[kictanet] Fwd: 10 Things We're Looking Forward To In 2017

Tue Jan 10 01:13:57 EAT 2017

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Eric Mugendi - iAfrikan.com" <newsletter at iafrikan.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2017 19:56:53 +0000
Subject: 10 Things We're Looking Forward To In 2017
To: otieno.barrack at gmail.com

View the iAfrikan Weekly Digest in your browser
(http://www.iafrikan.com/iafrikan-weekly-digest-edition-142-9-january-2017-ten-things-were-looking-forward-to-in-2017/)
http://www.iafrikan.com/2014/05/14/convergence-partners-brandon-doyle/

Edition 142
Monday, 09 January 2017

>From the Editor-at-Large

Ngithemba ukuthi ningene kahle kunyaka omusha Afrika!
(https://whitezulu.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/uncibijane/)

2016 was a pretty big year for tech in Afrika, and we covered a lot of
the goings on on the continent- the ups and downs, openings and
closings, starts and ends. We had a look back at some of our biggest
stories (http://www.iafrikan.com/iafrikan-weekly-digest-edition-141-most-popular-articles-in-2016/)
 as read by you, as well as our writers' picks
(http://www.iafrikan.com/iafrikan-weekly-digest-edition-140-19-december-2016-2016-in-afrikan-tech/)
. As we start the new year, there are a number of things we are
looking forward to.

First of all, 2017 will see elections in a number of countries. Tech
powerhouses Kenya and Rwanda will have elections in August, and we are
keen to see how tech will be applied in those polls, especially given
developments elsewhere on the continent in the past year.

We are also likely to see the growing adoption of the blockchain, as
the technology gets increasingly divorced from bitcoin and finds
applications in smart contracts, digital identity management and
distributed cloud storage.

2017 will also likely see the growing adoption of drones and other
means to overcome the continent's logistical challenges, the continued
emergence of African fintech startups,

We're also going to have the Annual African Roundup later in January,
where we look back at the year that was, and chart our way forward
into the future of tech on the continent.

What do you think the (near) future holds for African tech? What are
you looking forward to? What would you like to see more of in 2017?
Talk to us at newsletter at iafrikan.com
(mailto:newsletter at iafrikan.com?subject=What%20I%27m%20looking%20forward%20to%20in%202017)

Eric Mugendi // Editor-at-Large

** Ten Things We're Looking Forward To In 2017
------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a brief list of the things we are looking forward to in 2017:

Our Annual Tech Round-Up
Yup. What better way to start things off than by looking back at how
far we've come over the past year? We will be having the iAfrikan
Annual Roundup on January 26 at Metta's flagship new space in Nairobi
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/12/05/metta-nairobis-flagship-space-for-entrepreneurs-and-innovators-is-now-open/)
. On the agenda is a series of panel discussions covering topics such
as tech education, journalism, policy and governance, and startups.
(More details to follow this week)

Bitcoin and Blockchain

With bitcoin closing 2016 at US$1000, the cryptocurrency has found
adopters in the midst of cash crises in India and Venezuela.
Blockchain, which is the ledger system that powers bitcoin, shows
promise, especially for smart contracts and record-keeping. We are
likely to see innovative uses of these technologies in the coming
year. South Africa's Reserve Bank shared a smart contract
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/11/02/south-african-reserve-bank-circulates-first-ever-smart-contract-using-private-ethereum-blockchain/)
 on the Ethereum blockchain, and Senegal launched a bitcoin-based
digital currency
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/11/24/senegal-to-introduce-a-new-blockchain-based-national-digital-currency-making-it-only-the-second-country-to-have-a-national-digital-currency/)
, and we are likely to see similar moves in 2017 as the technology
becomes more mainstream.

Drones
One of the biggest challenges in getting things safely and quickly
from one point to another on the continent is the lack of supporting
infrastructure - transport links in the form of roads and railways. In
2016, we saw the application of drones and other unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs) to deliver medical supplies and other small packages
in Rwanda (http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/10/16/rwandas-pioneering-drone-delivery-service-for-medical-supplies-finally-takes-off/)
 and Madagascar
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/10/31/with-7-out-of-10-residents-living-in-remote-rural-areas-madagascar-is-counting-on-drones-to-deliver-much-needed-medical-care/)
, and the establishment of a humanitarian air corridor dedicated to
drones (http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/12/16/the-worlds-first-dedicated-humanitarian-air-corridor-for-drones-is-being-set-up-in-malawi/)
 in Malawi.
We are likely to see further trials with this technology in 2017,
accompanied by increased investment in supporting infrastructure as
one way of overcoming these challenges.

Elections
There will be a number of polls in the coming year, among them
Angola's legislative election, Kenya's general election and Rwanda's
presidential election, all in August. The past year saw
election-related internet shutdowns in Uganda and The Gambia
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/12/01/gambia-becomes-the-latest-afrikan-country-to-shut-down-the-internet-on-election-day/)
, and already there has been much discussion
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2017/01/03/making-sense-of-kenyas-digital-election-conundrum/)
 over plans to introduce a manual backup for the technology that will
be used to run Kenya's poll.
Ghana's 2016 general election
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/12/14/ghanas-peaceful-and-digital-elections/)
 was significant because it saw the successful use of technology to
transmit results. The Electoral Commission even developed an app for
this, making the results instantly available as soon as they were
published.
The coming year is likely to see a repeat of these paradoxes - the
blocking of internet access, and the use of technology to transmit
results after polls are done.

