The Women in Uganda Technology (WITU) initiative cordially invites you to the Feb 2012 meeting at Makerere University Faculty of CIT Block B. We have amazing women in Technology who will be sharing their experiences working in this male dominated field.

Theme:  Ugandan Women in Technology: Opportunities and Challenges

To register: http://wituopportunitieschallenges.eventbrite.com/

We want to tackle the opportunities and challenges Technology has in store for women, how we can explore these and solve challenges to increase the number of women tech entrepreneurs in Uganda. To this effect we have lined up amazing women to share their experiences:

Rosebell Kagumire a multimedia journalist and human rights activist from Channel 16 who will be talking about Women and Media;

Eunice Namirembe of Text to Change, an ICT4D specialist, will talk about the Opportunities of Mobile Technology for Women;

Evelyn Namara, an entrepreneur & programmer, working with Solar Sister, will share her experience from AfNOGChix about Training Women in Technology;

Esther Akello from BoU, who is so passionate about information security, will share with us about What it Means to Work in a Male Dominated Profession.

Last but not least is our very own Google Ambassador and AppCircus winner Christine Ampaire, who will tell her how she made it to the top with Mafuta Go.

Background and history of WITU: Barbara Birungi

Session moderators: Maureen Agena & Lynn Kirabo

Come with a friend and share your ideas and have some questions answered.  This is how we grow our visibility in the tech field.

Contact: Barbara Birungi – birungibarbs@appfrica.org

Maureen Agena – agenamaureen@gmail.com

To register: http://wituopportunitieschallenges.eventbrite.com/

Colleagues,

We are most fortunate to have frog founder and Strategy Director visit Uganda, and giving a hands on workshop with developers, start-up entrepreneurs, senior managers.  You have probably heard about workshops that cost hundreds of dollars to attend.  This is one of them – except that Ravi is offering his services to you FOC.  You don’t want to miss this!

Daniel

In this workshop, we will learn and practice parts of the frogThink methodology, a collaborative, lateral thinking-based approach to generation of innovative product and service ideas. We will apply this approach to mobile money, exploring a few focus areas to inspire creative new ideas.

To register: http://ravichhatparideationworkshop.eventbrite.com/

Ravi Chhatpar is the founder and Strategy Director of frog Shanghai. He came to China five years ago to start frog’s Asian operations, after originally spending a few years at frog New York. He is currently in the process of moving to Johannesburg to build frog’s innovation offering in Africa.

His primary focus is innovation strategy – bringing strategic thinking to multinational clients who are looking for disruptive opportunities for growth and transformation. As a leader of frog‘s innovation strategy discipline, much of his work emphasizes enriching frog’s intellectual capital and innovation methodologies. He draws particular inspiration from immersion in new consumer and business cultures, and spends much of his time traveling the world as a result.

His client portfolio includes broad experience with Fortune 100s and global multinationals across verticals, including consumer electronics, technology, mobile, consumer goods, automotive, healthcare, media, and financial services.

He speaks regularly on topics related to innovation, growth, and design management at conferences and forums worldwide, teaches at business schools and universities, and has authored publications for the Harvard Business Review and the Design Management Institute.

Before frog, Ravi split his career between Tokyo and New York, working at start-ups, as a management consultant, and in private equity.

Ravi has an AB in Biology and Economics from Harvard University.

Yesterday Apps for Africa announced the East African winners of the 2011 edition of the apps development competition, under the Climate Change theme. The announcement was made at the Villages in Action conference in Masindi, Uganda.

The Apps4Africa Challenge began in late 2009 when several individuals, organizations, and private companies joined together to propose a competition that would reward local innovators for their ideas and projects.

Below are the winners:

1st prize of $15,000 – The Grainy Bunch by Eric Mutta (Tanzania)
The Grainy Bunch is a national grain supply chain management system that monitors the purchase, storage, distribution, and consumption of grain across the entire nation. It was developed with the understanding that selling “the effects of efficiency” to actors in the grain supply chain is much easier than selling “the effects of climate change”.

Grain is nicknamed the “white oil” which lubricates the engine of Tanzanian growth. Even short-term disturbances in its supply chain adversely affects hundreds of thousands of people. To ensure both food security and economic security for all Tanzanians, a system is required to both monitor and facilitate the supply chain of grain, from the soil to our plates.

