Taxis and Tech

Its the 3rd of December 2014. I am on the way to
a networking event put together by the ICT Association of Uganda. On the Road to Bugos (Bugolobi for the un-initiated).
The struggle for transportation is a little intense. We are standing right across the building that houses the Electoral Commission. The vehicles that are passing by are all bent on driving right on to Jinja Road and are therefore calling Bweyogerere-loosely translated as speak for yourself.
Finally a 16 sitter appears and is soon flooded by myself and a group of other relieved passengers.

We take the round about past the Home of the Internal Affairs Office, embracing the 'fragrance' of the area slaughter houses and right after we pass the historic T-shirt factory, find the stalled traffic. Myself and a few other passengers glance nervously at our timepieces. Hoping and praying that we will make it on time for our engagements.

There is plenty of talk between driver and conductor and theories about the cause of the traffic. Soon though our driver springs into action. He begins by nervously fidgeting with the jacket that is resting on the driver seat. In this coat he finds a phone which he gives to his colleague. He then instructs him to go ahead of the traffic to find a route or opening. We are at a cross roads and the driver wants to know whether it will be more convenient to turn or to drive straight through.

After a few minutes, he call him and then receives the brief. in no time we are on our way. The two are reunited and a major challenge is solved.
I am almost certain that i am not the only passenger who feels rather proud of the Technology sensitive Taxi.

Even if the Taxi guy and his use of technology is rather impressive, one is certain that there is an application out there that can do everything the assistant was compelled to do...or at least there should be. 
      

E-Learning Conference in Uganda-My Thoughts

It's been about three weeks since the E-Learning Seminar that was put together by a group from Germany. I was unable to attend and so my views are those of an outsider. 

The project grabbed my attention after I picked up an flyer at the Outbox Hub. 

I have developed an interest in Online Learning platforms and have designed a course on conflict which I also host on a server of my own. 

My work allows me to work with some of the latest free online platforms such as Drupal, Wordpress, Orange HRM, Joomla, Mambo.

From what I gather, the purpose of the Seminar or conference was to bring together different professional groups and students to demonstrate the need for online learning and to show case some of the latest technologies. In addition to this, the conference gathered the insights of 

African Users who have used some of these platforms and provided some space for them to share their experience. 

I was unable to attend the event because of some constraints in my finance as well as the idea that it was not in my schedule (the life of an entrepreneur is full of many things and one often finds the need to prioritize.  

Something interesting took place a few days into the event. A local and in my view influential association of ICT companies wrote an open letter to the organizers of the event making some suggestions on costs and effectiveness. 

The response from the organizers was almost immediate. 

While I did struggle with the costs of the event, I was very sure that if I had made better plans, I would have been able to attend and raise the funds for the event. 

The most exiting part for me would have been the chance to interact with other professionals as well as to stock up on documents and papers from researchers.

Another thought that came through my mind was the thoughts around what a student/ entrepreneur would do with a similar amount of cash. It occurred to me that a similar amount of money would have been enough to get me registered into a local ICT related course with other benefits such as access to workshops, access to the internet and computer, and the possibility of interacting with other intellectuals (and work).

There was probably a lot more in the minds of the organizers. 

If you have a look at the form that was used, you will notice that if rightly filled, it would provide a rich and very valuable database of Uganda and Africa's ICT landscape. 

That is what all this is about. It is about data and information and it is about having access to this information and being the go to person for all this data. When you watch the progress that took place in Ancient China or any other civilization for that matter, development was linked to resources.  We have not yet fully grasped the value of the information age...if we did we would value data.