Ethel Cofie The future of technology in West AfricaUSAID DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM

omen in Tech

In 1998 …oMaternal HealthoMobile ?oLiberalization oToo Poor

Perspective

Technology Partner To The World’s Non-profits

The combination of cheap Nokia mobile, liberalization of telecom licenses and pre paid payment, steeped the trajectory for mobile

GSMA :500 million mark in Q1 2013, increasing by about 20% year-on-year. Connections are expected to grow by a further 50% (250 million connections) over the next five years

Even telecoms underestimated the market. The business plan for the Kenyan telecom Safaricom in 2003 was to have 500,000 mobile phone subscribers by 2013: traders, priests, taxi drivers, prostitutes—people willing to pay a premium to stay in touch. Safaricom hit 21 million users in 2014

Between 1998-2000, this happened

The growth was soo dramatic that ITU Secretary-General, Yoshio UTSUMI, at the ITU Telecom Africa Forum Opening12 November 2001 proposed changing definition of universal access where

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ?

Establishing new targetsNew definitions of universal access

Old definitions >>>>>>

Universal access: >>>

A telephone within walking distance

Telecentres in every community

Universal service: >>>>

A telephone in every home

A computer in every school

Affordability: >>>>>>>>

Subsidised access (high usage charges subsidise low line rental)

New definitions

Universal access:

Mobile coverage of all main population centres

Internet cafés in every community

Universal service:

A mobilephone for everyone who wants one

An email address for every citizen

Affordability:

Pre-paid access(pre-paid usage charges include line rental)

One of the inspiration for Lyft (The Uber competitor ) was from Zimbabwe where Logan Green(cofounder) saw first hand the sharing economy in action

Did you know

I am here to tell the future

I am here to inspire you create the future

My job is to here is to inspire you to look outside the obvious when planning your projects .

I am here to tell you a story of how the future might look, to give you an incline into what is on the horizon and to inspire you to think beyond the obvious

What do you think this is ?

?

Paper ?Well Harvard labs created paper posters that play music via printed circuits made with conductive ink have been unveiled.The prototype "Listening Post" poster is a guide to bands performing locally. The interactive poster plays a short clip of a band's music when a thumbnail image is pressed..

Paper for Health ?Conductive ink on Paper is a wonderful thing

The Ability to Print or even Draw an electronic circuit board on paper will enable low cost , easily designed solutionsMicrosoft research labs created moisture sensor the team has printed is meant for use on plants (. It detects rainfall with one circuit and soil humidity with another, transmitting its readings via a printed Wi-Fi antenna. The team has printed paper wiring to connect the switch, LED and battery of a 3D-printed flashlight.

Paper Computer

Paper for Health ?[Harvard Research ]DNA-programmed blotting paper could soon be giving doctors a simple disease test that will reveal an infection in 30 minutes for just a few pence.

Researchers have proved the technique works by developing a prototype Ebola test in just 12 hours, and using just $20 of materials.The smart diagnostics use a soup of biological ingredients including the genetic material RNA. –Harvard

Paper

[Pause]Question Time ?

Shout out where you could apply paper to your project/strategy.

Mobile …Mobile Sheep …• Swiss researchers discovered way to detect when sheep are frightened from biological data like heartbeat etc.

• They created alert system that identifies accurately when sheep frightened, sends SMS to the shepherd• The use in sheep-farming is if there is a wolf nearby.

• Wolf-detection system is a solution of 'reading our minds' and generating mobile traffic

A lot of projects work in this format relying heavily on voice, sms and ivrSource: Textually 14 Aug 2012

HARDWARE INSERTS THE NEXT FRONTIER FOR MOBILE IN AFRICA

India : Refractive Eye

testing

US : Portable Ultra Sound

Canada : Wind speed

detector

Imagine a device attached to the mobile phone that pinpoint the existence of the RNA strand for Ebola and display preliminary results.Its Already Available

Rapid Disease Testing ?

