

Albert

Albert Otieno Orwa - Statistician

As a statistician, Albert’s main role at iHub Research entails entry, visualization of graphics and analysis of various projects. He explains complex ideas and findings in a way that can easily be understood. Albert holds a BSc. In Applied Statistics with Computing and is currently working on his masters in social statistics. He is passionate about research.

By: Research Admin

09-05-2012

iHub-Research

Mobile Technology in East Africa

Link to infographic.

In the first quarter of this year, iHub Research prepared an infographic giving a general overview of the mobile sphere in East Africa for year 2011. This infographic showcases the different levels of uptake of mobile phones and related technology in the region.

At the close of 2011, Kenya was the leading region in terms of mobile usage with a 67.2% mobile penetration rate. This was followed by Tanzania with 56% mobile penetration and finally Uganda with 38.4%. These rates translated to 26 million mobile subscribers in Kenya, compared to Tanzania’s 23 million subscribers and Uganda’s 12 million mobile users. As expected, with increased mobility of the population the region continued to register very few subscribers still using fixed lines. Particularly, it was reported that there were 374, 942 fixed lines in Kenya, 327, 114 in Uganda and 174,678 fixed line subscribers in Tanzania in 2011.

Internet Penetration to Rise
Internet penetration is on the rise in the region with new highs being recorded at the end of 2011. This could be due to increased regional bandwidth brought about by the laying of the fiber cable framework as well as aggressive campaigns by the mobile network operators. In terms of Internet usage and penetration Kenya led in the region with 14.3 M users (36.3% penetration) compared to a meagre 4.9M users (2.5% penetration) in Tanzania and 4M users (12%) in Uganda.

When it comes to actual phone usage, Kenyan users registered the highest number of mobile money transactions and total minutes of general calling, in 2011, while Tanzania led the region in terms of average number of text messages sent per month per subscriber. Other aspects from this info graph worth noting is that average call tariffs for Kenya and Tanzania are the same at Kshs 3 ,while Uganda has an average tariff of Kshs 6.

By: Research Admin

08-05-2012

iHub-Research

Refugee United | A Mobile Tool Evaluation

In 2010 alone, there were over 43.7 million refugees in the world.

This was one of the highest figures of refugees recorded over the past 15 years, according to a UNHCR report released in 2010. These refugees had been forcibly displaced from their homes by conflict or persecution.

Refugees and IDPs are vulnerable economically, socially, psychologically and politically. Uprooted from their homes, having lost access to their accustomed livelihoods, resented by their hosts and often viewed as a burden or as opponents by governments responsible for their protection… (El-Bushra and Kish, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons)

The Refugee United tool is a family tracing and search mobile-based tool, which connects missing family and friends.

The Refugee United (RU) tool has an estimated 50,000 profiles. However, only a very small percentage of these profiles are active users. Over the period of January 2012 and May 2012, iHub Research conducted surveys and field research that included direct observation, focus-group discussions, and in-depth interviews.

The research will feed into ensuring that the new RU mobile application and sign-up process becomes a success in creating users, securing a high conversion rate (from sign-ups to users of the RU platform) and ultimately leading to digital reconnection of missing family and friends.

*Photo credits: UNHCR

By: Research Admin

08-05-2012

iHub-Research

M-Governance

Governance is one of the main focus areas of iHub Research. Though there are more than 24.9 million mobile subscribers in Kenya who make up for a penetration rate of 71.3 per cent (Communication Commission of Kenya), the Kenyan government has been slow to provide adequate and quality services to its citizens. This includes areas such as agriculture, health, water, education and finance. This has hampered sustainable development in the country.

Leveraging the extremely high mobile penetration and uptake of mobile applications across the country, research at iHub has been exploring the conditions needed for successful use of mobiles that will by pass the need for physical interaction and communication which reduces opportunities for corruption. It also adds value to government services, as it delivers them to citizens’ doorsteps.

iHub Research is engaging with communities to assess mobile applications as a potential avenue for increasing citizen participation in government and as a tool for more effective public service delivery. The critical focus of iHub’s M-Governance research is on quality government service delivery and the free and open information channels between citizens and government (local and national).

