Today, Google posted a notice to its Google Glass channel on G+ that lays out its plan to prevent abuse of facial recognition on the head-mounted computer. Its solution? Reject any Glassware that uses it until they have proper protections in place.

Since Glass began hitting people’s faces, the questions about how a wearable camera with a computer attached would affect privacy have been ramping up. Specifically, facial recognition technology jumped out as a concern. If Google Glass can take HD video of you, why couldn’t it match your face up with a G+ profile or other data set and allow the user access to more information at a ‘glance’ than you’d care to give them?

Now, Google has outlined an official policy about Glassware with facial recognition elements:

When we started the Explorer Program nearly a year ago our goal was simple: we wanted to make people active participants in shaping the future of this technology ahead of a broader consumer launch.  We’ve been listening closely to you, and many have expressed both interest and concern around the possibilities of facial recognition in Glass. As Google has said for several years, we won’t add facial recognition features to our products without having strong privacy protections in place. With that in mind, we won’t be approving any facial recognition Glassware at this time.

We’ve learned a lot from you in just a few weeks and we’ll continue to learn more as we update the software and evolve our policies in the weeks and months ahead.

The updated developer policies on Google’s Glass developer site has added a new clause that states:

1. Don’t use the camera or microphone to cross-reference and immediately present personal information identifying anyone other than the user, including use cases such as facial recognition and voice print. Applications that do this will not be approved at this time.

As part of its response to congressional concerns over Glass privacy, Google has also codified its statement that it won’t allow the display to turn off while shooting an image or video. That’s now a hard rule as well. Google also added the Android section on content policies that cover things like gambling, viruses, hate speech and more.

Google engineers said something similar during an I/O session about Glass. Our own Alex Wilhelm reported on the facial recognition question:

Facial recognition is something that Google has worked on. They can imagine it existing through a third party. The company appeared to decline stating that they would build it themselves, likely to avoid painfully ignorant headlines. The company is “not scared” of it, but wants to ensure that it has clear user benefit.

Obviously wearable computing that combines camera technology, an always-on connection and a computing platform poses a bunch of privacy and security challenges, not just facial recognition. But it appears that Google has been feeling enough heat about this particular feature to ban the apps until they can get a policy in place.

Note that this official policy applies to apps that are ‘Glassware’. That means that they use the Mirror API and are installed via a web interface. These apps have limited access to the hardware and must be allowed by Google. Developers can build whatever native apps they like, root the device and install them directly. Google has even stated that it is working on anative API for Glass. But, for now, the official channel for facial recognition apps is closed.

I’ve been using Glass myself and have some mixed feelings about it. I’m not bullish or bearish on it, but find it interesting and something definitely worth ‘pulling the string’ on, to borrow Tim Cook’s phrase. There are some very interesting applications here, but it’s definitely a ‘far future’, not ‘near future’ technology.

-thenextweb.com

When it comes to technology, standing still is falling behind! Read about what our Windows Business Group Manager, Kevin Connolly, has to say about the end of Windows XP support and embracing new technologies for the modern world.

By Kevin Connolly, Windows Business Group Manager for Microsoft Sub-Saharan Africa & Indian Ocean Islands

To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.  ~ Henri Bergson

The news has been out for a while but if you haven’t heard, take note. Microsoft is ending Windows XP support from April 8^th, 2014.This may sound scary, but moving onto a new operating system is a completely natural progression, and just like a car needs to be serviced and upgraded, so do computers. This is why Microsoft has a ten year Support Lifecycle Policy.
Windows XP was launched in October 2001. When I think back on the last 10 years, I realize just how much can change in a decade. In 2001, many of us were still using floppy disks, the very first Harry Potter film graced our screens; Africa’s Queen of pop, Brenda Fassie had just released her ‘Greatest Hits’ album, and flip phones were all the rage. Wikipedia had just launched, Facebook didn’t exist yet – and, Windows XP was the latest and greatest operating system on the market with a faster start-up time, a sleeker interface, and exciting new tools like Media Player and Movie Maker.
Over the last ten years, the floppy disk has become antiquated, seven Harry Potter movies have been box-office hits, Africa has mourned the loss of the Queen of African Pop, and flip phones have become a rarity. Wikipedia has replaced encyclopaedias, Facebook has become the most popular website in the world – and, people who are still using Windows XP are now missing out on the latest and greatest technology.
Just like pop culture, technology has changed drastically over the last decade.  As an enabler, it responds to the changing needs of its users. It empowers people by saving them time, improving productivity and removing constraints– from geographical distance to language barriers. It makes what was previously impossible, possible. And the limit to what it can do is constantly expanding. When you start to think of technology like this, it becomes clear why using outdated forms of it cause you to fall behind.
So, relying on XP, which is now 11 years old, could mean you’re doing business at half the pace of everyone else, and coming up against obstacles no one else encounters