2nd prize of $7,000 – Mkulima Bora – Stepheno Maleche, Gerry Nandwa, Joseph Onginjo and Oliver Otieno (Kenya)
Mkulima Bora enables farmers to input the type crop they wish to plant into an app, then it cross-checks meteorological data to determine if the crop is suitable given the timing and location. Mkulima improves farmer yields, saves them time, and money

3rd Prize of $3,000 – Agro Universe – Oliama Brian, Daniel Mumbere, Nabuto Josephine, Bossa Alex, Sanya Duncan, Olwenyi Victor, Kato Charles, Masaba Kizito, Kalema Moses, Namuyiga Winfrey (Uganda)
Agro Universe allows farmers with agriculture products or livestock to alert the app’s community so that they can buy and sell goods from each other. It works on both mobile and the web. The aim of Agro Universe is to create a regional marketplace where products can be sold that may have no demand in the user’s immediate area but that might in areas farther out.  Courtesy of PC Tech Magazine  More at:

http://www.pctechmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1111%3Aapps-for-africa-winners-for-east-africa-announced&catid=1%3Alatest-news&Itemid=162

Dear Colleague,

WITU is meeting this afternoon 5:30 PM, Friday 16th at the Hive Colab. Read below the Vision, Mission, Aims and Objectives of our special focus forum for Women who are interested in technology.  This meeting is focusing on apps.   .  Come share your ideas with us.

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VISION

A forum focused on finding real solutions to the long-standing problems of how to attract, retain and advance more women in the IT industry. Inspiring, leading and influencing the action to increase the number of women in IT.

MISSION

The mission is to encourage women into the IT field and help women advance their careers in technology through networking, mentoring and professional development.

OUR AIMS:

Through collaborative partnerships and alliances to:

Promote and realize the benefits of diversity in the industry to improve the recruitment and retention of women in the IT industry and IT related jobs.

Work in an open and collaborative manner to inspire, lead and influence action being taken to increase the number of women in IT.

Promote dialogue in the workplace, through the engagement of employers and employees, to fully utilize the IT and management skills of women in the industry. This will include technical and professional knowledge sharing and support.

Undertake research and disseminate conclusions regarding the impact of the IT working environment on the careers of women.

Raise the profile of women in the industry in partnership with IT, electronics and telecommunications industry employers, suppliers, and the Government.

OUR OBJECTIVES are to:

Increase the number of women in IT and their representation in senior positions.

Provide networking opportunities for women working in the IT industry, expose support

mechanisms to sustain women in the network and disseminate best practice.

To use this forum to reach out to gals/ladies in community and encourage them to pursue careers in the field of technology.

To integrate use of technology in solving life’s problems.

To facilitate collaboration and communication among the tech ladies.

To inspire women to be transformational leaders.

To enlighten the community on the technology sphere.

To motivate the gal community to continue in their technology development.

You are invited to the 2011 Apps4Africa: Climate Challenge Brainstorming Session taking place at
the Hive Colab in Kampla on the 25th of November, 2011.  To register see link below.

The 2011 Apps4Africa: Climate Challenge builds on the success of the 2010 Apps4Africa: Civic
Challenge in which civil society challenged program developers to find innovative technological solutions
to everyday problems on issues ranging from transparency and governance to health and education.
The 2011 competition begins in Western and Central Africa in October, with Eastern and Southern
Africa to follow shortly thereafter. Winners will receive prizes, including cash awards totaling $25,000
USD, gadgets and travel. Private partners, including TED and Indigo Trust, may contribute technical
assistance, prizes, and follow-on support for the new partnerships created by this platform.
The Apps4Africa Challenge began in late 2009 when several individuals, organizations, and private
companies joined together to propose a competition that would reward local innovators for their ideas and
projects.

The 2010 challenge winners received prize money, media attention, and a special congratulatory
message from the US Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton.

With coordination with software developer Appfrica International, Apps4Africa will bring civil
society, academia and private sector organizations together with African technology innovators to
develop applications that address local climate change adaptation challenges. In doing so, we seek
to raise African public awareness of climate change adaptation in Africa on these issues; support the
development of civil society and private-sector networks; and highlight African solutions to local climate
change challenges.

The Climate Challenge centers around several strategic themes that coincide with policy decisions that
will be debated and decided upon by world leaders at the 17th United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (COP17) conference in Durban, South Africa. The benefit of this is that it increases
the chance that competition participants will find very willing decision makers eager to try, recommend,
and otherwise support the applications and projects developed for the competition.
The Apps4Africa brainstorming sessions are workshops where software developers, students, policy
makers, decision makers and others come together to discuss challenges, propose solutions and submit
their apps to the Apps4Africa Climate Challenge.

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CONTEST DATES & INFO
Eastern Africa (Begins October 20th - December 20th)
Categories for Entry - Agriculture (Distribution), Early Warning and/or Disaster Preparedness, Resource
Management, Forestry/Deforestation, Transportation/Traffic/Emmissions, Food Security, Livestock,
Health & Sanitation

Application Types - Mobile (Feature phone), Mobile (Smart Phone), Web, Desktop
Countries hosting Eastern Africa Regional Brainstorming Sessions - Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania,
Rwanda, Ethiopia.

Contact: Darlyne Komukama (Shakai Media) - darlkom@gmail.com
Barbara Birungi (Hive Colab) - birungibarbs@appfrica.org

Register for the Kampala event here. http://apps4africakampala.eventbrite.com/ The event is free but
space is limited.

For more information, visit the Apps4Africa website at www.apps4africa.org