Filed under Community news by Kerryn on 4 April, 2012 at 4:31 pm
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This workshop is part of the Business Building Workshop Series 2012 which are based on the SAFIPA ICT and Mobile Business Building Programme originally compiled by RIIS for ICT and mobile entrepreneurs, small business owners/managers and IT departments across all sectors. The ‘Business Building Workshop Series 2012′′ is designed for all, and is open to other sectors beyond the ICT and Mobile Industries.
The two-day workshop will be held on Wednesday, 11 April to Thursday, 12 April 2012 from 8:00 to 16:30. The cost is R 1,950.00 per person (incl. VAT). SAINe members and groups of 5 and more are able to receive a 10% discount. There is also the opportunity to Refer-a-friend and get a R500.00 discount! The workshop venue has been sponsored by the Bandwidth Barn and will be held at the following address: 5th Floor, 125 Buitengracht Centre, Buitengracht Street, Cape Town.
Click here to register now!
Is this workshop for you? The answer is ‘yes’ if you are an entrepreneur, small business owner, the CEO or employee of an ICT and mobile SMME, a new product developer, IT developer or project manager. In fact, anyone who would like to start their own ICT and mobile business is encouraged to attend. And if you or your company is not in the ICT and mobile industries, yet would like to learn more about the benefits of using new technologies in your business, the Business Building Workshop Series is also for you.
The programme includes topics ranging from concept stage, the nuts and bolts of the ICT and mobile business, through to the big-picture considerations and context.
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Filed under ICT and Education by Kerryn on 26 March, 2012 at 12:31 pm
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CampusNet is excited to announce the launch of their Virtual World. The value of this virtual online space is that it can be used for live interactive training sessions as well as meetings, without the need to travel.
The Virtual World comprises of a number of ‘spaces’ such as the Auditorium, where students can browse, register and enrol for courses through the Auditorium Virtual Academy (AVA). There is also the Meeting and Lecture room, which hosts live, interactive training sessions. Added to this is an Exhibition showcase where product launches and conferences can be held. A Community Centre environment is also available, and will offer NGO’s and other organisations the opportunity to showcase their initiatives, provide interactive information boards and facilitate live interactive training sessions & meetings.
Full two-way communication is possible via built in VoIP, webcam and text messages as well as full presentation facilities, document sharing and interactive information boards.
Keith Maree, the project leader, says of the initiative:
I think this is the way forward for live interactive training sessions, meetings and for providing unified communications and information to organisations and communities.”
The CampusNet Virtual World enterprise solution for collaboration will give organisations the ability to provide an engaging and immersive alternative to existing operational and training regimes. (more…)
Filed under Innovation and ICT Entrepreneurship, Uncategorized by Kerryn on 1 March, 2012 at 1:49 pm
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The “My Meraka Innovation Handbook” is a fantastic, interactive document that promises to take you on a journey of discovery and actualisation of the process of innovation. And it’s now available for download here.
The handbook provides both byte-sized info blurbs and passages on thought-provoking topics such as “Innovator vs Inventor”, “How to be an elegant thinker” and “The joy of inventing”. These are found alongside valuable and easy-to-understand explanations on topics such as patents, technology transfer, and open source guidelines. Also included are topics that specifically relate to the CSIR’s innovation process.
The handbook is part of Meraka’s Technology Transfer project which sought to build capacity within the CSIR Meraka Institute around intellectual property (IP) and technology transfer issues. The project, managed by Nicki Koorbanally who is the R&D Outcomes Manager responsible for both IP and technology transfer issues at the CSIR Meraka Institute, was supported by SAFIPA. As Nicki explained at SAFIPA’s conference at the end of last year, the project has explored the idea of translating intellectual assets into impact: “Technology transfer and commercialisation should not be discussed at the end of R&D projects; rather, these concepts must be considered throughout the entire process.” She adds, “Innovation is an every day task rather than a mysterious, genius type intervention! We need to think of innovators as real people.”
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Filed under Community news by Kerryn on 31 January, 2012 at 12:03 pm
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With the first month of 2012 already under our collective belt, we caught up with SAFIPA-supported projects to find out what 2012 has in store for them. In this article we share developments within FBSA, Reed House Systems, CampusNet, JamiiX, WhereisMyTransport and LiftclubSA.
FBSA brings out the bubbly at Bloekombos!
Fireworks image from Flickr by Bayasaa CC-BY
First Business South Africa (FBSA) has already had some extremely heartening developments within their initiative. Tim White, the founder of FBSA says, “2012 might just be the year that we have all been waiting for! Finally our facility has its power and so we are able to take the next important steps.”
