Category Archives: Kenya ICT

BRCK Education Launches in Nairobi

It’s been just over a year, since the BRCK team launched their groundbreaking device – a rugged 3G router with Wi-Fi, and 8 hour battery life that’s built to be extended to work with other devices and uses.

From pieces of electronic junk assembled at the iHub a few years earlier, this became a consumer electronics device that has now been sold in 54 countries and the team is now back with the next variants of their device.

BRCK engineers

BRCK engineers

The initial device had been extended since with assistance from partners and feedback from users, some of who found that the in-built storage in the BRCK and its micro web server (which allowed users to share content over Wi-Fi) were unexpectedly and surprisingly crucial features.

The groups who showed the greatest interest in extending the capabilities of the BRCK were mainly in the education sector – comprising education providers who had content, but had challenges delivering it at schools around the world which had the challenges of electricity, internet, device failure etc. With the support of Mozilla Foundation, they were able to develop the BRCK pi – in which a Linux server was added to the BRCK, enabling content to be shared, even with zero connectivity.

#BRCKEducation

Nivi, who was a co-founder of eLimu learning tablets, and who’s now the president of BRCK Education spoke of the inspiration and challenges that eLimu went through in delivering digital education through sharing text-book content in a digital format – with the main problems being uploading new content and the fragility of the imported tablets. But with BRCK content cached locally, they were able to update several eLimu tablets overnight.

BRCK was launching two devices today in Nairobi that can be ordered at the BRCK Education site:

  • The BRCK Kio is a new sturdy tablet for school education. It can survive a 70-centimeter drop, is water & dust proof and is designed for kid-size hands. It has 8 hours of battery life, to last a full school day and has the latest processor from Intel. The $99 Kio is available for sale from October 1 to schools, and thereafter to the public in January 2016.
  • The BRCK Kio Kit a suitcase that has a BRCK pi (server), and 40 Kio tablets. The Kio Kit has a single charging point (and can be solar-powered in hotter areas) and wireless charging sleeves in which kids drop their tablets after school to recharge, and get uploaded with new content. The Kio Kit has a single power port and a single start button that gets the entire Kio Kit running in a minute. Erik a.k.a @whiteafricam, who’s a BRCK co-founder said that wireless charging, which is still a luxury item in many parts of the world, was an essential feature here to eliminate the need for multiple charging cables (and many sockets at schools). The Kio Kit is also secured that if someone removes (steals) a Kio tablet from the school, it won’t work and can’t be flushed. An entire Kio Kit costs $5,000.
BRCK Kio kit charging and loading Kio tablets

BRCK Kio kit charging and loading Kio tablets

#BRCKEducation has partners at JP, Intel, Pearson, Eneza education, KnowZone, eKitabu, eLimu and Kenyatta University. It also has Chase Bank as a finance partner to enable schools to acquire Kio Kits at Kshs. 46,000 ($460) per month.

More on the launch and products here and here . 

Traffic Apps in Kenya: Ma3Route vs Waze

Today Safaricom partnered with Google to launch  Waze, an interactive phone app that provides motorists with real-time traffic information crowd-sourced data from other road users.

Waze, which originated in Israel, was bought by Google for $1.3 billion in 2013. But while Waze has 3 million global users, its maps are sparsely used in Nairobi. There’s been a bit of discussion about why Safaricom is partnering with Waze when they have Ma3Route on Safari com

In Kenya, another platform, Ma3Route, has become the de-facto central point for traffic information which many people check before they start their car engines, both to see how clear the roads are and which routes are best. Ma3Route’s 300,000 daily users largely tweet or read about traffic conditions  and shares stories and traffic frustrations across its mobile apps, website, facebook and twitter.

Data Direction: Authoritative local tech blog TechMoran links the Safaricom-Waze partnership to Google using Safaricom to increase downloads and uptake of Waze. big data means a lot to both Google and Safaricom.

In contrast, Ma3Route bills itself as the twitter for traffic, taking simple text and placing it on maps with one of their objectives being to be light on battery and data bundle consumption.

Pivot East 2015

Last week saw the winners of Pivot East announced and they were Arifu, Duma Works, Makarao, Safemotos, and Shield.

The day after, the finalists got to take part in a speed dating game, and some of the creators spoke about their entries including:

  • Duma Works:  a recruitment platform that uses mobile tech to make the process faster & smoother
  • Eko Biashara is a tool for small business owners to track their money through invoices, clients and customers. It’s fully online and the creators are developing an android app (they are looking for android & windows developers)
  • Safe Motos (Rwanda) – an uber for motor bikes using and taxis smart phones and taxis. They are looking for a next round of capital funding.
  • Guumzo share twitter-like conversations using voice. They are looking to raise $150K and for partners in Kenya
  • Soka is a  mobile app that gives football fans access to news, video, stats, on soccer across Africa.
  • African Fashion seeks to connect local fashion designers with followers, fans, and fashion lovers. They are looking for partners and investors.
  • Moview enables  fans of movies to get info, locations and schedules, and local & foreign features in Tanzania. They are looking for $50K, to build windows & iOS apps and for partners on Kenyan movies.
  • Yanguwa from Uganda which has poor transport system and aggregates different service providers.
  • V-Money is a scratch card voucher that tops your mobile money wallet.
  • Feedback R/T from Uganda is a simple game that teachers people how to avoid HIV, and get help if affected. They are looking for mentors & fundraisers.
  • Tenderpreneur.net tries to manage the chaotic Kenyan tendering process through automating it and make easier connections in the supply chain. (They are looking for partners to help them do this across East Africa)
  • SoftBallot runs polls referendums for universities and union halls. They are looking for funding partners sponsor for $50K.
  • SpotMe connects old friends without using their phone numbers, but using their background like school.
  • BOOKEX helps facilitate exchange of books to school kids from others who used books in previous years.
  •  SaniCMS is church management software, and a learning platform for church members. They are looking for $30K
  • Makarao TV is an online animation TV channel that showcases Kenyan animation for local audience in which they tackle social issues in fun manner using police characters. They are looking for a $150K investment

