ICTworks by Inveneo

Are you an educational technology expert? Wanna work on cutting edge programming around the use of mobile phones in education? Then you should be applying to this amazing opportunity to work with leaders in the field (hey, I'd apply, if I didn't love my Inveneo job):

Research Associate – ICT for Education Specialist

Exciting and dedicated team searching for strong Information and Communication Technologies for Education (ICT) specialist to assist the Aguirre Division of JBS International in supporting USAID education and workforce development activities. The successful incumbent will be a professional with experience in delivering educational services and materials using information and communication technologies. Duties will include managing day-to-day ICT4E activities, working closely with the client to ensure technical excellence in ICT4E activities. Other tasks will be assigned as new projects arise.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

1. Work with project director to manage ICT4E efforts;
2. Manage research efforts to compile a compendium of USAID ICT4E activities;
3. Extract trends and lessons learned from USAID ICT4E activities;
4. Extract trends and lessons learned from literature available regarding other donors’ and implementers’ ICT4E initiatives;
5. Conduct research or manage research efforts on various ICT4E issues to produce short info briefs or longer analytical reports;
6. Assist USAID in benchmarking its programming against international ICT4E standards;
7. Oversee ICT4E-related knowledge exchange efforts;
8. Support USAID in establishing the M4Ed4Dev Alliance;
9. Participate in the design and develop content for domestic and international forums, workshops, and conferences;
10. Identify and recruit prospective consultants, develop and write scopes of work, and contribute to logistics planning for fielding international teams; and
11. Contribute as an integral team member to the preparation, editing, and production of reports and other deliverables, to include graphics, tables, analytical text, annotated bibliographies, and to assist in analysis and report production, in written form, in Power Point, or in other various forms, as required by clients.

Minimum Requirements:

1. Education: Master’s degree required, preferably in Education Technology or a similar field.
2. Experience: A minimum of seven years’ experience in ICT for education required. Strong project management background. Proven experience in developing web-applications and web services.

Look here for more details & to apply.

Education is a key investment in human capital: no variable from 1900 better explains economic success in 2000 than investment in education. Yet today 69 million school children globally don’t have access to basic education while 759 million adults don’t have a formal education. With worldwide GSM mobile connections predicted to reach 5 billion by the end of 20103, the opportunity for mobile learning, or mLearning as it is known, to overcome barriers to traditional learning such as accessibility and cost moves closer to becoming a reality.

The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry and as such, has taken a leadership role on behalf of mobile network operators (MNOs) and vendors, in understanding how mLearning is being used today and its potential for the future. The GSMA Development Fund has conducted preliminary research into the current landscape of mLearning in the developing world to assess the ways in which mobile devices are being used as an intervention in learning and to consider the future of this powerful tool.

The GSMA Development Fund was established in 2006 to help accelerate social and economic development for those living under US$2 per day through the use of mobile technology. As part of its ever growing programme, new research areas are assessed to understand the potential benefits of mobile technologies in helping foster innovation and growth within the industry. Although mLearning is not a new concept, the GSMA Development Fund believes that mLearning is now approaching a tipping point where the potential of such services are realised, supported by sustainable business models.

The mLearning: A Platform for Educational Opportunities at the Base of the Pyramid report summarises our findings on past developments and the current landscape of mLearning in the developing world through research and interviews with MNOs, technology vendors, foundations and the academic community. It is not intended to be an exhaustive evaluation of the global mLearning market, but rather a summary of activity so far and, more importantly, some guidance and ideas for future development.

The research found that there are many mLearning projects currently taking place globally, although the vast majority are on a small scale and it is assumed an even greater number are not documented. It was observed that activity is more widespread in the developed world, especially the US and the UK, where mobile technology is more prevalent and advanced, and where funding does not present as great a barrier.

However, with 98% of the world’s illiterate or semiliterate population residing in developing countries, where access to schools and resource materials is at a minimum, such regions present the greatest areas of need. These markets therefore represent the greatest opportunities for mLearning programmes and products.

The past year has seen a substantial increase in mLearning initiatives5 and certainly there is escalating talk of its potential. But is the potential of mLearning hype or reality? Despite the many successes mLearning is experiencing, more research is needed to understand how this ubiquitous technology can be used to provide educational resources to those most in need, along with the development of a sustainable and robust business case.