Tim refers to the Bloekombos Uluntu Plaza, which is FBSA’s living lab business incubator, and which also happens to be an African first! The project involves the establishment of a business training centre, or incubator, at which previously unemployed learner-workers are placed in retail based micro-enterprises, backed by a fully integrated supply chain and business services platform, whilst engaging in skills programmes and learnerships to embed the required knowledge. The Plaza is an initiative of City of Cape Town Local Areas human and Economic Development department (LAED). The business incubator provides an unprecedented opportunity for suppliers and manufacturers to participate actively in the local economic development of South Africa.
During the latter part of 2011, implementation of the project was hampered by delays in the electrification of the plaza. Whilst having to endure a number of frustrating months until power was finally delivered to the plaza, Tim can now enthusiastically report that, “Our immediate aim is to attract suppliers and manufacturers to participate in the supply chain processes.”
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Filed under ICT and Education, SAFIPA capacity building by Kerryn on 17 January, 2012 at 11:46 am
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The insights, steps and tips on how to run a successful code-sprint have been made available in the form of a user-friendly, Creative Commons licensed toolbox to assist other organisations and companies in using the methodology that was developed during the Meraka Institute’s very successful series of code sprints.
What is a code sprint?
A code-sprint is a dedicated training event aimed at empowering tertiary students with software development skills to improve their work-readiness and enhance their opportunities for uptake in the industry. A small group of students contribute to a real-world programming project under the guidance of a skilled technical leader. Through the close collaboration between the group and the technical leader, programming skills are shared and transferred, whilst key deliverables are achieved within the target project.
The Meraka Institute’s code sprints
The Meraka Institute (supported by SAFIPA donor funding) has successfully executed two phases of code-sprints, 2009 and 2011. 2009 consisted of two and 2011 having three code-sprints. The programme was a resounding success with 26 code-sprinters (tertiary students) participating over the two phases. The code-sprints programme has a well developed methodology to measure the growth of each student as well as other outcomes. The results extracted through the measurement methodology were extremely positive with clear indicators of the success of the code-sprint programme.
The first two code-sprint phases were hosted at the Meraka Institute. An opportunity exists to host the code-sprints at other development “hotspots” while following the code-sprints methodology. An example of a potentially viable hosting environment is the newly created “African Regional Mobile Application Laboratory” where the code-sprints targets are those of importance to the Laboratory at that time. Another potential code-sprint hosting environment can be a Living Lab, as it already contains the basic elements (various stakeholders such as students, communities and community innovators within a real life context containing multi-disciplinary challenges to be solved) required for the execution of a code-sprint. Tertiary education institutes are also well positioned to host code-sprints. With the addition of the code-sprints methodology, a technical solution can be developed, while significant knowledge and skills transfer are taking place.
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Filed under Inclusion, Accessibility and Community Connectivity, Innovation and ICT Entrepreneurship by Kerryn on 15 December, 2011 at 7:37 pm
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The Moveecom trike on display at the SAFIPA Conference 2011
There was recently great excitement for the MoveeCom Mobile Internet Café (MIC) team when they won two awards for their innovative mobile internet café.
The first award was from the inaugural SAB Foundation Innovation Awards which were introduced in November this year. With a total purse of R1.5 million the awards aim to promote innovation delivering sustainable solutions to the daily challenges facing persons in low-income areas. Moveecom received a seed grant of R 100,000.00 towards further development of the project. And within the same month, the team were named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Polokwane Chamber of Business’s Annual Awards Gala Banquet.
The MoveeCom™ Mobile Internet Café (MIC) is an innovative concept that delivers access to IT resources, to under-serviced communities via a mobile communication unit. The fully portable communications system has been designed specifically for deep rural areas and poorly serviced urban areas. It enables communities to have access to technology and information in order to engage with other sectors of society and contribute to their economic well being.
The mobile unit is fully enclosed and is complete with two fixed monitors, two computer keyboards, a four-in-one scanner, printer, fax and copier. The entire system is driven by a generator, and the complete unit is transported on a motor-powered trike. During development, the team paid a lot of attention to the design and sourcing of durable components which could weather extreme environments and be used on a rugged terrain. The mobile unit will provide a variety of uses, such as word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software; internet connectivity and real-time chat; general printing, copying, scanning, faxing and a mobile phone charging station.
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This is the final edition of the SAFIPA newsletter. The month of November 2011, marks the conclusion of this dynamic initiative.
