3G is a game changer.
As I mentioned in my last post, new technologies are being introduced primarily by the mobile service providers. And for as much as I’m developing bits and pieces of software, my research is to introduce these technologies to the healthcare service providers (HSPs), to educate them on their use, and to [...]
Posts under ‘ICTD’
Orange You Glad You Have 3G?
Entrepreneurship in Uganda
I’ve always thought that Africa was full of entrepreneurs – thousands of people eking out a living in container stores and markets selling goods a minimal profit, so they can support their families, send their kids to school, and, in general, survive.
Now, there’s clearly a difference between the startups of Silicon Valley that get venture [...]
Bringing ICTs and Solar to Rural Uganda
Claim Mobile Part Deux: We’ve set up netbooks and phones in three clinics so far (two bundled with solar power), and we’re looking to see how the introduction of these new technologies change the management of health care information and communication between the OBA health facilities and the OBA management agency, as well as the management of health information within the OBA health facility itself.
Pyramid Schemes in Uganda: Together as One Community Project
People have long been prey to pyramid schemes all over the world, and it seems that Uganda is not an exception. (Apparently South Africa has already made pyramid schemes illegal, according to Wikipedia.) I was in my office today and I overheard my co-workers discussing a finance club, some disparaging, others curious, so I asked [...]
The Internet (or lack thereof) is driving me crazy!
Remember when we used to call the Internet the “World Wide Wait”? Sigh. The truth is that it isn’t really that Uganda as a whole doesn’t have access to the Internet but really that, depending on who your service provider is, and how much you are willing to pay, and where your geographic location is, [...]
First HealthyBaby Birth
As I have been pre-occupied with writing lectures for my class, and setting up my research, my collaborating partners at Marie Stopes International Uganda have been busy launching a new phase of the output-based aid voucher program, financing in-hospital delivery of babies, in addition to the in-clinic treatment of sexually-transmitted infections (STIs). The [...]
The Drawbacks of Having the Perfect Noise Isolating Headset in Uganda
I love my headset. I got them at Costco a few years back after months of research, and hours of pestering Joe Hall and various other friends on what kind I should get, whether noise-canceling technology was actually worth the money, etc etc etc.
The fact was that I spent a lot of time on [...]
A Socially-Responsible Amazon/Textbooks for MUST
My friend Ben pointed out Better World Books, an online bookstore that ships books worldwide for only $3.97! I did a bit of poking around, and realized that not only do they have crazy low shipping prices, but somehow their proceeds go to support literacy – specifically through World Fund, Books for Africa, Room to [...]
Ubuntu-ifying the eeePCs (Netbook Mania Part II)
(Warning: This one is for the techies)
So I mentioned before that I purchased a bunch of eeePCs to test out in the health clinics and to use in the management agencies as asyncronous web servers and health information management devices.
I suppose to some extent that in retrospect these clinics will have wanted Windows on these [...]
Netbook Mania
So one of the outcomes of my study last August is that admittedly.. people don’t want mobile phones for their health records, they want laptops. And these new netbooks – well they cost the same as these smartphones. But last August, the eeepcs had a battery life of 1.5 hours and only about [...]