Introduction to mLearning: A Platform for Educational Opportunities at the Base of the Pyramid

I was just in Kenya and amazed that I could call endlessly in Kenya, call to the USA, and surf massive amounts of data on my iPhone and laptop (via the $100 Google IDEOS mobile phone acting as a wifi hotspot), and yet only use a trifling amount of Safaricom airtime.

It seems my experience is now the norm in Kenya, as Daily Nation reports:

Stiff competition in the mobile telephony market and an active industry regulator have reduced calling tariffs in Kenya to the lowest in Africa. Statistics from individual telecommunication operators show that calls in Kenya average Sh3.5 per minute, compared to an average of Sh11 in the East Africa region.

In Kenya, Airtel and Essar Telecom, which trades as yu, charge Sh3 for calls across networks, while it costs Sh3 for on-net and Sh4 off-net calls when using the Safaricom network. Telkom Kenya’s Orange charges Sh2 for on-net and Sh4 for off-net calls per minute.

The industry regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya, introduced new, low mobile termination rates in August last year, which precipitated the current price wars that have seen retail prices slashed to unprecedented levels. A termination rate is the cost attached to terminating a call outside the originating network. According to CCK, the termination rates will fall to Sh1.44 from July 1, and further to Sh1.15 on July 1, 2012.

Kenya’s calling costs compare favourably even with neighbouring Tanzania, which follows closely with its mobile phone operators Vodacom, Tigo and Airtel charging about Sh4 for on-net calls and Sh6 for off-net calls a minute. But MTN, Airtel Uganda and Orange charge between Sh16 and Sh17 per minute for on-net calls and Sh18 for calls terminated outside the network, the highest rates in the East African region. South Africa and Nigeria, two key markets with higher subscriber numbers, have higher calling rates compared to East Africa. There are also relatively high rates in Angola at Sh48 and Zambia averaging Sh28.

Safaricom chief executive officer Bob Collymore says CCK should keep the termination rates where they are for the market to stabilise after a series of price wars.

“We want conducive business environment for the telecoms industry. Low calling rates mean we will have to go slow on our expansion plans,” Mr Collymore said.

He wants the government to ensure healthy pricing in the industry and to attach strict rollout and coverage requirements to mobile licences.

Safaricom might just have a point. Budde.Comm reports that this price war is actually a net loss for all those involved:

A price war has characterised Kenya’s mobile communications market since 2008, following the market entry of the third and fourth network, Econet Wireless Kenya (in which India’s Essar acquired a stake), and Telkom Kenya under the Orange brand. Subscriber growth is now forecast to slow gradually over the coming years, and rapidly falling ARPU levels have driven one of the incumbents, Zain (which was subsequently acquired by Bharti Airtel), deeper into negative earnings, leaving only the market leader, Safaricom, with a net profit, although reduced. Financial performance has improved again in the 2010/11 financial year.

A friend of mine thinks that Airtel is pushing the price war for a reason. Airtel is using its profits in other countries (like Malawi and Nigeria) to sell airtime below cost in Kenya just to push out the smaller mobile phone operators until its just Airtel and Safaricom. It would then raise rates to profitable levels and slowly push for more market share from Safarcom.

That's her theory, anyway. What's yours?

Where agriculture development projects find access to financial services a key constraint to success, m-money and m-banking services are potentially important tools to leverage. Such services can:

• Make it cheaper and easier for smallholder farmers to save; receive loans and make loan payments;
• Make it easier for input suppliers to collect and manage payments from smallholder farmers—and small-holder farmers, in turn, can use m-money and other ICT tools to aggregate their demand for inputs and pay for them;
• Make it easier and safer for traders to manage transactions and make deposits into their bank accounts;
• Make it easier for large buyers to pay thousands of producers faster (and reduce side selling) and manage any credit they offer such producers. For example, Dunavant is using m-money services provided by MTZL in Zambia for this as well as MTZL services to manage these producers and track and reward the best producers;
• Make payments for micro-insurance and receive any pay outs from such insurance;
• Increase the efficiency and reliability of any voucher services for fertilizer or other inputs provided by a government, an NGO or a donor project; and
• Perhaps an important indirect benefit of m-money is to enable producers and others in the value chain to more easily and cheaply receive remittances domestically and internationally—critical assets to help with cash flow.