anymore. Because of its age, Windows XP also relies on the ongoing delivery of security-related patches to remain secure. When support ends, users will no longer receivenew security updates and patches. With more sophisticated cyber threats emerging every day it’s critical that individuals and businesses have a modern OS to protect their data, customer and credit card information, and keep their IP safe!

With Windows 8 having just reached its 100 millionth license activation  and over 60 000 Windows 8 apps available in the app store, there is no better opportunity to embrace newer and better
technologies than now! When it comes to the world of technology, standing still really is falling behind.

And, the good news for SMBs, is that if they register for Windows 8 Pro before 30 June, they’ll receive a 15% discount on Windows 8 Pro and Office Standard 2013

Microsoft on Friday 22nd held a workshop with over 70 business women who run SMEs at Serena Hotel Nairobi. The workshop tackled the tools that they as Small and Medium Enterprise owners would require to scale their businesses without going to the pains of acquiring expensive software for each task in business management. The workshop was tagged “Build your Business Workshop” and attendees were women from across the country Kenya. Specifically the approach was to train them on how to use Office tools to assist them n managing and marketing of their businesses.

The event was organized under the banner of Microsoft Women of WECA (WOW) which helps women excel in ICT and also build their businesses without necessarily investing too much on ICT tools and Supa Mamas, a marketing and events company which brings together business women from different backgrounds to Inform, Connect and Inspire Mothers in Kenya by exposing them to opportunities available to grow their businesses.

The 4Ps of a business (product, pricing, placement and promotion) were addressed and attendees shown how this can be easily managed via Office tools. The tools showcased are Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Lync, One Note, Office 365, Skydrive.

“By bringing together women from various SMEs across the country Microsoft hopes to significantly increase the number of women entrepreneurs using technology tools to manage and grow their businesses,” said Clare Mungai the head of the Microsoft Women of WECA organization.

The business women were shown for example, how powerful Excel is in managing business data and presenting it in a very orderly manner. They were showed how they could use the same data in presenting business progress details to banks if they needed to visualize to their banker how their business was doing. Powerpoint presentations, Word and One note were also projected as good tools in displaying, sharing and storing business information.

The SMEs also got to see how they could use Lync to interact remotely and share files over the internet. Cloud computing, which is the big word in town also got a detailing with Office 365 and Skydrive as tools to store and access data remotely in a secure manner. This is also quite handy as information backup that can be accessed from anywhere with an internet access.

“It has been a very interesting experience getting people to appreciate what online platforms can do. With tools like Microsoft Office 365, one can now have a web presence and word documents stored online that can be worked on by 2 or more people. This helps these women market and grow their small businesses on the internet. We are grateful to Microsoft for coming up with this innovative product tht aims to help the African woman.” said Christine Kasinah-Odero, founder of Supamamas.

The business women were also showed how to create a web presence by way of creating free websites on Office 365 and also on the use of social media to scale their businesses and reach out to new and existing customers. Microsoft recommended Yammer which is a Microsoft Social Enterprise Network that will help link the SMEs with individuals from other organizations.

They were also reminded that Microsoft XP is reaching end of life in year 2014 and that they adjust accordingly.

-TECWEEZ

By the end of the last decade, and  Begin  of the new one we owe,the ICT companies have been largely increasing in number in other parts of the globe and specifically in Africa.Even though as the number increasing,the problems are not going to stop as we always facing daily challanges especially in innovation of the new technology which is the mother of development.

