In NetHope, Africa is the new black. And: I fall in love with you inanimate object
posted by Perry Gruber on May 07, 2008
I’m in day two at the NetHope summit and I’m fickle and in love. More on that last part later.
My new main squeeze. Isn’t her display gorgeous?
Where do you think the NGO community that is NetHope is focusing most? Can you guess? That’s right: Africa. In yesterday’s session representatives here voiced the same thing: Africa is the number one focus of their humanitarian and other efforts. Africa is getting a lot of attention these days and it’s not just the NGO NetHope community paying attention to the continent. I’ve heard economists talk about how low-end manufacturing (textiles and the like) will soon be shifting from Asia to Africa as infrastructure builds out there. That bodes well for the continent and its people. More affordable broadband access is in the works there too I hear. And to my eternal happiness, Intel too is finally beginning to increase its activities there (although it took us a while to get our focus focused).
So, this is day two, what I’m calling “Intel Day” because we’re here showcasing our emerging market technologies. They include the Classmate PC, Rural Connectivity Platform (RCP) and the newest wireless standard called WiMAX. I hear we just announced a major investment in this technology, BTW. Back to the summit: Representatives from both Intel’s World Ahead and Emerging Markets Platform Group (EMPG) are here to support our technology demos. They’re really great guys, but my heart’s enamored with the RCP. That’s because it is helping my program help organic coffee growers in Tanzania learn how to grow better, higher quality coffee thereby enabling them to sell more coffee, which equates to increased revenue, which equals a higher standard of living for the coffee grower families and the opportunity for them to buy gas guzzling minivans, civilian versions of military vehicles and consumer goods that serve no useful purpose, just like people do in the United States. I’ll write about that project later. But if you haven’t read it already, we in the CSR blog have covered the RCP before and you can get details on it there.
But my love affair with RCP is being wooed by a new suitor as of this morning. I’m usually not so fickle, but I just had the chance to fondle our new CMPC for the first time. What a lovely functional device. What lovely curves. And not only is it a fully functional platform, it has a robust ecosystem surrounding and supporting it. I can see why kids love it and why it’s penetrating markets. It’s just hard to keep my hands off the thing. I mean, go back up and look at that display!
In the interest of ending this post, I’ll wrap up with a bunch of pictures. Enjoy….
The backbone of our demos today: WiMax server and base station.
This is Lenovo’s new notebook, the X300. Watch out MacBook Air.
A bevy of new platforms all networked via WiMAX
Comments
May 16 | Anthony Makumbi said:
Hello Perry, its was great meeting you and you can see I am following up more on what intel does beyond “Chips”. Its good to know what Intel is developing and most important of all, them or you realising the focus on Africa. In my role as a Community ICT program Manager I see allot more opportunities or entry areas for Intel to grow in the Emerging Markets(Africa). When I hear the word “Emerging Markets” it really excites me. Why? I used to work for British American Tobacco thus Brown and Williamson in the US and as a Business analyst these were things or words that kept me busy and allert on what was emerging from such markets and how to strategically counter react but those were businesses then. I have really miss this in the NGO sector but here we are with a kind of merge or intersection of sectors with similar objectives. I must say I am pretty excited with the trends and hope the big coorperates like Intel do get it right because its nolonger business as usual in the emrging markets.The customer drives the business which wasn’t the case but has to be for business to thrive for now and the future. I Love the Classmate PC and hope we can work together for even more and better innovations in the various sectors within Africa. What I can say is “its a time boom”. Love you guys and lets keep engaged..thanks perry
May 16 | perry said:
Hey Anthony! Thanks for visiting the blog and commenting. I think there are big things we can do together. I agree with your comment that consumers drive the business now. That wasn’t the case for sure in the past, but now….and it’s a good thing. I’ve forwarded your contact information to my colleague who is working in CSR in Africa. I suspect he will get in touch with you soon. And, when I’m back from sabbatical, I’ll be getting in touch too!