[kictanet] Top brains to entice global investors

Tue Sep 18 11:33:27 EAT 2012

Hi Brian and all
Thanks for elucidating.

1 - Would it be possible to know what yardstick is being used to
measure innovation/sustainability/usability/etc?   What metrics are
being used to determine how an idea solves a problem (and whether it
can do so in more than one geography), what metrics to assess its
impact or ability to bring about change?  If there is a panel of
judges, who does it comprise and what measures are there to make panel
 adjudication less subjective?

2 - One of my initial questions related to OSS - I feel in Africa this
may merit some discussion since OSS is a tool for innovation that
allows start ups to start beating a path on the supply side and on the
demand side, allows those with low budgets to adopt ICT.  If I may
draw a few examples from demo.com, relating to other launches fully or
partially based on OSS elements:
http://www.demo.com/ehome/custom/29414/body.php?attendeeid=2477679
http://www.demo.com/ehome/custom/29414/body.php?attendeeid=2477596
http://www.demo.com/ehome/custom/29414/body.php?attendeeid=2477865
http://www.demo.com/ehome/custom/29414/body.php?attendeeid=3402796
(this one trying to go head to head with Oracle in terms of Big Data
analytics/BI).

Further, locally we  recently heard the govt planned to remove duty on
software and there was a mixed response to this - one side stated that
it would stunt local players and innovation, since locally developed
SW would then be no longer competitive (recall how we killed our
textile industry by allowing second hand clothes in the market?)

3 - Africa.  One continent. Diverse cultures. One size does not fit
all.  Its discrete. Its not homogeneous. And this is Demo Africa. It
should address needs peculiar to the thinking in Africa and its own
problems.   Cases in point - Mpesa was a hit in Kenya but a flop in
South Africa. Mpesa apparently handled more money in Kenya than
Western Union did worldwide (or so I hear). Mpesa did not need
Visa/mastercard/etc to acquire it, though its apparently owned by
Vodafone.   Mxit (and IM app) is a hit in RSA but has tepid reception
elsewhere.   So, what are the metrics for Africa bearing in mind
investors may either want to augment their offerings for a particular
market segment In Africa or may want to go global with it?

4 - Can we expect any of the top 50 global ICT companies to drop in at
Demo Africa?   We've seen some activity getting innovators in Africa
to make their pitches.  But has anyone made pitches to Google, MSFT,
IBM, HP, Cisco, etc etc to come to Africa and listen to what our
innovators have to say?  If I was among the finalists, I'd be
wondering who will be in the room.  I'd also be wondering if possible
investors would rather not go to Demo Brazil.

5 - Most prior discussions seem to be rooted on start ups and
entrepreneurs with shallow pockets and grand ideas -  yet I gather
Demo is also a launch platform for the big guys mentioned in #4 above.
Can we expect any of the big guys to launch anything meant for Africa?
  Also, what about the top African grown ICT companies  - any
participation we can expect from them?