Our methodologies include desk research and expert interviews, pilot projects and pre-test of questionnaires, multiple rounds of community surveys and focus groups within five (5) different Kenyan provinces, focus groups with the mobile and web application developer community, and discussions with government stakeholders in various Ministries.

The 18-month project is expected to be wind-up in February 2013.

*Photo credits: oxywatchdog.com

By: Research Admin

08-05-2012

iHub-Research

Mobile at the Base of the Pyramid

Globally, there are 2.5 billion people who live on less than $2.50 a day (Kshs208.2). Mobile devices among these users (bottom of the pyramid – BoP) offers potential for economic empowerment. There is a need to first understand the potential usage of the phones among this category of users.

iHub Research is excited to announce the launch of the “Mobile at the Base of the Pyramid” , a World bank commissioned research. The aim of the study will be to provide a thorough and fact-based understanding of current and potential future demand and usage patterns of mobile devices by BoP users. It will detail the socio-economic impacts and provide a guide for developing promising business models to maximize the benefits of using mobile devices at the BoP.

Some of the key objectives for this study include:

To increase understanding of the actual usage of mobile services, products, and applications at the Base of the Pyramid and to understand their potential for economic (and social) empowerment;
To identify scalable examples of services, products, and applications at the concept, prototype, or early product development stages;
To develop tools and instruments to map viable operation models and logics of various segments of BOP markets and to identify user needs;
To formulate recommendations for business planning and policy development that can support this potential.

The six-month project will be out in October 2012.

*Photo Credits: AFP/GettyImages

By: Research Admin

08-05-2012

Community iHub iHub-Research

iHub Research Office Hours

Born out of a need to give back to the community, Office Hours are a way for iHub Research members to engage with the tech community and to interact with the iHub Research team to understand what they are working on.

Just one month into the Office Hours program, the iHub Research team have found that Office hours have become an important way for them to share their unique skills sets with iHub members, adding value to the iHub community.

Some of the interesting Office Hours have included: legal consultancy for start-ups (at no cost!), business development , experience design and writing proposals, grants and reports – important skills for any entrepreneurs. These have largely been based on the feedback we have received from the iHub community, who expressed a need for skill-sharing among the tech community.

If you would like to engage iHub Research to find out more about on-going projects and request for information, you can access the website -www .research .ihub .co .ke . This schedule will be updated every month on the iHub Research website (research.ihub.co.ke).

The May schedule:

*This schedule is subject to change every month.

The team invites members who have skills that they would like to share to send an email to the iHub Research team research@ihub.co.ke

By: Research Admin

08-05-2012

iHub-Research

About iHub Research

Driving local tech research in Africa

Hub Research is the research arm of the iHub focused on conducting high quality research with an emphasis on technology and its uses in Africa. We facilitate local research capacity building and conduct local qualitative and quantitative research in East Africa, by East Africans. We bring information on technology and its uses to the technology community, enabling entrepreneurs and developers to make better decisions on what to build and how to build it.

*iHub Research aims to change the ICT Research landscape in Africa by bringing together researchers from around the continent to collaborate and build greater African scholarship. This involves telling stories about the community and creating a space for researchers to tell their own story. We endeavor to carry out technology research on a global level, setting standards in this area and acting as a beacon for research in Africa.

How it began

Realizing a gap in quality and quantity of research stemming from Africa, iHub—Nairobi’s Tech Innovation Center—decided to develop a research arm to facilitate local research capacity building and to conduct local qualitative and quantitative research in Africa. *iHub Research works from within the nerve center of Kenya’s technology community. The organization has expertise in technology research and facilitates local ICT research capacity in the region.

*iHub Research emerged from discussions in ICTD 2010 on the dearth of research originating from Africa. It is one of several initiatives that the Network for African Researchers has instigated.