•3D Printing tattoos of human bodies

• “ink” of these nanoparticles suspended in a saline solution that could be injected under the skin like a tattoo. The “tattoo” would last for a specified length of time, probably six months, before needing to be refreshed.

•To get glucose readings, the patient would wear a monitor that shines near-infrared light on the tattoo and detects the resulting fluorescence.

3D Printing For Health – Disease

The US Army is working on a 3-D printer that is interfaced with the soldier. And that sensor can deliver information to the computer software and then they would be able to have either powdered or liquid matrices that are very nutrient dense, that they have on demand that they can take and eat immediately to fill that need."

3D Printing For Fighting Malnutrition

Drones

Delivery of Health care items: MedicinesAgriculture :Monitoring of crops , tracking and monitoring Landscape mapping and collecting of Data

Drones

I found a project I think is a testament to what can be achieved with the right type of thinking where drones are concerned A Radical But Possible Plan to Connect African Nations With Cargo DronesFuture Africa initiative at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

Augmenting the road networks in Africa by •Building first cargo robot route in Africa by 2016. •It will be about 80 kilometres long and will connect several towns and villages.•The first use case will be to fly units of blood from a blood bank to health clinics.

?? Maybe you are asking

All these ideas sound great but really with cost and issues with energy and availability, they are not

really applicable to West Africa!!

10 Dollar iPhone?

• Ah, the relentless pace of Moore's Law... Take any 'superphone' of today:iPhone 4, Nokia N8, Samsung Galaxy, Blackberry Bold, or whatever is yourfavorite

• Summer 2010: unsubsidized price of: US $600 gave you touch screen, 3G, WiFi,GPS, 8mp & flash

• Winter 2011, same phone would cost $300

• Summer 2013: $150; winter 2014: $75 ,summer of 2016: $38; winter 2017: $19

• By summer 2019 cost of same specs of what was considered super phone in2010 would be $10 (including distribution, marketing & profit)

Example :JiaYu G2F: 4.3inch ,touch screen, 3G,WiFi, GPS, 8mpcamera. LaunchedMay 2014 Cost US$81 (499 RMB)Projection: TomiAhonen Consulting July 2010

10 Dollar iPhone?

• Ah, the relentless pace of Moore's Law... Take any 'super phone' of today:iPhone 4, Nokia N8, Samsung Galaxy, Blackberry Bold, or whatever is yourfavorite

• Summer 2010: unsubsidized price of: US $600 gave you touch screen, 3G, Wi-Fi,GPS, 8mp & flash

• Winter 2011, same phone would cost $300

• Summer 2013: $150; winter 2014: $75 ,summer of 2016: $38; winter 2017: $19

• By summer 2019 cost of same specs of what was considered super phone in2010 would be $10 (including distribution, marketing & profit)

Example :JiaYu G2F: 4.3inch ,touch screen, 3G,WiFi, GPS, 8mpcamera. LaunchedMay 2014 Cost US$81 (499 RMB)Projection: TomiAhonen Consulting July 2010

Just Remember Just Remember

3D printers : Togo based maker space WoeLab Presented built 3D printer using E-Waste from some of the largest dumps of old computer and electronic equipment it sent ripples through the entire 3D printing and global community. The 3D printer cost 100 USD

Smart phones , we have already touched on it , Moores law means we will be seeing the 10USD smart phone

Paper/conductive ink : local innovation challenges and engagements are ways of finding cheap alternative solutions . The World bank is currently running the Negawatt challenge , for innovative solutions for energy within Africa pitting Ghana against Kenya and Egypt

Drones : The DIY Makerfaire movement across Africa is ripe for working with developmental partners into finding cheap alternatives to building solutions

In conclusion

If you were in the room in 1998 talking about how to improve maternal health in Bolgatanga

Would you see the trend and the opportunity Or Would you go with status quo

Thank you Ethel Cofie

Email : ethel@ethelcofie.comWebsite : www.ethelcofie.com

Technology Partner To The World’s Non-profits