In June 2010, I had the pleasure of presenting at Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media (GFEM)'s first Conversation. My task was to comment on the state of/ future of media, technology, and access to information on the continent. A fairly sizable task to accomplish in a 10-minute presentation. The best part about the opportunity was that not only was I able to talk about the state of technology on the continent, but I was able to actually demonstrate it. I was fortunate enough to be in Kampala and have access the Appfrica Labs/Hive Colab working spaces. There was adequate bandwidth for me to do the presentation over Skype using screen share.

1. http://projectdiaspora.org
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2. The Empowered Billion
technology + media in Africa
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3. 3
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4. London
England
Marseille
Vigo France
Spain
Sesimbra
Portugal
Asilah
Morocco
a d s
vist slan
Altanary I
Ca Fujairah
ia
an
United Arab
rit
Emirates
au
M
on tow ie, iss ia ega tt,
o
Mumbai
ee ak a-B m en ch
l
Port Sudan India
on e a S ak
Sudan
C uin e G kar, ou
N
ne
n, G au
b
ia Leo
er ea
Massiwa
Si n
me ana e
G Th a
ui
Eritrea
ir
ib ra
D
pe Verde
ra,G D'Ivo
er
Cochin
r
n
o
ni
og
India
ote
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Be eria
h
Djibouti
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via
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no , N eri
a n
ro
Fr
to gos rou
Nig
ija
me
Acc
Lo
o a a
C L y,
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M
nn ,C
Bo ala
D ou
Mogadishu
bon Somalia
, Ga
e vile
Libr
Mombasa
Kenya
Pointe Noir, Congo
Dar Es
Salaam
Tanzania
Cacua
co,Ang
ola
Lua
nda
,An
gola
Tamatave
Madagascar
Baie du Jacobet
Mauritius
Maputo St Paul
Mozambique Reunion
Mtunzini
South Africa
Melkbosstrand
South Africa
African Undersea Cables (2011)
http://manypossibilities.net/african-undersea-cables
Version 17 - Jul 2009
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5. London
England
Marseille
Vigo France
Sub-Saharan Cables
Spain
Sesimbra
Portugal
Gigabits
SAT3/SAFE
Asilah
Morocco
340
a ds
vist slan
Altanary I
a Fujairah
ia
C
TEAMS
an
United Arab
1280
rit
Emirates
au
M
on tow ie, iss ia ega tt,
o
Mumbai
ee ak -B m en ch
l
Port Sudan India
Fr on ea a S ak
Sudan
C uin e G kar, ou
N
e
on
SEACOM
via , S uin u
b
, L ier ea
n G a
1280
ria Le
Massiwa
Lo ,Ghana oire
G Th a
Eritrea
ibe ra
D
ape Verde
v
D'I
Cochin
r
in
o
n
og
India
te
Be ria Djibouti
,T
,Co
u, ige
no , N
me
a un
ra
eri
ro
ijan
to gos Nig ero
Acc
Co La am
Lion
ny, la, C
Ab
M
Bo
n
Do
ua
n
Mogadishu 1300
abo Somalia
e, G
evil
Libr
Mombasa
EASSy 1400
Kenya
Pointe Noir, Congo
Dar Es
Salaam
Tanzania
Cacua
co,Ang
ola
Lua
ACE
nda
1920
,An
gola
Tamatave
Madagascar
Baie du Jacobet
Mauritius
MaIN OnE 1920
Maputo St Paul
Mozambique Reunion
Mtunzini
South Africa
Melkbosstrand
South Africa
African Undersea Cables (2011)
GLO-1 2500
http://manypossibilities.net/african-undersea-cables
Version 17 - Jul 2009
WACS 5120
Total Designed Cap. 17060
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6. One Billion Strong
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7. One Billion Strong
1,000,000,000
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8. One Billion Strong
1,000
1000
750
1,000,000,000
500 450
53 countries
300
250
Total Africa Under 15 US Population
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9. One Billion Strong
1,000
1000
750
“the cheetah generation”
500 450 George B.N. Ayittey
300
250
Total Africa Under 15 US Population
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10. Mobile Subscriptions
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11. Mobile Subscriptions
450,000,000
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12. Mobile Subscriptions
80
60
450,000,000 40
Mobile Subscribers
20
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
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13. Mobile Subscriptions
80
450,000,000 60
Mobile Subscribers
40
12% growth 20
through 2013
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
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14. 14
Saturday, July 10, 2010 14

15. Online Participation
15
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16. Online Participation
67,000,000
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17. Online Participation
Uganda
2.5
Rest Egypt
17.0 13.5
67,000,000 CAR
0.2
Kenya
3.4
Africans on internet SA
5.0
Zim
Nigeria 1.4
24.0
SA Zim Nigeria CAR Rest Uganda Egypt Kenya
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18. Online Participation
67,000,000 Africa
4%
Africans on internet
3.9% Rest of World
Of global internet traffic 96%
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19. The Connected Palm
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20. The Connected Palm
Within 5 years, the device
in the palm of your hand...
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21. The Connected Palm
Within 5 years, the device
in the palm of your hand... is
going to be indistinguishable
from a laptop by functionality
-Brian Herlihy
SEACOM CEO
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22. The Connected Palm
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23. The Connected Palm
Cameroon Guinea
Egypt Ivory Coast
Niger South Africa
Mauritius Kenya
Uganda Mali
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24. Innovation & Incubation Labs
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25. Innovation & Incubation Labs
Appfrica Labs Limbe Labs Banta Labs iHub
Uganda Cameroon Senegal Kenya
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26. Connectivity in action
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27. Connectivity in action
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28. Connectivity in action
28
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29. Connectivity in action
29
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30. Connectivity in action
51%
Households in SA without a single leisure book
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31. Connectivity in action
90%
of SA’s urban youth have access to a mobile phone
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32. Connectivity in action
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33. Connectivity in action
10,000 reads
300 comments
1,500 ideas submitted
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34. Connectivity in action
photocredit:http://bop.nppa.org 34
Saturday, July 10, 2010 34

35. Connectivity in action
Crowdsourcing Journalism
Rise of participatory citizen reporting
photocredit:http://bop.nppa.org 35
Saturday, July 10, 2010 35

36. Connectivity in action
Crowdsourcing Journalism
Rise of participatory citizen reporting
The Ushahidi Platform allows anyone
to gather distributed data via SMS,
email or web and visualize it on a
map or timeline.
photocredit:http://bop.nppa.org 36
Saturday, July 10, 2010 36

37. Connectivity in action
Al Jazeera Vote Report India Haiti
Kenya Sudan
Congo
Vote Monitor
Atlanta Crime Maps
Wildlife Trackers
Chile Earthquake
Swineflu
photocredit:http://bop.nppa.org 37
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38. Connectivity in action
+ = Citizen Journalism
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39. Connectivity in action
Citizen Journalism … the 2009 Kampala Riots
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40. Connectivity in action
Citizen Journalism … the 2009 Kampala Riots
Government shuts down
traditional media outlets
Uganda Witness
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41. Connectivity in action
Citizen Journalism … the 2009 Nairobi Riots
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42. Steve Jobs
February 1996, Wired Magazine
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43. Steve Jobs
February 1996, Wired Magazine
“The Web is exciting for two reasons: One, it's
ubiquitous. . . And anything that's ubiquitous
gets interesting.
...There's going to be a lot more innovation, and
that will create a place where there isn't this dark
cloud of dominance.”
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44. TMS Ruge
teddy@projectdiaspora.org
Twitter: @tmsruge
Facebook: TMS Ruge
www.projectdiaspora.org
www.tmsruge.com
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