AudiencScapes

The consensus seemed to be that mobile services are the way forward for
Africa. However, once the low-hanging fruit among potential users has
been plucked, so to speak, reaching the poorest and most remote segments
of the population will require additional effort.

In November, InterMedia’s Ali Fisher was interviewed by Wilton Park’s
Chief Executive, Richard Burge, as part of the London Conference on
Cyberspace.  Ali was asked to discuss what his research has shown to be
exciting uses of the internet, interesting bits about the growing use of
the internet and what the next big “thing” on the horizon is

The World Bank's CGAP Technology Blog recently posted an article about
InterMedia's AudienceScapes' Haiti Mobile Money Tracker.  A tool created to
examine a series of household surveys, commissioned by the Gates Foundation in
2010, that helped monitor the impact of USAID and the Gates Foundation's Haiti
Mobile Money Initiative.  An initiative that featured a $10 million fund to
provide incentives to mobile service providers to quickly launch and expand
mobile money (m-money) services. 

Reject Magazine reports on topics and regions neglected by the
mainstream Kenyan press.  Recent awards recognize how the publication
fills a void in the country’s media landscape. More from Dinfin Mulupi.

Pakistan is experimenting with a relatively new model of healthcare
delivery: telemedicine. For distance-based medical services to be
successful, however, projects must grapple with challenges like
inadequate infrastructure and patient distrust of the concept.

The country’s recent political and economic crises mean that Zimbabwe has
been late to experiment with advances in technology. This is finally changing,
as suggested by the recent introduction of mobile money products. Institutions
are clamoring to launch products to profit from this untapped market.

The latest political news from Russia has President Dimitry Medvedev
and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin swapping jobs again next year with the
aim of sustaining Putin's personal power structure for perhaps another
dozen years. In principle, Russians could reject this arrangement when
they go to the polls in March 2012 to elect a new president, but it
appears that Putin is still popular enough to get what he wants. As
Russia's political opposition blows in the wind, some social change
advocates look to the internet as a potent grassroots conduit for
movements against monolithic government control.

The Arab Spring has brought attention to the potential for using
social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to share news and facilitate activities
of those involved in social change.  But Sultan Al  Qassemi cautions against seeing these
tools as panaceas for oppression;  he says that they can be equally effective tools for the oppressors. Find out more...

You don’t usually get this many smart suits at a development conference, but
Indigo Trust‘s The Power of Information: New Technologies for Philanthropy and
Development at trendy Kings Place was seeking to bring together money,
technology and the developing world. …

Innovation in the mobile money sector is coming from non-telecom companies. Two new platforms launched this year in Kenya are experimenting with new e-commerce features for individuals and companies. Will the new services reduce the number of Kenya’s “unbanked” population? Dinfin Mulupi reports.