It is said that most employers underutilize the creativity of their employee hence fail to capture their fertile ideas into their companies.The major reason for these can be;lack of time,absence of effective processes to manage all the ideas and the fear to demotivate the employees when ideas rejected.

Encouraging ideas is the core management task,as the curreant existing business demand great attention;stimulating the ideas is the core task in leadership,this also fascinate and endorse the organizational creativity unwillingly.

With fast changing market challanges,demand customers and smart competitors,we need new ways to innovate and raise the new challanges.Being more creative is our only way to become resilient in time of Change and   Crissie will secure our sustainable success,therefore stimulating and harvesting creativity shall be our strategic priority.

-Jordan Kalyembe

On the last month facebook announced the redesign of the timeline of the timeline with more outstanding and application friendly features.The timeline shall still counting  you days but now days in an amazing way.

So what's different about it? First, it's a bit more organized. While your posts and events used to be scattered across the two-column view, now they will be larger and stacked in order on the right column. Everything else, including boxes that house your photos, about information, and "likes" of music, movies, books, etc. will live on the left side of the screen.

A big part of the redesign is around the content and the apps that you like. You can "favorite" different movies, books, music and they will be added to that left rail. "If you're a movie buff, you can add your favorites to your movies section or use apps like Flixster and Netflix to share what you're watching," Facebook's Rose Yao wrote on Facebook's blog. The integration comes just as Netflix has announced its social watching tools, which allow you to see what your friends have been watching.

For all of their advantages, smartphones still fall a little short for some — specifically, for those living with visual impairment.

While apps like Siri and SayText do offer a good deal of assistance, 2011 TED Fellow Sumit Dagar had an idea for a more effective solution: a smartphone that's specifically designed for people who have trouble seeing.

The phone, which has yet to be officially named, has a screen comprised of a grid of pins, which move up and down to form into Braille shapes and characters whenever an SMS message or email is received. It uses what's called Shape Memory Alloy technology, so as each pin expands, it remembers and contracts back to its original flat shape.

In an interview with the Times of India, Dagar describes the phone as "[the] world's first Braille smartphone ... a companion more than a phone."

SEE ALSO: 8 Ways to Recycle Your Old Smartphone

Dagar, an interaction design graduate of the National Institute of Design (NID), came up with the idea for the phone three years ago. He's collaborating with IIT Delhi on the prototype, which is being tested at the LV Prasad Eye Institute. The team hopes to release the phone by the end of 2013, for about $185.

MASHABLE

The usability of smart phones which is still extending both locally and internationally; iphones and andreoid being theleading,most of local and international developers are now considering local usability of the smartphone applications,especially on social interaction such as facebook,twiter,what’s app and other social services supportive applications that arevery user friendly and outstanding.

The communication companies such as Vodacom,milicom ,Raselo ,ABI and other small enterpreneurcompanies such as coder lab have created best apps that we must use.


   The best 10 apps in Tanzania and awesome Kenyan’apps are the coming articles introducing this series of The Smartphone era in East Africa

TanzICT Innovation Space

SIX companies received over 85m/- under the innovation Fund, which has been established to support innovation in developing the economy. Speaking at the handover ceremony at the Commission for Science and Technology offices in Dar es Salaam, the Minister for Science and Technology, Prof Makame Mbarawa, said: "Entrepreneurship is growing...we need youths to start their own companies and employ themselves.

The challenges of self employment are many and that is why young innovators have to take advantage." Professor Mbarawa said that the government has demarcated innovation space on the fast internet service to drive young innovators' ideas forward. He said the Ministry has also put in place a strategy to ensure government organizations have innovation spaces for young people who engage in IT entrepreneurship.

He said Department for International Development (DFID) is in the process of starting another fund to drive innovation in water and health sectors. The innovation Fund for ICT innovation is managed by COSTECH and set up and funded by TANZICTproject. The fund is a competitive grant fund focusing on supporting ICT innovators, with innovative projects fostering solutions to social and economic problems in the country.

The Fund focuses on getting new ideas, products and services using ICT to demo, prototype or pilot stage, where the ideas can be tested in the market with end users and a feasible business model can be built around the idea or prototype. TANZICT opened the first call for applications for the innovation Fund last year in November and received 25 applications.

Finland has a focus on developing the information society, especially the wide-ranging knowledge in the society and public economy in Tanzania. ICT (information and communication technology) is seen as an instrument for access to information and services in remote areas.

Tanzania Daily News

The e-book gives out detailed information about the scope of the IT industry in Africa. The analysis is done by the major African IT sector technology players the likes of Mbwana Alliy and others.

The book is called “Technology in Africa -2013 Digest”, the book covers different tech communities in Africa and the opportunities and challenges that lies upon them, the emerging tech competitions in Africa and the rapid change in technology and the why the Africa’s tech communities respond to the changes.

The book talks about the tech communities, the management of funding and startups, the e-governance and the contribution of the internet to the governing systems and the way mobile advertising and marketing can be the next solution to the African business owners who operates in the continent.

For More details about the book clickhere 

Tech360 Magazine Correspondent 

Jean Philbert Nsengimana

The cabinet will soon determine deadline for Rwanda's migration to digital transmission from analogue broadcasting, according to the Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana. "The strategy to meet the EAC target is under consideration and expected to be approved by the cabinet soon," he told The New Times in an interview.

Without divulging further details, Nsengimana stated that the strategy includes acquisition of digital television sets and Set Top Boxes (STBs) or decoders to allow existing analogue TVs to access digital signal.

Meanwhile, public broadcaster, Orinfor, is set to embark on an awareness campaign of the STBs by distributing them to all sectors countrywide to enable the general public to embrace the new technology. STBs are decoding devices that will convert analogue images to digital ones and allow television set owners to watch digital content without necessarily buying new sets.

"We are currently broadcasting in both analogue and digital but once all the sectors have STBs and people have digital TV sets, we shall switch off the analogue transmission," said Innocent Nkurunzinza, the Technical Director of Orinfor in an interview with The New Times.

Nkurunzinza stated that the broadcaster had so far procured 800 STBs and is closely working with the Ministry of Local Government to have them rolled out in all the 416 sectors in the country. "As long as people have free to air STBs, they can watch Rwanda Television in digital transmission format as it covers the whole country."

In January this year, Orinfor, said it was set to start broadcasting digital content in March 2012, ahead of the December 31 deadline set for East African Community (EAC) countries to switch to digital broadcasting.

The public broadcaster missed out on its initial deadline due to delays in identifying a competent supplier for devices to convert analogue images to digital ones but since they have procured the equipment, it will soon migrate from the analogue transmission, it says.

"Orinfor is going to use them in an awareness campaign and we are waiting for a decision from the Ministry of Local Government to let us know which places we can install STBs , especially those that have access to electricity 'and other sources of energy," Nkurunzinza explained.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) set 2015 as the global deadline to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting, which uses rare frequency resource efficiency that allows the introduction of additional services such as high definition television and pay TV on standard TV.

The New Times Rwanda

Omar goes to KINU's Innovation Space to speak with the Mikocheni Report Blogger and The East African columnist Elsie Eyakuze and KINU Co-Founder, Mrusha Jones about the rise of the tech scene in Dar. Kinu Innovation Hub is among the initiative done by the local tech pioneers in Tanzania to speed up the growth of the industry in Tanzania. Kinu Hub together with TanzICT project has been a great support to the Tanzanian Tech-preneurs and startup companies to support their projects and mentoring them. We expect more hubs to be opened in Tanzania to facilitate the tech industry in the technology industry in the country.Watch Video On YouTube

Dr Vincent Biruta

The Minister of Education, Dr Vincent Biruta, has called upon Rwandans especially educationists to be at the forefront of promoting technology in the education sector in the country.

The minister made the call yesterday during a news conference on the upcoming three-day Rwanda International Conference on Technology in Education due in Kigali on September 5.
The conference is expected to attract academics, scholars, policymakers, teachers, students and ICT expert from within the East African region and beyond.
"Our country is on the right track regarding the promotion of technology in education but we still have a long way to go...this is why I challenge all citizens especially the youth, researchers and academics to help government in this endeavour," Biruta said.
To promote the ICT sector in the country, Biruta said his ministry under the One Laptop Per Child Programme has so far distributed over 110,000 laptops to primary schools countrywide, adding that they have a target of distributing another 60,000 by the end of this year.

He noted that last year, the ministry distributed 1,000 laptops in secondary schools around the country and it is constructing computer laboratories in public schools which will be connected to the internet.
Biruta told journalists that they have facilitated higher institutions of learning in the country to electronically have access to at least 33,000 books through e-library.

The conference organised by Rwanda Education Board (REB) in collaboration with the education ministry will be held under the theme; "enhancing learning through technology."
Biruta said the conference will help Rwandan researchers and other scholars to share ideas, knowledge and skills with participants from other countries on how best technology in education can be improved in the country and at the global level.

Dr. Evode Mukama, the Head of ICT in Education Department at REB said that the objective of the conference is to spearhead the integration of ICT in learning practice and to promote educational technology programmes.

The conference is expected to draw 300 delegates and will include key speakers such as Prof. Nicklas Negroponte, the founder of OLPC and MIT Lab, Prof. Margaret J. Kamar, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Kenya, among others.

It will be preceded by an awarding ceremony for the Education Technology Innovation Award 2012, where outstanding competitors in the field of technology in education will be rewarded with various prizes.

TANZANIA competitiveness ranking has remained unchanged at 120th slot this year.
Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 issued shows position could be elevated but was affected by low-quality roads and ports and an unreliable power supply.

"Although primary education enrollment is commendably high, providing universal access, enrollment rates at the secondary and university levels are among the lowest in the world," the report indicates. A related area of concern was the low level of technological readiness in the country that stands at 122nd position with very low uptake of ICT namely Internet and mobile telephony.

"...The basic health of its workforce is also a serious concern; the country is ranked 113th in this area, with poor health indicators and high levels of diseases," the GCR, issued by World Economic Forum, shows. Previously before the survey was done Tanzania was expected to climb up some slots to 116th position but the projection was not materialised as expected.

While the country is tumbling at 120th positions, Rwanda moved up by seven places this year to 63rd position, continuing to the third place in the sub-Saharan African region -- behind South Africa (52nd) and Mauritius (54th). "Other comparatively successful African countries, include Rwanda which has strong and relatively well-functioning institutions, with very low levels of corruption, " the report says.

Apart from Rwanda, all other East African economies' competitiveness ranking positions have dropped. Kenya is ranked 106th after it dropped four slots from 102nd of last year. Uganda also was in the same boat after it dropped to 123 positions from 121st slot last year while Burundi this year settled at 144 position compared to 140th of previous year.

The figure also shows that the region has registered a persistent and worrisome infrastructure deficit following global financial crisis that saw the quality and quantity of infrastructure largely stagnated at low levels since then. However, removing this bottleneck would boost intra-regional trade and help the region to further diversify external trade, thereby making it more resilient to external shocks. The Guardian

The race for the East African regional ICT hub is on for Dar es Salaam has the government of the United Republic of Tanzania is completing the installation of the massive broadband cable throughout the local towns and cities. One the greatest achievement of the President Kikwete’s Government is the installation of the wide sophisticated and efficiency broadband network in Tanzania. The broadband network will be used to supply network connection even to the neighboring countries. The government has done a lot of effort to make sure the underground sea cable reaches the border cities ready to connect the countries which would be interested to the service and some of the countries including Rwanda have shown their interest in the project.

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania has completed construction of Phase II of the countrywide broadband backbone linking all major urban centres, a move that would bring down internet connection costs, according to the Broadband management entity.

The National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) the government board that have been given the responsibility to handle the broadband connection management  issued a statement which was  released yesterday, showed that the Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) tariff structure would see a reduction of 33 per cent effective from September 1, this year.

IRU is the effective long-term lease (temporary ownership) of a portion of the capacity -- to other service providers -- of an international cable, that is, an agreement between operators of a communications cable, such as a submarine communication cable or a fiber optic network and a client. The revised tariffs would include those for ten years, 15 and 20 years lease contracts. 

