ICTworks by Inveneo

As you may have noticed, I've been compiling 2011 technology predictions on the ICTworks Network, looking for trends and ideas that would shape our industry this year. After reading those posts, talking with technologists, and surveying the tech landscape, I've come up with my thoughts on 2011:

ARM Yourself with Tables and Apps

I think this is the year that we're gonna see disruptions on par with 2008, when the introduction of netbooks created a whole new hardware category, dropped the price of all hardware types, and even drove Microsoft to extend the life of XP and pretty much give it away to keep marketshare.

There are three big trends that will radically change the technology industry status quo and through that, the ICT4D community too. They are:

1. ARM in Ascension

After years of power greed, computer users and manufacturers are finally realizing that power efficiency is a virtue in consumer goods and absolutely essential in the developing world. In fact, when Intel introduced the Atom processor, it was a disruptive innovation in energy efficient computing.

But guess who's been sipping power all along? ARM. And in 2011, we'll see a low-power renaissance with ARM appearing on all manner of mainstream computers. OLPC already has a 2-watt ARM-based XO-1.75, and Microsoft announced it would have an ARM-based Windows OS out later this year.

Once that happens, expect to see ARM-based laptops popping up everywhere, with battery lives measured in days, not hours.

2. A Sea of Tablets

With the surging popularity of the Apple iPad, ever hardware vendor is pushing out a tablet in 2011. Some will be good, many will not, yet, its time for you to get at least one to experiment with. Buy any of them and think of how you can build a sales strategy around a tablet in 2012.

That's right, 2011 will be messy with tablets. Too many models, all too new and buggy, will wash across our digital lives, and it will take at least a year for the good ones worthy of our time and effort to show themselves. It will also take a year for their practicality to be proven in everything from education to industry.

Or maybe sooner. Check out the World Reader Kindle pilot in Ghana

3. Apps Attack!

Regardless of the hardware, downloadable applications sold via app stores will be all the rage in 2011. Starting with the success of the Apple app store (now for Macbooks too!), software companies are realizing the money to be made in curating an easy software purchase experience. Software developers are also seeing the money on the table and jumping at the chance to sell directly to the consumer.

I hope 2011 will be the year that the ICT4D community takes infoDev's lead and starts focusing on application development for development (Apps4D), where investments in software development capacity building show real and immediate economic gains in upcoming development centers like Nairobi, Lagos, and Jo'Burg.

No matter what, these three trends will change how information and communication technologies are used for social and economic development across Africa. And I firmly believe these changes will be for the better.

Welcome, 2011, I'm so glad you're here!

Samsung's mobile applications developers’ challenge will showcase Kenya’s talent by developing applications for the local market place. Interested developers can design mobile applications and submit into any of these categories:

1. Education/Reference
2. Games: Arcade/Action/ Casual/Puzzle
3. Social Networking + Lifestyle
4. Entertainment + Media
5. Productivity/Tools + Miscellaneous

Developers can submit their applications for any one of the 5 categories at the beginning of the contest. Not more than one application should be submitted for each category by a contestant.

1st Stage

There will be a first round selection stage, to identify applications built to specifications and standards suitable for mobile device rendition and functionality. In this round, the top 2 applications per category will be selected by a team at Samsung. There will also be a second round of selection by judges made up of professions in the fields of mobile software development and marketing. In this round the top application in each category will be selected. These applications will then move to the second and final stage of the contest. Each of the developers picked after Stage 1 will receive handsets from Samsung.

2nd Stage

At this stage, the top five (5) applications across all categories will be developed and deployed on Samsung Servers. There will be an app launch session @ ihub and alls developers whose applications as launched will win KShs 200,000 (approx $USD 2500).

Register your app today!

The GSMA mWomen Programme has a mWomen BOP (Base of the Pyramid) App Challenge, which aims to leverage the significant demand for innovative App design and provide original and fresh customised App solutions targeted at the specific needs of women in developing countries.

