Esther Nasikye's blog
Posted by Esther Nasikye on Sep 29, 2008
A new report published by U.S. trade group, 3G America's, notes that the use of SMS as an emergency alert service poses serious limitations.
The report, Characterizing the Limitations of Third-Party EAS Over Cellular Text Messaging Services (PDF), notes that while use of text messaging or SMS has become ubiquitous and commonplace for recreational and business purposes, the research indicates that there are serious limitations of third party Emergency Alert Systems (EAS).
Posted by Esther Nasikye on Sep 26, 2008
Mobile phones are providing organisations and advocates with new ways to reach their communities. Now the Gender Based Violence Prevention Network in collaboration with Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) will use text messaging to create awareness about violence against women in Africa.
WOUGNET will be exhibiting in the SIMPlace at MobileActive08 to talk about Texting for Social Action, together with its vendor BulkSMS which has powered previous WOUGNET campaigns.
Posted by Esther Nasikye on Aug 24, 2008
Agriculture is what keeps economies in most developing countries alive. However, farmers in many countries face major challenges. In an age of global markets, they are forced to enhance production, improve the quality of their yield, and access markets within short timeframes. Small-scale farmers especially have traditionally been deprived of weather and crop information, have been at the mercy of middlemen, and have lacked timely market price information to negotiate the best deal. This has chancged with the a connect people advent of widespread telephony that connects farmers wiith markets, weather, and other data.
Governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international donors are taking advantage of this technology revolution to help farmers access market information. They are convinced that low-cost access to agricultural prices could yield enormous payoffs.
In Uganda, the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), a local NGO, is helping over 400 rural farmers in the Apac District in Northern Uganda, access information on market prices through text messages (SMS).
