DEVELOPMENTS IN ICT
The Twinning Project’s installation of Internet in clinics and support for e-learning in health complements other exciting developments taking place across the African continent. From the humble mobile phone all the way up to a communication satellite among the stars, Africa’s uptake of information technology is increasing at an exciting pace.
On this page, we will feature innovative projects and discussions.
The One Laptop Per Child Project’s so-called $100 laptop, also known as the XO, incorporates technology and software specially developed to cope with the inhospitable conditions found in many developing nations.
The XO laptop has unique methods of conserving battery power. Its screen is lit by daylight and it uses flash memory instead of a hard drive, enabling it to have no electrically powered moving parts. The laptop is designed to be used in remote areas where electricity can be intermittent and in short supply. The developers have made prototypes of a ripcord charger (resembling a yo-yo toy) to allow children to recharge the battery by hand.
The rival Intel, Classmate, is also being distributed around the world. It is a more traditional PC than the One Laptop Per Child project’s computer. It comes with Microsoft Windows XP loaded, but can also run Linux.
photo courtesy of BBC news
The trials of One Laptop Per Child’s XO and Intel’s Classmate in Nigeria will help both organisations plan the rollout of their products. Both designs of indestructible portable computer have received a lot of media attention.
AfriGadget is a blogging site that chronicles examples of ingenuity in technology on the African continent. Simple materials are used to find practical solutions to everyday problems.
For example, one of our fellow Malawians, William Kamkwamba, is using recycled appliances to generate electricity.
- Mobile-enabled social change
Innovators are helping grass-roots activists in Africa make better use of information and communications technology in their work.
Mobile phones on sale, photo courtesy of Ken Banks
Ken Banks, founder of Kiwanja.net, applies mobile phone technology for positive social change in the developing world. He advocates that sustainable change is most likely when it is initiated from the ground up and designed to suit local needs. You can listen to him being interviewed by technology guru Jon Udell about the use of mobile phones in parts of Africa that don’t have reliable Internet access.
The Malawi Clinics Twining Project is always keen to explore different ways of empowering access to healthcare education at our twinned clinics in Malawi. Given the ever-prevalent use of mobile phones in Africa for social networking, business and education, Project Director, Dr Ron Neville, proposed the use of sms technology when the concept of twinning health clinics in Scotland and Malawi was first mooted. Work with Calico Jack had earlier established that mobile phone technology could potentially assist Scottish patients in the management of longterm treatment, such as detoxification support for opiate users and the management of asthma in young people.
However, the advice from our colleagues in Malawi was that health clinicians there would benefit most from receiving access to online resources and dialogue with regional and international peers, rather than try to implement a sophisticated system of sms record management in a foreign healthcare system. We aim to work in a sustainable and longterm way so will take things step by step.
It is interesting to follow success stories in other projects and we will continue to look to the future.
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