Technology is best when it brings people together- Matt Mullenweg
I hope this blog is contributing to this togetherness.
So to start off,
Court ordered Facebook to reveal TVO’s identity to Muwema
The High Court in Ireland ordered global social media giant, Facebook, to reveal the identity of Tom Voltaire Okwalinga (TVO) to controversial advocate, Fred Muwema.
While
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg visited Kenya and enjoyed Ugali and Fish.
Zuckerberg not only enjoyed the food but he saw how Kenya technology innovation are changing that country, learnt more about what mobile entrepreneurs are doing with the latest technology, and found out how Facebook can better support small businesses, developers and content creators across growing markets.
One of Zuckerberg’s first stops on the trip was iHub, an Innovation hub and hackerspace started in March 2010 by TED fellow and entrepreneur, Eric Hersman. Here, he met developers and entrepreneurs:
- Edna Kwinga, Chief Human Resource Officer and Marie Amuti, UX designer at Twiga Foods, a mobile based-business-to-business supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Eric Thimba and Porgie Gachui co-founders of Mookh, a digital payments start-up.
- Wandia Gichuru, CEO, and Makena Mutwiri, Head of Marketing of Vivo Active Wear, an online women’s clothes store does most of its business via Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. The transactions are conducted with mobile money.
Facebook Satellite Explodes during Routine tests
While on his visit here, the satellite to be used by Facebook to spread the internet across sub-Saharan Africa received a major setback after the rocket due to launch the communication satellite exploded in routine tests.
Back here in Uganda
Tumwebaze Urged for a Unified ICT Sector
The Minister of ICT Hon. Frank Tumwebaze asked all technology players and innovators in the country to form a forum for easy communication within the ministry.
While speaking at an ICT discussion held at Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) headquarters on Tuesday, Tumwebaze emphasized the need to find a common ground between the Ministry and innovators so as to easily work out solutions to the existing problems.
This led to the development of
Online Media Association of Uganda (OMAU),
not sure though if that is how its registered at the registrar of businesses and organisations in Uganda. Some of its members are calling it the Media Owners Association but their flyer below says something different.
Members of the association met with the minister of ICT and talked about their online needs. But I have to ask WHAT IS A MEDIA SITE?
As you look for the answer to that question,
what do you do when social media is the reason your business is not making more money?
A restaurant found out that food selfies, restaurant checkins, snapchat uploads and instagram foodies were the reason their business was not improving and losing money in nowadays technology oriented business life.
While the food industry is complaining, the transport sector is getting really revamped;
Uber Kenya is to test #UberChopper Helicopter services in Nairobi, Mombasa on September 4th in pilot project
These guys are not stopping, they want you to get to your destination in/on time no matter what. Under their pilot project dubbed #UberCHOPPER, Uber Kenya is to partner with Corporate Helicopters, the leading providers of helicopter charters in Kenya. “Twelve lucky winners will have the opportunity to uniquely experience either the majestic Rift Valley from Nairobi or the calming coastline in Mombasa, with celebrities from each city,” as per an unconfirmed statement.
While
Vodafone stopped their Unlimited data bundles,
Smile Uganda just capped theirs.
And
Barclays Uganda introduces paperless Banking reducing paper use by 90%
Under this new service you do not fill out forms when depositing cash or a cheque, you just give the teller your detail and cash or cheque deposit and then sign on a Wacom device that captures your signature digitally and a receipt of your transaction is given to you.
The mother bank Barclays Bank is also running a saving campaign using #AfricaSaves which encourages African youth to save their money and use it to buy the most important things they want in their lives.
Uganda Communication Commission CERT Office Visit
Do you know that having porn on your phone is a crime, and the Lokoda kind of crime?
Or do you know that if you delete an SMS off your phone, it’s on your phone memory until your data is wiped?
A few week ago I posted a question in one of these tech weeklies asking about the kind of cyber security Uganda has after a South African brand was hacked, last week I got a chance to visit Uganda Communications Commission’s Cyber Security Unit.
Under the invite by the current President of ICT Association of Uganda (ICTAUg) James Makumbi I was able to have a good chat with Ronald Bakakimpa the head of the office , in regard to Digital Forensics, Data Recovery after a hack, CERT regulations, Threat Monitoring ( there was an open Tweetdeck in the office and all those on @Samwyri’s list @TweepsUganda were being monitored as all the mentions to the CERT_UG handle) and what the online community can do to make their work easy and appreciated.
This is where I learnt that Porn on your phone if taken to these guys as evidence under an investigation, is ammunition to request for all your phone activities from your carrier, even when you are not a criminal. And that deleting your SMSes is not that a permanent delete, all of these nasties and crazy messages still live happily on your phone memory like they do in your mind.
Looking for a grant? There is
$1 Million In Grants To Support Digital Media And Civic Participation In Africa
Justin Arenstein the Director of Code for Africa, announced $1 million in grants available for “a combination of seed funding, technology support, and expert mentorship” to media pioneers on the African continent.
The initiative, innovateAFRICA, is managed by Code for Africa and desires to support “project proposals that focus on strengthening audience engagement with African civic media” as well as “digital news distribution and initiatives that explore new revenue models for African storytelling.”
While a
Tech company retrenches staff via WhatsApp
While you are home chilling, a WhatsApp beeps and you have been laid off. Yeah this happened to employees at a Centurion technology firm in South Africa.
Molapo Technology staff, who have not been paid this month’s salaries, say they learned of their retrenchment via WhatsApp.
Finally but not least an expert piece;
Electoral fraud in Africa getting trickier thanks to mobile technology, vigilance – Experts
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