Today I had the pleasure to meet Mads Kjaer, the Founder and the CEO of MyC4. Please see my interview with him. This interview was taken with the Flip Video and shows yet again the power of mobile reporting.
Visit the MyC4 website Here
See the entry for Mobile Reporting on Wikipedia
See more background on Mobile Reporting
Posted in civic journalism, Media, Mobile Reporting
Tagged Africa, Ebay, Entrepreneur, Equity, Invest, Kiva, Mads Kjaer, Micro Finance, Microplace, Mobile Phone, Mobile Reporting, MyC4, Online Community, Social Enterprise
I have started a new entry on Mobile Reporting.
Mobile Reporting is a trend emerging in the field of news and content generation. The term describes the use of a mobile phone as a reporting tool. The user makes use of text, photo and video capability to produce a multimedia based report. The content is edited on the phone before being uploaded to the internet via mobile network or Internet connection. Content produced via mobile reporting is often used for publishing to the web. This is particularly the case with video, as mobile phones available on the market do not yet allow for the production of high end video. However, the low quality that is available is suitable for Internet.
Mobile reporting is particularly relevant in areas that lack modern Internet infrastructure (Sub Sahara Africa, Central Asia, South American, Latin America). The mobile phone is low in cost when compared to more traditional reporting equipment.
Feel free to help me expand the entry: click here
We are working to give journalist in Africa advanced mobile phones / small digital recorders (i.e. the flip video). The local journalist use these tools to produce reports in their area and use the mobile and internet network to publish the content to http://www.AfricaNews.com. We are now working to engage 300 individuals spread across 33 African countries.
How does it work ? Watch this short video.- We build and maintain AfricaNews.com
– We work to identify and engage individuals for the network
– We work to provide members with as many reporting tools as we can afford
– We have developed training materials that help improve the quality of the reports
– Our editorial team in Accra work to train, guide and coach the contributors on a daily basis
– etc.
One way we generate income is via our “Really Simple Reporting” program. For a reasonable fee, organizations can commission their own mobile reports. We put together a briefing on a project, event or theme and send this out to one of the local journalist in the field. They can then make a visit to the location and collect the necessary text, photo and video. The report is then uploaded and edited before we send it off to the client. Our partner organizations use these mobile reports for their own websites, newsletters and other communication. These reports are often used in the effort to better communicate with stakeholders – the partners, clients and donors that would be interested in knowing more about what is happening on the ground.
In this way we can help make a career in media more sustainable.
Flip Video has introduced the new Mino. I have been waiting for this model to come out for some time. The added memory is a big plus and the new version boosts an improved recorder. This is great for reporting on the road. Unfortunately, it is not possible to buy these in Europe and I have had to ship one from the United States.
I look forward to trying it out on my trip to Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. Look forward to updating this post with some examples.
Free eye surgery in Lusaka Clinic
Photo’s and text by Harrison Tuntu in Lusaka, Zambia. This article is made possible in partnership with LG.
A team of Korean eye doctors was in Zambia at the Lusaka Eye Clinic to conduct free eye surgery services to 50 patients. “I could not see, but after the operation I regained my sight.”
The operational team of 16 consisted of two doctors, three nurses and one optician, while the rest were volunteers.The program commenced on Wednesday May 14th and came to a close on Friday the 16th of May. 50 Zambian patients were successfully operated. Doctors Cho Jeong Ik said most of patients at the eye clinic had the same problem, although the cause varied. He explained that the team was conducting a surgical removal of the Cataract from the eye.
“I regained my sight”
Mr. James Kameta, a Zambian citizen, said he was blind and had to be aided to reach the Lusaka Eye Clinic. He explained that he had struggled with eye problems from the year 1980 and suspected the problem had been caused by high blood pressure and diabetes.
Mr. Kameta said he even went as far as Tanzania to access treatment but could not continue as he did not have enough funds. He was glad that the team of Korean Doctors treated him free of charge and commended them saying they were professionals. “I could not even feel any pain when these people were conducting the operation on me. I could not see but after the operation, I regained my sight,” he said.
Dr Jeong noted that eye problems were a source of concern not only in Zambia but Africa as a whole, hence the need to address the problem. According to Dr Jeong, his team decided to put up free eye camps in Zambia as part of its program to help people with eye problems in the Southern Africa region. He explained that there were two groups of which one went to Swaziland and Mozambique while the second one is the one that was in Zambia.