Fintech
The African financial technology space saw much promise in 2016, with
a number of high-profile fundraising rounds by startups such as
Paystack (https://techpoint.ng/2016/12/19/paystack-raises-1-3m-seed-investment/)
 and BitPesa (http://disrupt-africa.com/2016/03/kenyas-bitcoin-startup-bitpesa-raises-funding-from-bitfury/)
. Going into 2017, we are likely to see more funding going into the
sector, as investors put money into startups fixing up the payments
ecosystem.

Governance and Technology
As e-government initiatives take hold in Africa, an increasing number
of essential services are being delivered online. We're keeping an eye
on these, and the difference they are making in our everyday lives.
One place where they can make a difference is in easing the
interaction between citizens and their governments
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/10/03/lessons-from-tanzanias-digitization-of-person-to-government-payments/)
, making it easier to access services such as registration of
businesses, acquiring essential documents, and keeping the authorities
accountable.

Hubs
A report published in 2016 stated that the number of tech hubs in
Africa had doubled
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/08/19/did-afrikas-tech-hubs-really-double-in-number-within-a-year-or-are-we-just-counting-them-differently/)
, and we asked if this was really the case. There have been a number
of closures as some hubs found it hard to keep up with the 'everything
is free' model, and the lack of proper growth models has brought this
statistic into question.
Going forward, we are seeing spaces like Nairobi's iHub adopt a more
commercial approach in order to stay open and provide a much-needed
service to the tech ecosystem. 2017 will likely see more spaces adopt
this commercial approach, as funding patterns change and startups have
to work harder to earn their keep.

Information Security
One of our biggest stories last year was about a breach
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/10/19/a-burundian-hacker-was-able-to-get-the-details-of-over-500-000-kcb-kenya-customers-through-a-vulnerability-in-the-banks-app/)
in (http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/10/19/a-burundian-hacker-was-able-to-get-the-details-of-over-500-000-kcb-kenya-customers-through-a-vulnerability-in-the-banks-app/)
 a bank's security
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/10/19/a-burundian-hacker-was-able-to-get-the-details-of-over-500-000-kcb-kenya-customers-through-a-vulnerability-in-the-banks-app/)
 that exposed customer data. As more and more of our information finds
its way online, we are seeing instances of data loss and other similar
breaches. It is clear that we need to take information security much
more seriously in 2017.

Mobile
More Africans are using mobile phones now than ever before, and
innovators are finding new and innovative ways to use the technology,
from virtual post office boxes
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/07/18/you-can-now-use-your-mobile-phone-number-as-a-virtual-post-office-box-in-kenya-2/)
in Kenya to hyperlocal weather forecasts
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/07/25/this-hyperlocal-weather-forecast-service-is-helping-afrikan-farmers-improve-their-yields/)
 for farmers in West Africa and more. 2017 will likely see more
innovations along this line, with the technology expected to further
change how we consume news, information and entertainment content.
Mobile tech continues to make an impact on the lives of Africans
everywhere, and 2017 will likely see the trend continue.

Startups
On a panel discussion at the Kenya round of the Seedstars World
startup competition, I hosted a panel discussion on the future of
African startups
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/10/17/seedstars-nairobi-panel/) . One of
the talking points was where startups could most likely thrive, and
the main areas where this could happen are in agriculture, energy,
technology and logistics, where significant gaps exist that tech could
potentially solve.
Going forward, a number of startups are trying to solve these
problems, which we have featured at some length. As we meet and talk
to these startups, one thing is clear, despite the challenges that
keep getting in their way, they are determined to solve some of the
continent's most pervasive problems, be it a need for creativity and
innovation (http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/11/14/meet-jean-claude-bastos-de-morais-whose-african-innovation-foundation-empowers-innovations-made-by-africans-for-africa/)
, collaborative brilliance
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/10/31/meet-takunda-chingonzoh-whose-belief-in-collaborative-brilliance-is-the-force-behind-zimbabwes-techvillage/)
, or opportunities to showcase their work
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2016/07/03/innovations-made-by-africans-for-africans-my-experience-in-botswana-gaborone-at-the-innovation-prize-for-africa-5th-edition/)
.
We're looking forward to finding and talking about more innovations
and startups in 2017.

** News
------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.iafrikan.com/2017/01/09/no-more-fake-news-to-sway-your-views-as-the-pants-on-fire-detector-comes-to-the-rescue/
* Nokia Is Back In The Smartphone Business, With A 5.5 Inch Device
Running Android 7 Nougat
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2017/01/08/nokia-is-back-officially-unveil-the-nokia-6-running-android-7-nougat/)
* Some Of The Most Exciting Announcements From CES 2017 So Far
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2017/01/05/some-of-the-most-exciting-announcements-from-ces-2017-so-far-2/)
* After A Successful Launch In Rwanda, Zipline's Drones Will Now Trial
Medical Deliveries In Tanzania
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2017/01/06/after-a-successful-launch-in-rwanda-ziplines-drones-will-now-trial-medical-deliveries-in-tanzania/)
* Kenya's Internet Is Largely Free From Censorship, A Five-Month Study
On Access And Online Activity Has Shown
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2017/01/04/kenyas-internet-is-largely-free-from-censorship-a-five-month-study-on-access-and-online-activity-has-shown/)
* SEACOM's Internet Insights Reveal That Video Dominates Data Traffic
In South Africa
(http://www.iafrikan.com/2017/01/05/video-dominates-data-traffic-volumes-in-south-africa-and-other-internet-insights/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)

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