So far, m-money and m-banking initiatives have not scaled widely in most countries, and there are few actual examples of agriculture development projects using them to improve success. There are notable exceptions though. In Kenya, M-PESA is being used in many ways by smallholder farmers and others in the agriculture sector.

The USAID PROFIT project in Zambia also has used m-money services (from MTZL) to improve access to financial services and inputs for smallholder farmers, and the USAID MABS Project in the Philippines has been a global leader in demonstrating how m-money and m-banking services can improve access to financial services for the rural poor.

So far, most bank-led m-banking services have not provided benefits to smallholder farmers or the rural unbanked, but as more banks that focus on this market segment implement m-banking services, this will change.

LESSONS LEARNED

Given the scant number of examples of using m-money to enhance agriculture development, there are few lessons to be shared related to m-money and agriculture development. Below are a few, plus several questions to ask before deciding to tap m-money or m-banking services as part of an agriculture development project.

1. Be cautious not to be attracted to using m-money because of the hype that surrounds it. Ask if it really has potential to solve a key constraint related to payments or access to financial services for a project’s target beneficiaries — or if it offers a significant opportunity to increase success.
2. Can the relevant financial services institutions — ones willing to offer products to meet the needs of farmers — offer m-money services? For example, m-banking looked like it had great potential for a set of smallholder farmers in one African country until it was determined that the key lender to these farmers was the state-owned agriculture bank (due to subsidized interest rates and loan terms tailored well to crop cycles), but this bank could not take part in any m-banking services be-cause it did not yet have the requisite ICT-enabled back-office systems.
3. Is it likely that the relevant m-money/m-banking service will be sustainable and scale? Do not assume that an initial roll-out of a promising m-money service that might help a development problem will scale to reach target agriculture users. Most have not done so yet.
4. M-money and m-banking are “hot” services with significant competition between providers. Projects need to use a competitive process to take advantage of this competition, and not to be lured into a partnership with just one provider, even if that provider offers a "public-private partnership". A tender can be used to compare alternative public-private partnerships.
5. If m-money/m-banking does have great potential to help an agriculture project, how best might donors be involved? Donors can and have had important catalytic roles in launching successful m-money and m-banking services (i.e., DFID’s assistance with M-PESA; USAID’s support of G-Cash via the MABS and support to MTZL via PROFIT), but a project’s potential role needs to be carefully designed and honed to leverage the significant private sector investments needed. USAID’s role may likely be best focused on the enabling regulatory environment for m-money or a role that is now being rolled out with USAID’s HIFIVE Project and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Haiti where an incentive fund (a competition between service providers with a substantial cash re-wards) and on-demand technical assistance is being used to provide strong incentives for rapid scaling of such services.

As in Haiti, a USAID project should leverage the strong commercial incentives providers have for rolling out m-money/m-banking service and perhaps provide incentives to a provider to ex-tend or tailor a service to rural clients. Unless the provider already is planning to rollout the service commercially, it is very unlikely that a project can (or should) contribute enough to the significant start-up costs.

Using Mobile Money, Mobile Banking to Enhance Agriculture in Africa is one of a series of briefing papers produced by the FACET project to help USAID missions and their implementing partners in sub-Saharan Africa use information and communications technology (ICT) more successfully — via sustainable and scalable approaches — to improve the impact of their agriculture related development projects including Feed the Future projects.

Russel Southwood interviewed Safaricom’s new CEO, Bob Collymore, on their business plans in Kenya. While the interview covered many topics (read the full interview), there was one quote that was quite shocking for those focused on bringing ICT to rural areas:

"We have 77% of the market by subscriber numbers. Our ARPU is higher than anyone else's. But 77% market share is not sustainable. We do have 'significant market power' but we feel that's because everyone else was very incompetent. There was no consistent management at the number two operator. We're OK with losing market share (faced with unrealistically low rates) and focusing on Nairobi and high-income communities. The people in remote districts are receiving calls (more than making them). If rates decline, why should I continue to do that?"

This seems to indicate that Safaricom is willing to abandon its market share, and subscribes, in rural areas - any place that is not a "high-income community". Watch the full interview video and let me know your thoughts: