Mobile innovation is one of the key cornerstones for African development. The WSA initiative of selecting the best from the national nominees from 41 African countries focuses on the very best of African solutions for African issues and problems.
“What’s your SnooCode?” A question easily answered by GPS Location Coding SystemSnooCode. Take Mrs. Koomson 60, for example. A couple of weeks ago her son came to visit her at home. While he was there, he used his phone with the SnooCode software installed, to find out what his grandmother’s location code was. He copied the 6 digit number onto a piece of paper & stuck it to the fridge. SnooCode is a free mobile application solving a problem unknown to many: not having an address. This means people cannot access emergency services, postal services or even open a bank account. SnooCode provides everyone in rural or urban areas in Ghana with a unique, robust & easy to memorize address – being more accurate than even the UK post system. So what is your SnooCode?
8 Winners, 16 Runner-ups, from Egypt to South Africa, from Killer Mosquitos toOral History– a pan-African diameter of innovation
SnooCode is only one of 8 Winners will be awarded the WSA African Content Award, the regional initiative of the World Summit Award (WSA) to promote and recognize creativity from Africa and to encourage collaboration among the regional networks.
The African Content Award awardees stem from 15 different countries and demonstrate the richness of mobile content: mobile solutions supporting every day’s challenges and enhancing African citizen’s lives. “Our goal is to find and promote apps that tackle local challenges and have a strong impact on the society. Mobile technologies changed business conditions and ways of living in Africa, offering new perspectives to all citizens. With this new initiative we want to support local entrepreneurs and innovators” states WSA chairman Prof. Peter A. Bruck.
Rethinking Education: Intaking knowledge bit by bit with social media school lectures
The 8 African Content Award Winners and 16 Runner-ups present not only diversity and innovation, but most forward also the rapid movement towards smart citizenship.
Take South Africa’s Rethink Education, enabling students to learn by doing what they love best: social media. Using Mixt, South Africa’s biggest social platform, students use ‘chat’-styled community platforms to learn math, chemistry science. The Rethink Education platforms, feed educational content broken down into ‘bite-size bits’ and present it through chat interfaces such as Mxit, WhatsApp, BBM, Facebook and Twitter for 500,000 users. OrYour Health from Morocco, the first medical orientation application offering a vast overview of all health care matters for Moroccans.
SMART democracy: Ugandans thumbing citizen matters via mobile solution
Not only education shines a light in Africa: Ugandan citizen take active part in the community, by typing “Join”. U-report text message programme give a voice to everyone, having been launched in May 2011, U-reporters in Uganda made their voices heard almost 1.5 million times in 2013 alone.
The 8 winners will be invited to join the 2nd Ministerial Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation in Africa, organized by the African Development Bank from October 14st to 17rd, 2014 in Rabat, Morocco The event will not only include an awarding gala, but also offer a platform for the awardees to present their services and projects to potential partners and investors.
The event will be attended by renowned experts, opinion leaders and government representatives – turning Morocco in the hot spot of the mobile world.
The African Content Award is organized in partnership with the African Development Bank, ISESCO, African Innovation Foundation, ITIDA & Millennium@EDU.
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