Our next Mobile Monday Kampala meeting, on the theme, “Research & ideation to design & development innovation for mobile financial services: Lessons learned from the ideation process” will be a further exploration of the theme of our February meeting, with more of a focus on ideation.

We are pleased to announce that our MoMo meeting will be hosted by Google Uganda Monday 19th March from 5:30 PM. The event will be available live on G+ hangout. Thanks very much Google!

We want to learn from speakers about their companies’ experiences in discovering the needs of their clients in the mobile payments arena, by their sharing with us the learnings they gained, even through making mistakes along the way towards developing a successful product.

We are living in times where innovations are the drivers of the economies. ICT as a sector is witnessing tremendous changes and it is these changes that are shaping our economies, and lifestyles. The power of a smartphone far exceeds that of a personal computer ten years ago. The full potential that these devices have demonstrated will only be realized if we pay attention to adding value by developing applications that bring meaning to life and simplify.

The design process is at least as important as the application coding, and we must we pay attention to understanding the needs of the communities while designing these applications. The usability of the product is paramount. The design topics and issues that are to be discussed are extremely important and timely to the Uganda community.

Google Uganda
Soliz House, Lumumba Avenue
Nakasero, Kampala, Kampala
Monday, March 19, 2012 at 5:30 PM

If you missed last month’s MoMo you can see the keynote on YouTube, here’s the link for Part One. For other parts see momokla.ug, and for some context you might like to read the blog, Brave new cash-lite society, in the Latest News section.

Looking forward to seeing you at Google next Monday 19th March.

You will be glad to know that Mafuta Go won the Ringmasters Award at the Mobile World Congress Premier Awards in Barcelona.

Subsequent to Mafuta Go's having been selected by the six jurors at our MoMo Kampala AppCircus as the Uganda AppCiircus nominee, Christine Ampaire having given the three-minute elevator pitch on behalf of her team, AppCircus organizers selected Mafuta Go, out of fifty or more contenders, as one of twenty finalists to present on stage at one of the preeminent mobile events of the year, the  Premier Awards, as a prelude and opening to the Mobile World Congress.

And yesterday evening the big event was capped by Christine's accepting the Ringmaster's Award on behalf of her team in front of a thousand or more delegates, including more VIPs than you could shake a stick at! They have done Uganda proud, and no doubt a time for celebration.

“The Mobile Premier Awards is now one of the traditional highlights at MWC in Barcelona. Organized by App Circus, the event comes as the conclusion of a one-year international competition process to showcase the best apps. For the finalists, which were shortlisted among regional winners, the event came as an opportunity to pitch their project to a professional jury, the event’s organizers and to the audience, who all picked up a winner” Here's a link to the full article about the event: http://thenextweb.com/mwc/2012/02/27/the-mobile-premier-awards-announce-winners-at-mwc/  (There are links to the finalists in the article) There's a lovely photo of Christine, together with Terry Karungi on the MoMo Kampala website's photo carousel.

Thanks to all for helping to make this happen.

With kind regards, Daniel

Event: MoMo Kampala Presents: Research & ideation to design & development innovation: lessons learned

Dear MoMo Kampala Delegate,

On behalf of Mobile Monday Kampala I would like to thank you for contributing to making our MoMo Kampala meeting, Research & ideation to design and development innovation: lessons learned another truly memorable event.

Thanks to our Chair, Sean Paavo Krepp, Grameen Foundation Uganda Country Director who did a superb job of moderating the meeting, and to Sean and the AppLab team who played a major role in organizing the event.  Thanks to Victoria University, their Executive Director, Simo S Dubajic, for hosting at a most inspiring venue with every facility, and thanks to Orange Uganda for sponsoring the delicious catering, by Endiro Coffee and supplying the Orange Internet everywhere to over 170 delegates.  Thanks to Media 256, Isaac Oboth, for sponsoring the filming of the meeting, thanks also to SMS Media for their fantastic reception crew who welcomed delegates and handed out the MoMo name tags, thanks also to Mountbatten for sponsoring the hosting of MoMoKla.ug, and to Joseph Owino and Douglas Onyango our webmasters.  And thanks also to Yo Uganda and UGO for their continued sponsorship and support.

We are grateful for the warm welcome extended to delegates by Victoria University’s Vice Chancellor, Dr David Young, and we extend hearty thanks to our Guest of Honour, the Honourable Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, Uganda’s Minister for ICT, for opening the meeting and giving opening remarks that set the scene. 

I am sure you will agree that it was an exhilarating evening, with a scintellating keynote address given by frog founder and Strategy Director, Ravi Chhatpar, who was visiting Uganda from Shanghai,and a fine presentation on Design in Service Delivery by Design without Borders’ Project Manager Kristoffer Leivestad-Olson, who had come from Oslo, Norway, at –20 degrees Celsius, with the fifty degree difference in climate it was quite an abrupt change and challenge.

I am glad to announce that the Programme for our Design and Develop MoMo, with bios of speakers, together with presentation slides, and photos on our carousel, have been available since almost a week, and quite pleased to announce that the keynote address is available on YouTubeYouTube of MoMo Kampala Design & Develop Keynote with Ravi Chhatpar.  Congratulations to Isaac Oboth and the Media 256 team for an amazing job of putting together the film.  Have a look.

Part One: http://youtu.be/rLROaMLXIYs

Part Two: http://youtu.be/n-0DOtBk_BQ

Part Three: http://youtu.be/VdhhjKf4-hk

Visit www.momokla.ug for more details.

We are organizing our next MoMo on a mobile financial services theme, for March so keep your ear to the ground.  Apropos of which you should be able to get a foretaste if you look in the February edition of Dispatch.ug under Technology or Business.

If you or your company would like to sponsor or host a Mobile Monday Kampala event please don't hesitate to contact us.

Best to all, Daniel

The Women in Uganda Technology (WITU) initiative cordially invites you to the Feb 2012 meeting at Makerere University Faculty of CIT Block B. We have amazing women in Technology who will be sharing their experiences working in this male dominated field.

Theme:  Ugandan Women in Technology: Opportunities and Challenges

To register:  http://wituopportunitieschallenges.eventbrite.com/

We want to tackle the opportunities and challenges Technology has in store for women, how we can explore these and solve challenges to increase the number of women tech entrepreneurs in Uganda. To this effect we have lined up amazing women to share their experiences:

Rosebell Kagumire a multimedia journalist and human rights activist from Channel 16 who will be talking about Women and Media;

Eunice Namirembe of Text to Change, an ICT4D specialist, will talk about the Opportunities of Mobile Technology for Women;

Evelyn Namara, an entrepreneur & programmer, working with Solar Sister, will share her experience from AfNOGChix about Training Women in Technology;

Esther Akello from BoU, who is so passionate about information security, will share with us about What it Means to Work in a Male Dominated Profession.

Last but not least is our very own Google Ambassador and Christine Ampaire, who will tell her how she made it to the top with Mafuta Go.

Background and history of WITU: Barbara Birungi

Session moderators: Maureen Agena & Lynn Kirabo

Come with a friend and share your ideas and have some questions answered.  This is how we grow our visibility in the tech field.

Contact: Barbara Birungi - birungibarbs@appfrica.org

Maureen Agena - agenamaureen@gmail.com

To register:  http://wituopportunitieschallenges.eventbrite.com/

Our next Mobile Kampala meeting, on the theme, “Mobile innovation in emerging markets: lessons learned for the innovation process – from research and ideation to design and development” is to be hosted by Victoria University Monday 6th February from 5:30 PM, and will opened by Uganda’s Minister for ICT, Hon Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, and chaired by Grameen Foundation Uganda’s Country Director, Sean Krepp. Orange Uganda are sponsoring the catering during the informal networking hour as well as the Internet Everywhere, distributed to delegates by WiFi.

We are organizing the meeting with a focus on design & development, around the visit to Uganda by frog founder, Ravi Chhatpar (see bio below), who will give the keynote.

Presentations will be given in the context of “The future of mobile innovation: A point of view on what’s next for mobile based on emerging hardware, software, interaction, and behavioral phenomena and what it will take to innovate successfully in this new world”

Formal presentations and Q&A will end around 7:30. After that we have informal networking between members of the speakers panel and delegate, accompanied by snacks and refreshments.

We are looking forward to a special event to start the new year, and we would welcome your participation. Please Register in Advance Here.

Kind regards, Daniel

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Brief Bio – Ravi Chhatpar – Strategy Director, frog

Ravi Chhatpar is the founder and Strategy Director of frog Shanghai. He came to China five years ago to start frog’s Asian operations, after originally spending a few years at frog New York. He is currently in the process of moving to Johannesburg to build frog’s innovation offering in Africa.

His primary focus is innovation strategy – bringing strategic thinking to multinational clients who are looking for disruptive opportunities for growth and transformation. As a leader of frog‘s innovation strategy discipline, much of his work emphasizes enriching frog’s intellectual capital and innovation methodologies. He draws particular inspiration from immersion in new consumer and business cultures, and spends much of his time traveling the world as a result.

His client portfolio includes broad experience with Fortune 100s and global multinationals across verticals, including consumer electronics, technology, mobile, consumer goods, automotive, healthcare, media, and financial services.

He speaks regularly on topics related to innovation, growth, and design management at conferences and forums worldwide, teaches at business schools and universities, and has authored publications for the Harvard Business Review and the Design Management Institute.

Before frog, Ravi split his career between Tokyo and New York, working at start-ups, as a management consultant, and in private equity.

Ravi has an AB in Biology and Economics from Harvard University.

You are cordially invited to attend Mobile Monday Kampala’s next meeting to be hosted by Cavendish University on Monday 24th October starting at 6 PM, on the theme, The Hacker Expo: Creativity, and Passion at its BEST!  MoMo will showcase the creators of some of the outstanding products that were developed during the Garage48 and Water Hackathon.  (For more information about the Water Hackathon see a copy of the announcement below.)

Try to put yourself in their shoes.  What would you ordinarily do with a great idea you had in 48hours? Nothing much in terms of product development; most probably idea generation and that’s about it! Well not with the Hackathon events, also termed as “pressure cooker” for software development. In the recent past Kampala hosted the Garage48 where ideas were transformed into products within 48hours. Eleven incredible products came to life in 48 hours. The weekend of 22-23 October 2011 Kampala will host another hackathon event, this time specifically targeting developing apps for water. The best description for Hackathon events is creativity and passion at its best!

MoMoKla is pleased to announce The Hacker Expo, where the Hackers will showcase their products. Come and interact with some of the most imaginative brains in the Industry as they inspire us. This will be one of a kind event that will allow hackers form the panel of experts as they share their passion for product development. The discussion will be moderated by experienced mentors who will keep you involved throughout the event.

Cavendish University
Nsambya Plot 1469 Ggaba Road
(Opposite American Embassy)
Kampala, Uganda
Monday, October 24, 2011 at 6:00 PM

Come have fun as you experience creativity and passion at its best.

Note:  I apologize for the delay in getting this invitation to you.  Mitigating circumstances included the want of electricity and Internet in the up country villages where I had been working until yesterday evening.   Please allow yourself time to arrive at the venue opposite the American Embassy.

I look forward to enjoying a stimulating Monday evening with you all!

Kind regards, Daniel

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Water Hackathon at Makerere University

Makerere University College of Computing and Informations Sciences is pleased to announce the first Water Random Hackathon Event supported by the Worldbank. *About the Water Hackathon Event* Lack of water and adequate sanitation daily threatens the lives of millions. Developments in information and communications technology can have an impact in making water more accessible and more sustainable and safer for the world’s people.

WaterHackathon is the first event of its kind—a global gathering of water experts with technologists for an intensive weekend dedicated to creating ICT solutions to water challenges. In addition to Kampala, WaterHackathon will simultaneously be taking place in [Bangalore, Cairo, Kampala, London, Nairobi, Tel Aviv and Washington D.C.] Water experts are working with local communities to define some of the most pressing water challenges in each of those cities.

Programmers, software engineers and data specialists are then teaming up to put their technical skills to work mashing up data, building on open source technology platforms and developing apps that respond to those challenges, which the water sector can then put to use on the ground to aid the communities that need them. Please join Makerere University CoCIS on October [22nd and 23rd] to share your skills and expertise at WaterHackathon Kampala. Details & Registration Here

These are presentation slides for the Mobile Monday Event on 29th August 2011.

The Theme was about: "Using Innovative Approaches to Improve Health Outcomes At the Community Level"

Steve Ollis Project Manager, D-Tree: "Using mobile phones to improve quality at the point of care"

Pau Varela, Lead Programmer, eMOCHA, JHMI: "Using Mobile Technologies to assist Community Health Workers on the Field"

Eunice Gnay Namirembe, Programme Manager, TextToChange Uganda: "Measuring impact of using mobile interventions to improve health at community level"

Jill Shemin, Partnership Development Specialist, Grameen Foundation AppLab: "MOTECH: Mobile Technology for Community Health in Ghana"

Flavia Mpanga, Health Specialist, UNICEF: "Integrated Community Case Management: A Ugandan Perspective"

Read more...

You are cordially invited to attend Mobile Monday Kampala’s next monthly meeting, on the theme, “Using Innovative Approaches to Improving Health Outcomes at the Community Level”, to be hosted by UNICEF Uganda at their headquarters in Kampala on Monday 29 August 2011. 

Representatives from five United Nations, government and non-government organizations will be invited to present broad findings from some of the most innovative projects in the region, covering everything from Community Case Management to Nutrition and Maternal Health. Presentations will not focus on the specific technologies or tools used, or even serve as a summary of a specific intervention, but instead discuss the larger programmatic approach, challenges and outcomes of each intervention as they generally apply to the event theme. Please download the entire programme here.