Under phase II, the completed and commissioned routes are Dar es Salaam – Lindi – Mtwara – Songea – Makambako – Mbeya – Tunduma – Sumbawanga –Mpanda – Kigoma – Manyovu –Biharamulo – Bukoba –Mutukula – Nzega – Tabora.  

   

“This development has come following the adjustment of tariff for an annual lease structure that was done in April this year,” said the statement made available to the media yesterday. 

The development is the country’s major breakthrough in the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), whereby the backbone would link with similar backbones in all the neighboring countries and enhance connection.

The Open University of Tanzania (OUT) has entered an agreement with the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) to create a system that will help the college authorities to store student’s records in the databases using ICT technologies.

The project is aiming at helping managing student’s records and increasing efficiency in records management according to Mr. Razaro Busagula, the manager of the project. The programme would help the university in maintaining these records.

He said the new system will also allow students to directly access information on their academic progress and timetables for studies. Mr. Busagula said SUA decided to team up with OUT in the project because the latter has excelled in the use of ICT in its activities including teaching and records management.

He also said the programme would enable students to conduct their studies quickly and attempt examinations even before the end of the semester if they wish to do so.

The choice of Kenya as the location for International Business Machines (IBMs) first research laboratory in Africa is raising fears that Nigeria is being left behind with regard to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development.

When IBM, the $230 billion American Information Technology (IT) and Software Company sought a spot in Africa to build its new research centre, it didn’t pick Nigeria with its 168 million people and $270 billion economy.

It chose Kenya instead, a country whose economy at $34 billion, is about the size of Lagos (Nigeria’s commercial capital), and has a population seven times smaller than Nigeria’s.

IBM, with an annual research budget of $6.5 billion, runs similar research facilities in 11 other countries, but this is the first in Africa.

The new research centre project announced last week is a joint venture between the Kenyan government’s ICT Board and IBM, with each contributing $10 million of funding over the next five years.

For stakeholders, this highlights the risk that Nigeria may be falling behind peer countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Egypt in IT, software development and skilled ICT manpower development. “In terms of education we are behind. Kenya’s tech scene did not just explode over-night, they had it coming,” Francis Onwumere, a Nigerian developer at Digital Craft Studios, the company behind prowork project management application that makes team collaboration easy, said.

“They invested in competence and they are reaping the benefits.” The choice of Kenya (which aims to be an IT hub in Africa) by IBM did not come by accident, as the country has been an incubator for software development and has plans to build its own Silicon Valley, called Konza, a 5,000-acre site which will eventually be a cluster of technology companies plus a university.

Kenya is also a global leader in mobile money, with its award winning MPESA service. IBM’s Kenya laboratory will seek to develop technology-assisted solutions to the problems of Africa’s fast-growing cities (Africa has 52 cities of more than a million people — more than are in Europe).

Lab-location decisions are based mainly on the lure of “smart people and real-world problems and opportunities,” said John E. Kelly, I.B.M.’s senior vice president for research.

In addition, it will be the center for a “resident scientist programme,” which will bring in researchers from Nairobi and elsewhere in Africa to collaborate with I.B.M. scientists.

Nigeria, which however had high hopes of becoming a hub for ICT in Africa, seems to be under performing, and not leveraging on its seeming advantages.

Osamuyi Stewart, (a Nigerian) services strategy manager for IBM said, “Other African governments are beginning to formulate plans, but Kenya is very advanced – they were ready for this in terms of know-how.” Read More

Kigali is set to host regional and international Startup World competitions where Rwandan ICT entrepreneurs, innovators and early stage business leaders will participate in the contest by presenting their best business "pitches."

The event slated for September 12, will put Kigali on spotlight despite Rwanda being globally recognized as one of the African countries using the power of ICT in the development process.

The competition is organized by 36 global Tech City Hubs in partnership with Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT), under patronage of the Ministry of Youth and ICT.

Startup World is an international initiative, based in California US, to promote early stage businesses, entrepreneurship and technology through a global competition to celebrate the world's most innovative businesses.

Rwanda is one of the four countries in Africa that were selected to host the competition, due to the country's commitment to develop ICT as crucial sector in development agenda. Other countries that will host similar event are South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya.

