Press Release, 27th July, 2010
The Apps for Africa Contest for Rwanda was officially launched on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at the Ebenezer Building in collaboration with the Norwegian Peoples Aid.The launch was part of a series of similar events having taken place in Kenya and Uganda. “Apps 4Africa” brings together local developers to work with local civil society organizations (CSOs) to build technology tools to solve everyday problems in the East Africa Region.
The goals of the competition are to highlight the technological talent that currently exists in East Africa, to help build the local development community and to inspire a conversation between local developers and CSOs. Civil Society will be able to submit challenges on the event website where technology developers will attempt to build applications during a two-month window running from July 1 till August 31.
The Kigali event held today brought together members of Civil Society, Government Institutions, University Students and freelance technology developers in a conversation that expressed the need for an Innovation Hub in Rwanda and open spaces for budding engineers to explore software development in different platforms (web and especially mobile). The conversation further proffered challenges that will be uploaded into the web.
Some of these include
I. An application that enables better response to citizen’s queries at district level and feedback to the lower sector level;
II. Technology tools that enable citizen’s search for location of services e.g. clinics or specialized treatment and care e.g. for persons living with aids;
III. An information repository and access system for agricultural goods and services;
The launch was successful in connecting technology developers with civil society and mobile phone providers and possible beginnings of vibrant interactions around the use of technology for social good.
The competition is co-hosted by Appfrica of Kampala, the Innovation Hub of Nairobi (iHUB), and the Social Development Network (SODNET) of Nairobi. An award ceremony with selected high-level judges will take place early September 2010.
The Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Ms. Janet McHale formally launched the “Apps 4 Africa” competition in Nairobi, Kenya on July 1, 2010 with the attendance of the US Ambassador to Kenya, Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, civil society, media and technology developers.
The regional competition is made possible with financial support from the US Department of State.
For more information on the “Apps 4 Africa” contest and submissions from the region, kindly visit, http://www.apps4africa.org.
Philip Thigo
Program Associate, Social Development Network