Don't get thrown out the window!

Living in the technology arena, you are very likely to find yourself suffering from an identity crisis. And sure enough at its core this is not a new problem, however I felt it was worth highlighting. There is a fallacy among many in this arena that the latest frameworks are always the greatest. Maybe what is needed here is the discipline of knowing how to separate the immediate requirement of delivering a solution from your always eager curiosity.

Knowing that I am an “IT-guy” friends and associates often approach me asking for a website, or my favourite an APP. If I had a dollar for every time I was approached by someone who had an idea for an app, I surely would have managed to pay for a couple of fancy dinners by now. The issues with this are:

1. An app is not a business, before commissioning the development of an app it is important to make sure that you have clarified your business model.

2. Just because there is a valid business case, it does not always follow that it is best delivered with the latest technology.

As an example USSD is a powerful tool (which I am looking into quite keenly), that is used extensively in developing markets, but often taken in contempt. Some great illustrations for application of this technology in solving real issues are Wikipedia over USSD, and AskMama. Oh, and your mobile banking you did this morning.

Now sure enough there are some exceptions to the above, but if you think that you are an exception chances are you’re not. So what can the average South African do to help build this nation even if you do not have the required technical aptitude? Well before approaching a developer asking for an app (and also to avoid getting thrown out the window), try this: 

1.  Do some basic testing to prove the validity of the need that you seek to address. Some tools for this are the Business Model Canvas and Effectuation.  
2. When you do approach your Technologist, say to them “I have noticed that there is a Problem/Need…I know this because…I would like your help to build a solution.

You know, in the same way that you go to a GP and describe the symptoms and leave it up to them to prescribe a remedy.

It takes a whole nation to build an economy. So don’t be shy to apply yourself.

Social networks and society

The world has been taken over by the sticky web, no not the world wide web that has been around for a while now. The web of social media/social networks.

In recent months articles from all around the tech world and even the mainstream news channels all praised the role that Facebook, Twitter and the like have played in the movements that we have seen in the Arab nations of northern Africa.

On Saturday 9 July 2010 we saw the introduction of a new state the 54^th member of the African continent. South Sudan clearly faces many challenges amongst them are the splitting of revenue from the southern oilfields, poor health care and education.

So I ask the question what role can social media play in meeting the challenges that face a new born nation. Think back to South Africa 17 years ago. Had there been such well established social media platforms how would the transition been better informed or possibly hampered (considering that any one is free to publish their opinion even those that are sceptics or resistant to the change).

No doubt, these platforms are only as strong as the infrastructure that they are built upon. On a continent like Africa where broadband costs are said to be amongst the highest in the world, and where many rely on cellphones to access the internet we can clearly see that if South Sudan is to benefit from social media it will need mobile operators that can not only offer the promise of stable and affordable voice services but the same must be said of the data service.

As the democracy is established the boarders are likely to open up to volunteer and humanitarian aid groups that might have previously been disallowed or even the philanthropist that might have feared to work in a more turbulent pre-democracy Sudan.

All these groups I believe would benefit from a structured system to which they can affiliate and have access to real time information about where the greatest needs are at any point in time. The benefit of social media is that it also removes elements of bias or propaganda that might be found in your traditional news sources.

Of-course all this requires time and hard capital. Mobile operators will want to be sure that if they invest their money towards building and supporting this infrastructure they will get returns as they need to account to their shareholders. Facebook and Twitter are wonderful resources but I believe that a more dedicated platform is needed. Even with Opensource software it would require time to set up dedicated social networks, these networks can not promise to give the same relative yields as mainstream networks. There is a need for the “digital philanthropist”.