The winners of Pivot East 2015 were Arifu, Duma Works, Makarao, Safemotos, and Shield.

 

World Development Report 2016

The annual World Development Report  (WDR) is considered to be one of the most authoritative reports published by the World Bank and is widely read by policy makers in developing countries  and anyone looking at development issues that affect the poor.

WDR2016  looks at the how the internet for development. At a presentation in Nairobi today, the researchers spoke of the unprecedented diffusion of digital technology – with the comparison that while Kenya got electricity, 60 years after its discovery, Kenyans were able to use mobile banking 5 years before the USA.

The internet affects development by helping people and economies around the world overcome information barriers/inclusion .(e.g women, and freelancers are able to get more online opportunities and funding (kickstarter))  than were available offline, attain lower transaction costs /efficiency (manual filing systems in government replaced by models like Estonia where you can start a company in 20 minutes) and achieve economies of scale/ innovation.

However, access has been unevenly spread and there are risks and challenges brought by the internet. These include exclusion (elite take the lion’s share), efficiency may lead to inequality, cyber security attacks & wasted projects , while more innovation may lead to  job destruction.

Firms in lower-income countries are less likely to use the internet and  low-income countries are becoming more disadvantaged as the internet rewards those at the top of the chain, while middle skilled occupations may disappear (bank tellers, drivers – from a hollowing out of the labour market)

Some conclusions

  • Internet brings growth opportunities but they are largely unrealized (You need 15% broadband penetration to see impact. Also it has to be fast, affordable and always on – mobile broadband does not have the impact of fixed broadband)
  • Internet can improve welfare and reduce poverty but can also worsen inequality
  • Affordable internet requires open access and public private partnerships (which are still lacking)
  • A digital economy needs a strong analog foundation – competitive  environments where incumbents are forced to innovate, and internet savvy newcomers can enter market easily

 

Mobile Monday: Craft Silicon

Kamal Budhabhatti, the CEO of  Craft Silicon was the guest at Mobile Monday this evening and spoke about his company and it’s platform – Elma. Craft Silicon build mobile communications tools that talk to core banking systems. They are a  financial software company with a view that anywhere that there is a financial exchange (money changing hands), their software can be the enabler and get a piece of the  exchange.

Elma is used in 45 countries, is in  4 languages (English French Spanish Arabic)  and has 250 customers, including  21 banks in Kenya (I&M, Imperial, NIC, Family, Imperial, Jamii Bora Faulu, Rafiki etc.) who use the white labeled Elma platform. They also do payments for Uchumi, Nakumatt and the Kenya Revenue Authority (all mobile payments)

KamalKamal said Craft Silicon has the  second highest number of transactions after M-Pesa, (with Kshs 12 billion has exchanging hands so far in 2014) and have 6 – 7 million active customers on the platform which also supports people without bank accounts.

Some key features in Elma include:

  • Enabling standing orders – transactions that happen every single month  such as loan repayments
  • Enabling joint accounts: Kamal said they are the first company in the world to enable joint accounts in a mobile banking environment; In a typical scenario, one person would initiate a transaction, and the other person would get a message for them to approve or reject the transaction before it’s processed.  This works for married couple, company directors, or even parents & kids (parent approve transaction initiated by kids who may not be old enough to have bank accounts
  • Quick transfers: Transactions between customers of the 21 banks connected can be effected without going through a mobile company. Also Elma users can send money to each other’s accounts regardless of where they bank.
  • Elma customers can chat with their contacts who are also online on Elma (chat on Elma, not whatsapp)
  • Notifications e.g. A essage that  a cheque has come for clearing in your bank
  • Mobile cheque deposit – takes a take picture of your cheque on phone, and it goes to the clearing house
  • NFC enabled.

Opportunities for the Developers/ the Community 

  • Any bank can have their own corporate chats – and any developer can go sell the white label Elma chat product to a bank and keep all the revenue.
  • A developer who build an app using Elma’s API, can get to 6 – 7 million customers regardless of their telco or their bank or phone type. E.g. field data collection is a 3rd party app.
  • Also with Elma, there’s no need to write individual apps for different platforms such as for Windows, Apple, Android devices.
  • If you write on crafts silicon API, it is free to use even if you’re charging other people or banks, and the developers get to keep 100% of the revenue.
  • To download and use Elma, you don’t need a bank account to try out – all one has to do is download it, and top it up once using M-Pesa.