This week in tech!

Ideas worth sharing

So today we made a causal trip to the Hive Colab offices (http://www.hivecolab.com). The plan was to visit with the crew at Yoza App for some ideas that we think they can develop for the future. We were also trying to see if we could land an interview with Barbara Birungi (Director). 

Interest in Yoza App (http://www.yozaapp.com)piqued a few months ago when they won a competition put toghether by MTN. There is also a slight bias given that I share a name with one of the leads at Yoza App. 

Our meeting was brief and the discussion was about the possiblity of deploying a mobile washing system especially for areas that have heavy demand and traffic. 

I guess there has been a slight shift in interest on my part that has brought about an appreciation for innovation beyond just the creation of application for mobile computers. 

People worth meeting

I was also interested because the Yoza App group demonstrated that one does not have to participate purely just to win but also to gain more traction and free advertising. I say this weeks after yet another competition this time put together by Seedstarters World. 

You owe it to yourself to visit Hive Colab and Outbox Hub (http://www.outboxhub.ug) because of the people that populate these creative and collaborative spaces. 

Impromptu Interviews

Speaking of which, while here we also got an opportunity to meet James Makumbi-another influencial contributor to the broader technology and computing sector. I shared much of what I had noticed in the design and application competition space. My fear was that there was too great a push for innovation around mobile and computing at the expence of other inventive spaces. We both concluded that the idea was really around finding a meeting point between services and technlogies that enhance these services and that the applications were not really an end within themsleves. 

He also pointed me towards design thinking and paltfrom thinking. The former has come up before and is presented below in a useful image for those that thrive on graphics. 

We also talked about the value of establishing onceself as an authority and then allowing your knowledge to open the doors to those who may at some point need your services. 

Seedstarters World and Outbox Hub

Additional intererst in the Seedstarters event was triggered by the idea that it was sponsored by Stanbic Bank. 

We attended the original pitch (which we have suggested before would be better referred to as Taxi Pitch as oppsoed to Elevator Pitch). Taxi because there are a lot of interesting people that you can meet in a tweleve seater although these might not necessarily be CEOs. But the time spent in the Taxi would match the conditions necessary in narrowing down your ideas. 

Of all the participants in the Seed starters event (http://www.seedstartersworld.com), I was most interested in one idea in which  one could convert shopping time and questions answered into some kind of shopping currency. It is an idea that merges marketing with research while allowing participants to also make some money while at it. I also liked this idea because the young man that brought it to the surface also made sure that he at least mentioned the name of one of the sponsors of the event-Stanbic Bank.

ICT Association Offices

We were also able to visit the ICT Association offices to get some further clarification of the scope and services of the group as well as some of the new events for the months to come.    The first is the BPO and ICT conferencewhich is slated for the End of September beginning of October. The second is the innovation summit(http://www.innovation-africa.com) that will bring a group of ICT ministersfrom the region under one banner for three intensive days.

Participants and paid members will be able to meet potetial clients in Business to Business meetings that have been put together by the leadership team of the ICT Association as well as people from the Business Process Outsourcing Group (this if you recall has been in place for almost 6 years after meetings with the then ICT minister Hon Aggrey Awori).