This global challenge is two tiered: Tier 1 will be an App for a low-end device or feature phone and Tier 2 will be an App for smartphones.

1. Tier - Low End Devices: Supporting the following: SMS, IVR, WAP 2.0 web browser (xHTML), GPRS class 10, EGPRS class 10, Java: MIDP 2.0, USSD
2. Tier – Smart Phone Apps supporting the following: Symbian, iPhone (iOS), Andoid, Java ME, Blackberry, Flash Lite, Windows Phone

The winners will be announced at the 2011 GSMA Mobile World Congress, the mobile industry’s premier event, hosted in Barcelona, at the official awards ceremony on Tuesday 15th February 2011.

The prize will include $10,000 USD to the winner of each tier, cash prize provided by Vodafone and the opportunity to showcase the winning App at the mWomen Seminar at GSMA Mobile World Congress

Be sure to apply today with your mWomen app

infoDev seeks a short term consultant (STC) to oversee the establishment and implementation of a regional mobile application laboratory in Kenya.

The main objective of the position of the Mobile Application Laboratory Manager is to lead and manage the establishment and growth of the regional mLab, as a self sustaining initiative hosted by the *iHub_ consortium, and to manage the implementation and operations of the mLab, including the technical and administrative activities.

The incumbent will be responsible for the operation of all aspects of the mLab development including training and accreditation, certification, competition for ideas, business mentoring, access to finance and markets, development and revision of technical standards, testing procedures and laboratory policies; providing technical support to mLab operations and consulting with stakeholders on mobile technology related matters.

For more details, see the infoDev job postingTerms of Reference for Mobile Application Laboratory Manager (Kenya)

On the Twitter social network, people use hashtags, the "#" symbol followed by letters and numbers or a word to signify a Tweet in relation to a specific subject. For example, the #ICT4D hashtag is employed to represent the use of information and communications technologies for development.

After an exhaustive analysis and multiple interviews with thought leaders, I've come to the conclusion that #m4D is the best hashtag to signify Tweets related to the use of mobile phones in the international development of social and economic advancement in the developing world.

Why #m4D?

Organizations can use mobile technology in many ways to promote societal advancement - they can be platforms for the transference of voice, written text, images, data, and who knows what else, over many different types of hardware, software, and protocols. The only real denominator is that its generally usable on a mobile phone-type device - therefore we should incorporate near-ubiquitous lowercase "m".

Yet mobile technology is a subset of overall information and communication technology (ICT) field. And both mobiles and ICT are subservient to the actual end goal of development - not mobiles for mobiles' sake, but mobile technology used for development. Therefore we should draw on the "4D" in the existing #ICT4D hashtag.

Which brings us to define #m4D as mobiles for development, which includes the full gamut of mobile technologies - infrastructure, hardware, devices, protocols and apps.

Now as I've noted before, #m4D and even #ICT4D do not exist in a vacuum. In fact, they are subgroups of larger communities. And there are even subgroups to #m4D - like #Apps4D, the specific use of mobile applications for development. Before you get confused, let us review the Venn Diagram of the intersection between ICT and development to see where each community resides.

Now here is each category explained, along with its placement in these respective communities:

• ICT
  Information and communication technologies represent the full array of solutions, from FM radio to cloud computing that the world uses to create and relay information electronically.
• Mobile
  Mobile technologies, from the mobile phone to the iPad are a subset of ICT that, like the name suggests, are primarily focused on allowing the user to interact with ICT while in motion.
• Development
  Often called "international development", its the industry seeking to increase the economic and social development of disadvantaged communities and countries.
• ICT4D
  Where the use of ICT is for the purpose of developing a community, its referred to as ICT4D (ICT for Development).
• m4D
  Where mobile technologies are used for development, this is called m4D and is a subset of both mobile and development.
• Apps4D
  Where software applications interact with mobile technologies, often but not always as software on the mobile device itself, for development, it is Apps4D.