Web2forDev: Web 2.0 for Development Gateway

Reach your audience on their mobile phones

Saturday, 31 July 2010 19:36

A recent TechTip published on ICT Update (issue 55) provides interesting guidelines on how to send out short messages to a large number of preselected recipients using SMS texting.

The members of agricultural cooperatives often live far from the organisation’s main offices. It can, therefore, be difficult for farmers to find out about urgent meetings, training courses, market prices and other new developments. To help keep their members up-to-date, cooperatives can use software or web-based applications to send text messages to all or selected members’ cell phones at the same time. One popular service for sending multiple messages is BulkSMS. You can register to use it directly from the website or download a desktop version of the application.

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Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity, Molo, Kenya, 27 September - 1 October 2010

Monday, 28 June 2010 00:00

Venue: Baraka Agricultural College, Molo, Kenya
Date and time: Monday 27 September – Friday 1 October, 2010 (9:00 – 16:30)

Technological innovation is taking place at a breath-taking pace. Simple, open source internet-based applications and services designed to enhance on-line collaboration are now available to the wider public at little or no cost at all. These new online services known as Web 2.0 applications enable people to collaborate remotely in creating, sharing and publishing information.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation EU-ACP (CTA) has the mandate to facilitate access to and dissemination of information in the fields of agriculture, rural development and sustainable natural resource management in 78 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). Supporting the adoption of Web 2.0 applications represents a great opportunity for meeting it.

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Peer-to-peer aid through online fundraising

Tuesday, 29 June 2010 07:09

Donors used to be large organizations only. They had sufficient budgets (e.g. from governments) and infrastructure to run projects. But that has changed. Now, through the Internet, users can engage as donors through donations or seek funds for projects. Platforms, such as kiva.org, have shown how many small donations can micro-finance a small business. In the last years many initiatives have sprung up to bring people with project ideas and donors (large and small) together.

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Web 2.0 Wonders

Thursday, 22 July 2010 08:38

The Internet remains one of the most important resources for information retrieval, research, communication and networking. Many of its users keep on discovering that there are an increasing number of opportunities offered by the new 2nd generation platforms available on the internet also dubbed as Web 2.0. Although the Internet may not be easily accessible to the rural poor in the African continent, the steadily decreasing costs of ICTs and Internet infrastructure all point to a promising future. A total of 28 participants (50% women) representing academic Institutions, NGOs, media, research and development organisations at a recently concluded Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity organised by CTA and held at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 5-9, 2010, could not hide their excitement as they were introduced to Web 2.0 innovations and started exploring some of its many avenues.

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Using the Geoweb

Sunday, 27 June 2010 10:57

Throughout history, mapmakers have been much sought after. They created representations of landscapes that could be used for exploration, military or trade purposes. The maps they drew, however, often only represented the ideas and perspectives of the people who paid for the maps: kings, armies and business leaders. In other words, people who already wielded substantial power.

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