Opening Remarks Dr Isaac Ezaati, Director Health Services Planning & Development, MoH

Chair Sean Blaschke, Technology for Development Coordination Unit, UNICEF

Steve Ollis Project Manager, D-Tree

“Using mobile phones to improve quality at the point of care”

Pau Varela, Lead Programmer, eMOCHA, JHMI

“Using Mobile Technologies to assist Community Health Workers on the Field”

Jill Shemin, Partnership Development Specialist, Grameen Foundation AppLab

“MOTECH: Mobile Technology for Community Health in Ghana”

Eunice Gnay Namirembe, Programme Manager, TextToChange Uganda

“Measuring impact of using mobile interventions to improve health at community level”

Flavia Mpanga, Health Specialist, UNICEF

“Integrated Community Case Management: A Ugandan Perspective”

Each presenter will also be asked to describe candidly one significant mistake and discuss lessons learned based on this that other organizations can apply. The presentations will be followed up an interactive panel, where attendees can interact directly with the panelists, followed by informal networking.

The event will be held on the UNICEF 5th Floor Conference Room, start promptly at 5.30pm and end by 8pm. This event is RSVP only. Registered delegates are kindly requested to bring ID to gain entrance. To participate, please register at  http://momokampalamhealthoutcomes.eventbrite.com/

Event: The role of mobiles in reaching farmers in the last mile

Dear MoMo Kampala Delegates,

Thank you for contributing to making our MoMo Kampala meeting last Monday, on "The role of mobiles in reaching farmers in the last mile", one of our best events yet!  With 220 delegates registered the MTN Nyonyi Gardens conference room was just about bursting at the seams!

I would again like to thank Sean Paavo Krepp for his excellent chaimanship and moderation of the speaker's panel; and thank the speakers for their splendid presentations, Richard Mwami, Head Public Access and Mobile Money, MTN Uganda, "Mobile Money Payments with WFP"; Robert Kintu, Managing Director, FIT Uganda, "Creating Sustainable Farmer Services with Mobile Technologies"; Geresom Okecho, Senior Program Officer Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, NAADS, "Mobile Application in Agricultural Extension in Uganda"; and Like Kyohere, Technology Manager, Grameen Foundation, "What Farmers Can Teach Us About Mobile Application Development".  Were ever world class discourses presented on so wide a range of relevant and timely agricultural issues so clearly and succinctly?!  And of course those four talks stimulated a high level of engagement, discussion and interaction between delegates during the Q&A session, that carried on into the informal networking. Would you agree that a jolly good time was had by all?

The Programme, with Speakers Bios and Photos, with their Presentation Slides are available on the website,momokla.ug, together with some beautiful photos from the event in the carousel.

Thanks to Allan and the MoMo Kampala website team for keeping us up-to-date.

I would like to thank our hosts, Grameen Foundation Uganda AppLab, and MTN Uganda for helping us put the event together and for providing the lovely Nyonyi Gardens venue and facilities.Thanks to Sean and the AppLab team, Lydia Namubiru and Fiona Byarugaba for managing the logistics. Thanks also to Fenix Intl for sponsoring the catering generously, supplied by Flamin' Chicken.   Thanks also go to sponsors, SMS Media and team, including Oscar Byamugisha for holding reception, together with Lisa Stern, also Yo! Uganda for their continued support, and Orange Uganda who again provided the Internet Everywhere WiFi through their Flybox system.  Speaking of systems, thanks to our volunteer electronics engineers for sorting out the PA system just in time!

Thanks also go to Evelyn Namara, who has kindly accepted to be Press Officer for MoMo Kampala, and who lined up television coverage for the event.  We’ve been told that our Role of mobiles in reaching farmers meeting was shown on some of the news programmes on Tuesday and Wednesay; thanks also to the media for covering the event, including our Tweeters, bloggers and Facebook contributors.

Thanks again, one and all, for helping to make this last MoMo event one of the best ever.

Our next MoMo Kampala is set to be held last part of August and will re-visit mHealth projects, so stay tuned. Check out the Latest News section on momokla.ug for updates.  Apropos of which check out the Guardian article, Africa's mobile economic revolution.

If you or your company would like to sponsor or host a MoMo Kampala event please don't hesitate to contact us.

With kind regards, on behalf of MoMo Kampala, Daniel

You can download the slides on the links below:

1. Robert Kintu - Managing Director, FIT Uganda, Market Information Systems
Creating Sustainable Farmer Services with Mobile technologies

2. Geresom Okecho - Senior Program Officer Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, NAADS
Mobile Application in Agricultural Extension in Uganda

3. Richard Mwami - Head Public Access & Mobile Money, MTN Uganda, Mobile Poverty Transfers
Mobile Money Payments with WFP

4. Luke Kyohere - Technology Manager, Grameen Foundation
Smartphones in Last Mile Agriculture