Speaking to The New Times, Grace Mugabekazi, the Communications and Alumni Manager DOT Rwanda said: "ICT has opened up a new array of limitless opportunities for Rwanda as it has opened up our market to new forms of employment and trading and will continue to offer employment to the upcoming generation."

"I believe there are some great innovations developed by local tech entrepreneurs which are solutions relevant to the Rwandan Market. Our young people are also looking beyond to create solutions that can work for East Africa as a regional integration."

Tech entrepreneurs, innovators and early stage business leaders can submit their applications to www.startupworld.com before August 31. Read More

Most of the time I have been trying to advice fresh minds in college about the importance of engaging themselves in something that would bring money to them directly instead of having to work around with a huge collection of certificates looking for jobs while you can’t even afford the bus ticket charges. The art of learning things like web designing, app development, animation or even video production during your free time in your Degree course or whatever course your doing is the only thing that will make you survive in the tech industry without a really office job. I talked about Photoshop and how it has helped some youth in Dar es Salaam streets to make easy money to support their life on one of my articles few weeks back. Read the article here.

 

If you pass in the busy roads of Dar es Salaam you will see the matching guys locally called (Machinga) selling original and pirated CD’s of the animation movie “Kirikou and the Sorceress”. The movie is selling more than any other childish movie that has been sold in Dar es Salaam. By the way at some point of time you might have thought the director Michel Ocelot or the producer Didier Brunner they are African born but besides that the music on the animation movie is from the African legendary musician Youssou N’Dour everything else was done in Europe (French, Belgium and Luxembourg). While this movie receive a tremendous good results at the local movie industry, the locals still thinks animation industry is not paying in Tanzania and Africa in general. It is the time we exploit the opportunities. There are so many great cartoonist in Africa we have our local famous cartoonist Masoud Kipanya. It doesn’t matter where you initiated the idea. The quality of the story, the impact to the local community and the use of the local language can influence people to appreciate and buy your work, the only thing you have to do is to provide quality product that can sell. 

I remember this animated character “Sara” the African girl who is trying to strive and portrays the real life scenario for the African girls back in 90’s it was among the great African animated movie which brought awareness and promote gender equity among African societies. I remember we used to read journals with Sara’s story on them. The story of how Sara helped her local community to save the environment and fights her way in to get the chance to the secondary school was my best story. These animated movie when are put in the local languages, with the local producers and directors they tend to bring more impact to the community and attract more audience hence survive in the market. 

It was so irritating one time, I heard someone saying that some Mobile company in Tanzania had to travel abroad to look for someone to create animated ad for their new mobile scheme since there are very few known animation professionals in Tanzania. It is the time we understand the tech industry is vast and there is a lot of opportunities. Don’t just stick in app development and Systems administration. Try to find something that suits you more if you can. It might be the only way to escape from the deadly competition and struggle to survive in the local tech communities. Take an example of the Nigerian gamers with their projects. Who would have thought there is a chance for the game development carrier in Africa? Believe me the guys are doing well and they are among the promising startup in West Africa. Anything is possible now in the African tech community even if you want to develop your own browser or Operating systems just do it. It is the change that Africans want and only the African tech community can offer that. 

The animated video ads cost millions Tanzanian shillings when they are done by professionals from abroad why should we have our own 3d animation designers to do these task. I saw one animated movie online called Manzese in 2010, a clip which was uploaded in YouTube. It was made by a Tanzania who is living in Italy; he was promoting the movie in Michuzi Blog frankly speaking the quality was not so touching but what I liked about it the idea was touching the local community directly. 

Hint: ‘Manzese’ is a place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where middle class communities of Dar es Salaam are living. The place is dense populated and security system is very poor. Manzese reflects these kinds of places in African towns and cities. 

The story was about Mr. Kindunde a guy who was abused by the local official. I think he was trying to show how some of the African leaders are abusing their political powers to exploit their citizens.

Animators out there your service is highly needed and if you doubted if the animation carrier is paying in Africa then you are still sleeping wake up before it’s too late. There are a lot of opportunities out there. Just make sure you share your video on social networking sites after you upload them in YouTube and try to find some mentors who can help you to sell your products or even get a chance to make an ad for Vodacom Tanzania.