In an increasingly digitized world, cultivating a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) mindset is crucial to mint a new generation of makers who understand unmet global needs. One partnership is looking to do that by building bridges between U.S. and southern African kids to give STEM skills a boost. Using after-school programs or “clubs,” […]
‘Design Squad Global’ Hooks Up US, Africa Kids in STEM Exchange
Posted March 11th, 2016 at 11:05 am (UTC-5)
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Google Joins UNICEF Against Zika; African Tech Goes Global
Posted March 3rd, 2016 at 11:35 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Google Combats Zika Virus With Expanded Search Results, Mapping Tool Partnering with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Google Thursday announced a grant of $1 million to help the agency fight the Zika virus in Brazil. Google is also launching new initiatives to enhance Zika search results and maps to provide more […]
Worldreader Pushes Digital Literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa
Posted February 12th, 2016 at 10:25 am (UTC-5)
Mobile technology has put digital books in the hands of people in developing regions who otherwise have limited reading resources. But millions of schoolchildren in places like Africa still have few or no books to help them develop reading and writing skills. Worldreader aims to change that. Focusing mainly on Sub-Saharan Africa, Worldreader is a non-profit […]
Internet of Things Devices Still Not Secure; AI Pioneer Minsky Dies
Posted January 26th, 2016 at 11:30 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Forrester: Internet of things Security Years Away From Being Fully-baked A new report from Forrester Research expresses alarm that the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem has glossed over user security while focusing on analytics and growth. The research, based on 27 companies, says security standards are still non-existent and integration issues between […]
Nigerians Take to Mobile for Better Media Content
Posted November 27th, 2015 at 10:00 am (UTC-5)
As Nigeria’s mobile penetration continues to grow, more Nigerians are turning to smartphones and other mobile devices to get their choice of videos, entertainment and news, anytime, anywhere. Nigerians love their videos, particularly music videos. But only one-third of their viewing time is spent on television screens. More often, they prefer to watch videos on […]
Sub-Saharan Africa Increasingly Going Mobile
Posted November 20th, 2015 at 11:00 am (UTC-5)
Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to reach 100 percent mobile penetration by 2021, with smartphone subscriptions accounting for nearly 95 percent of the region’s mobile data traffic. The region will see “a significant shift to mobile broadband” in the next few years as more people look to mobile devices for Internet content and data-intensive apps, said […]
Mobile Consumes Teen Generation; Emoji Makes 2015 Word of the Year
Posted November 17th, 2015 at 11:30 am (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: I’m 15 and I Can’t Look Up From My Phone Mobile devices and their various apps are sucking in a whole generation of teenagers. Writer Ruby Karp notes how young people easily grab their smartphones in the middle of a social gathering or a conversation because they don’t know how to be […]
Mobile Payments Gaining Ground, But Hold on to Your Wallet
Posted October 23rd, 2015 at 12:03 pm (UTC-5)
Mobile payment systems like Apple Pay are gaining users, but security concerns might mean you’ll have to hang onto your credit cards and cash for the time being. While mobile payments still make up only a small fraction of online transactions, their use is growing quickly. That presents a moving target in terms of assessing […]
Satellite Internet; Twitter’s Cultural Footprint; Windows 10
Posted October 6th, 2015 at 3:35 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Zuckerberg: Facebook Will Deliver ‘Internet From Space’ to Africa Facebook’s internet.org and satellite operator Eutelsat Communications will launch a satellite next year to deliver broadband Internet services to rural communities in Africa. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in his blog that the company will work with local providers to help communities access the […]
Facebook in Africa; Popemoji; More Apps, Less TV; Apple Stylus
Posted September 10th, 2015 at 3:40 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Facebook Rakes in Users in Nigeria, Kenya; Eyes Rest of Africa Twenty million users and counting now use Facebook in Nigeria and Kenya, according to the social network giant’s latest statistics. The majority of these users access their account on mobile devices. Facebook’s active African users, most of whom are in North […]