Thanks

F

On 17 September 2012 20:43, Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Agosta,
>
> Francis, Liko and Ali
>
> DEMO is a launch pad for new technologies and startups, its not a
> competition. The only competitive aspect of DEMO is to get to the DEMO
> Stage. In the last four months we have engaged with innovators from
> across the continent with the objective of taking their innovation from just
> that to real
> business, that is sustainable and that will take them to the next level.
> Different innovators need/require different inputs to take them to the next
> level, some need capitalization others are looking for go to market
> opportunities, publicity while other are just looking for strategic
> partnerships. So it not correct to assume that very
> startup is looking for investment in money terms.
>
> What DEMO provides is the push for a product launch. For a startup to launch
> at DEMO
> you must have a new, innovative product that solves a real problem. This
> partly answers Francis' question. DEMO does not look at innovation for
> innovation's sake, there has
> to be a real problem that innovation is solving and a business model to
> boot.
>
> Ability to scale is also a big consideration given that investors will be
> putting money
> and expect a return on their investment. On investors, our work on this
> space has shown us that there is mis-match of
> expectations. Local developers and innovators are looking for investors from
> Silicon Valley, while investors in Sillicon
> Valley have no visibility of the local investment opportunity. To this we
> have been engaging local investors through the
> DEMO Africa Roundtable Workshops and the interest can only be described as
> amazing. This is a group that has in the
> past been ignored yet they have the capacity to invest and take most of the
> startups to the next level, but only if the engagement makes sense to them.
>
> Who are the investors? We are engaging different players – both local and
> international. At the Nairobi Investor Meeting which we had investors who
> are managing funds in excess of $11m and have invested in companies like
> Cellulant, Software Technologies and Kencall; in Nigeria end of
> this week we have a plethora of investors who are very active in the tech
> space and ditto for South Africa at the Demo Investors roundtable which
> happens there in a couple of weeks.
>
> We are engaging all these investors aswell as those who are stilltied up
> with legacy investments (property) so that we can give the startups with the
> highest potential of
> success that extra push to succeed.
>
> Hope you will be there to see Afric's best!
>
> cell: +254715964281
>
> On Sep 17, 2012 4:24 PM, "Agosta Liko" <agostal at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Spoke to Harry about this
>>
>> who are the investors ?
>>
>> which are their investments ?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 3:45 PM, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:
>>>
>>> +1 Francis.
>>>
>>> Infact my understanding is that Demo Africa is just that. This isn't
>>> about judging for competition's sake. The 'judges' are investors and
>>> companies looking for new products and services that already have traction
>>> or have a huge potential for traction.
>>>
>>> The last few years have been good for awareness and we have gained a
>>> reputation as an innovation hub. However the pipeline now needs to move
>>> towards actualizing these ideas into viable, bankable business models.
>>>
>>> Demo Africa seeks to fill part of the gap.
>>>
>>> Harry/Brian, hope I haven't put my foot in my mouth...
>>>
>>> Ali Hussein
>>>
>>> On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 1:51 PM, Francis Hook <francis.hook at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I am keen to know to what extent innovators will leverage OSS as they
>>>> make their pitches.
>>>>
>>>> I hope we will not see technology for technology's sake kind of
>>>> innovations.   We've seen some very sexy ideas develop over the years
>>>> but they do not really solve real problems or are very hard to
>>>> monetise.
>>>>
>>>> It would also be nice if we could hear of experiences of local
>>>> developers/innovators in terms of getting funding for their start ups,
>>>> how their ideas get an audience (and what reactions they get) etc.   I
>>>> gather there is a degree of wariness when it comes to showcasing ideas
>>>> and the fear that players with big pockets will take it and run with
>>>> it  (because they can afford to) or shoot it down because it could
>>>> disrupt existing business models (e.g.  cross network shared mobile
>>>> money platforms...).
>>>>
>>>> We've also heard that techies are just that - and have bright ideas
>>>> but are not good sales people or any good in biz devt.   To what
>>>> extent does DEMO address this issue?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 17 September 2012 00:47, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> > IN SUMMARY
>>>> >
>>>> > Demo Africa director Harry Hare said the event, the first to be held
>>>> > in
>>>> > Africa, presents a good chance for local innovators to move their
>>>> > businesses
>>>> > to the next level.
>>>> > Over the last five years, innovators at DEMO US have received about
>>>> > Sh297
>>>> > billion in business capital.
>>>> > Microsoft, which is sponsoring the event together with Nokia and other
>>>> > multinationals, said that the partnership is one of the best
>>>> > activities they
>>>> > have done because it will help accelerate success of entrepreneurs and
>>>> > start-ups in Africa.
>>>> >
>>>> > http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Top+brains+to+entice+global+investors/-/1006/1509036/-/ntbwhpz/-/index.html
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > _______________________________________________
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>>>> >
>>>> > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
>>>> > platform for
>>>> > people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
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>>>> > ICT
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Francis Hook
>>>> +254 733 504561
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>>>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>>>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>>>
>>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Ali Hussein
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>>
>>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>>
>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
>
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>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
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>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

-- 
Francis Hook
+254 733 504561