Initially, the program was meant to commence on Monday, the 12th May but was delayed as the Zambian authorities had not yet awarded the doctors a permit. The team which targeted about 100 people failed to reach the target due to the delay but successfully managed to operate 50 people. Nonetheless, in addition to the 50 patients operated on by the Korean Doctors, Zambian doctors performed operations as well, bringing the number to a total of 112.
Three Zambian doctors participated in the exercise namely Michael Stewart, Eustace .A. Penniecook and Sydney Mwala. Dr Penniecook expressed gratitude to the team of Korean doctors whom he said were very professional. “They have done a very good job and we are grateful to them. They have different techniques and we hope to learn from them”, he said.
Commenting on the gravity of eye problems in the country, Dr Pennicook said very few people were able to access treatment before the condition worsened as they are ignorant. He explained that in countries such as the United States of America, in a population of 1 million people, at least, 4000 were able to access treatment while in countries like Zambia, less than 2000 people are able to access treatment in a population of 1 million.
The operations were funded by two organizations namely the Standard Chartered First Bank and the LG Electronics. However, some of the volunteers also made contributions to help in the smooth flow of the programme. The team could not state whether or not it would come back to Zambia for a follow up but expressed gladness that the operations it had carried had proved successful.
Mr. Samson Chibuluma an 84 years old Zambian who was operated on said he started having eye problems in 2004 and accessed treatment but his other eye got affected.
Mr. Chibuluma said the problem affected his sight and was not able to see properly but was cured by the Korean doctors.
We are pleased to announce that the report and photos were made by our local team in Zambia. Way to go guys !
Posted in Africa Interactive, AfricaNews.com, Mobile Reporting
Tagged Africa, Africa Interactive, AfricaNews.com, Free Eye Care, LG, Lusaka, Mobile Reporting, Zambia
Innovative ideas emerge to light Africa
Ezuah Kofi Blay in Accra, Ghana
The Lighting Africa conference held in Accra, Ghana on May 6th and 7th 2008, focused on finding solutions for the electricity problem in rural Africa.
Part of this event was the Development Marketplace Grant Competition where contestants could file innovative ideas to solve the energy problems in Africa. Three of the twenty winners of the competition explain about their lighting-projects in this video.
Please see the video and let us know what you think !
Lighting Africa Video
We are pleased to announce the video was both produced and edited in Accra.
We are pleased to announce that our mobile reporting initiative, Voices of Africa, has been nominated as an Honoree for this years Webby Awards.
Other nominees include:
ABC News Mobile
http://wireless.go.com/wireless/
CBS Mobile News mobile site
http://wap.cbsnews.com
FOX Business
http://m.foxbusiness.com/
MTV WAP site
http://wap.mtv.com
South China Morning Post
http://mobile.scmp.com
Time.com
http://mobile.time.com/
VH1 WAP site
http://wap.vh1.com
And our own:
Voices of Africa
There are so many projects in so many different countries. All of these projects need to show the world what kind of progress is being made on the ground.
For example, a local project director, who has received international support, can now show people what is happening in short video, photo and text. This content can be collected via an internet enabled mobile phone and published to the internet on a daily basis – possibly in the form of a mobile weblog.
This process has enormous potential. The more regular and constant the flow of information the more insight and understanding people have for local projects. This could become especially relevant for micro finance.
Imagine a platform where entrepreneurs present themselves online. With the use of mobile reporting, local entrepreneurs can present their business on a daily basis. They can show people when new supplies arrive, when a product is finished or when they have a new employee join the team. They can highlight the challenges for their business and help viewers share in the celebrations.
The more information posted online the more people around the world can live in the experience. This process helps people appreciate local conditions and builds emotional attachment. At the same time, it makes it easier for people to get involved – people invest when they know where their money is going.
The possibilities are endless.
The post election period in Kenya has seen a number of violent crimes take place. In trying to monitor the situation there are a number of initiatives working to document events on the ground.
The aim is to not only have a better understanding of what has/is happening but to see how we can spread the information.
Erik let me know about a new website called Ushahidi.com (witness in Swahili).
The people involved in putting it together:
Ory Okolloh – www.kenyanpundit.com
David Kobia – www.kobiainteractive.com & www.mashada.com
Erik Hersman – www.whiteafrican.com
Daudi Were – www.mentalacrobatics.com/think
Juliana Chebet – www.afromusing.com/blog
Ashok Hariharan
Riyaz Bachani – www.skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com
This is certainly a useful tool so please pass the word.
I also extend my compliments to the team.
Zia505 