Sosheel-ology

AUSTIN, TX—Mobile phones are kicking off a revolution in Africa, with everyone from farmers to villagers relying on apps to make electronic payments, check on expiration dates for medicine, and predict future storms or the best prices for produce. In a SXSW session titled “The $100bn Mobile Bullet Train Called Africa” (which would also be a pretty good name for one of the indie films playing at this massive convention), Tech4Africa founder Gareth Knight explained the contours of this revolution.

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Knight then explained how mobile devices are disrupting traditional markets, citing the case of an ex-pat from Ghana who, after raising money “from friends, family and fools,” started rice farms in his home country. “He communicates with 2,000 farmers in the West of Ghana using SMS, he sends out text messages to all his farmers,” he said. “He’s crowd-sourced rice production, and he’s selling that to the rest of the world.” That collective is now the second-biggest rice exporter in the country, largely thanks to the ability to leverage mobile technology.

The crowdsourcing/collective approach is interesting albeit probably very fragile when corporations starting to enter the markets.

(via fastcompany)

Source: futuramb

2013-01-18

Presumption is the enemy of innovation

2013-01-17

Chief Learning Officer | Those Who Manage, Teach

stanfordbusiness:

A good boss has the ability to teach employees about better work habits or coach them toward personal goals, according to Economics Professor Kathryn Shaw. Read the full article on how bosses who act as instructors drive higher individual productivity and elevate team performance, from Chief Learning Officer : http://stnfd.biz/gBKFC

What do you think makes a good boss?

Source: stanfordbusiness

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So I thought about calling you, she said, and telling you all the things I’m good at and all the things I like to do. But I figured that everyone is doing that. So instead I want to know what’s your biggest problem and how can I solve it. My jaw hit the floor. I’d hired thousands of people up to that point in my career, but no one had ever said anything like that.

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you make your own luck

Sheryl Sandberg’s Full HBS Speech: Get On A Rocketship Whenever You Get The Chance - Business Insider

(via fred-wilson)

Source: Business Insider

2013-01-15

fastcompany:

Baidu and France Telecom are collaborating on a low-end smartphone browser for Africa. The browser, which will launch in Egypt, will be pre-installed on phones sold by France Telecom, which already has around 80 million African customers, on the continent. The move means that the Chinese search giant will become part of what is an already huge Sino-centric presence.

Looks meager but some of these shops have not only smartphones but phones capable of mobile broadcast TV (drifta+dstv), technology we don’t have in the states today.

Source: Fast Company