[kictanet] The role of the "open" in innovation in Africa

[Barrack Otieno]

Hi Ahmed,

We actually have an open source advocacy forum though it has not been
very active of late. The Linux Professional Association of Kenya. The
Chair is Evans Ikua. Maybe its time  to reinvigorate it.

Best Regards

On 5/18/16, Ahmed Mohamed Maawy via kictanet
<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> If we follow closely the topic of BlockChain we may stumble upon a blog
> post
> <http://bithub.co.ke/2016/05/15/the-blockchain-opportunity-in-africa-ideas-concepts-implementation/>
> by BitHub Africa with the following excerpt:
>
> *Make no mistake Bitcoin and its underlying Blockchain technology will
> disrupt the current financial order that currently has Banking institutions
> sitting at the top of the food chain. Incumbents who fail to understand and
> implement strategies risk being rendered irrelevant akin to the manner in
> which Kodak was rendered irrelevant by the advent of Digital Cameras.
> Indeed Kenyan Banks have already had a taste of this with the arrival in
> 2004 of M-Pesa the Mobile Money platform that revolutionized the way
> Kenyans transfer money and pay for services within the country. Already it
> is estimated that 40% of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Platform is transacted on
> this platform. Banks and other financial institutions will need to evolve
> once again to keep up with this global trend.*
>
> A good discussion to have is how can Open Technologies boost the adoption
> of technology and even enhance innovation in the eco-system? I think
> Microsoft also adopting Openness (Open Source Technology Development) is a
> huge statement on the potential open technology has to the future of
> innovation.
>
> This topic is broad. And BlockChain is just one small player in the
> eco-system of open services and open source products.
>
> The question we may ask is how do we as an African demographic and the
> leaders of the Technology eco-system educate and promote the potential open
> technologies (be they open source applications, or open services, etc) to
> boost the next generation of technology innovators?
>
> I would love to see this lead to the setup of an Open Source Advocacy Forum
> / Group or something. :)
>
> --
> *Ahmed Maawy*
> Executive Director - SwahiliBox / M-Power (CBO)
> Ambassador - Open Knowledge
> Director - Startup Grind Mombasa
> Software Developer - AJ+ / EveryLayer
> (KE) +254 714 960 627
> Skype: ultimateprogramer
>
> swahilibox.co.ke
> www.okfn.org <http://okfn.org/>
> startupgrind.com
> ajplus.net
> www.everylayer.com
>


-- 
Barrack O. Otieno
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