Tanzania's ICT news

[Geza Ulole]

Originally Posted by Dhuks

At this rate you will get more enemies than friends. Patriotism is Tanzanians second name.

He should also be aware a ship destroyed a sea cable in Mombasa and the problem is not only in Tanzania but even in Kenya!

[tanzan]

Originally Posted by mwinyi

Our state house (Ikulu) doesnt have a website

Our parliaments website is more like a something designed by a kindergarten...no any valuamble info or bills

Our MP's are pretty much anti technology

Our state house uses YAHOO as their means of e-mail contact

Our internet is one of the slowest in Africa (even though they keep banging on SEACOM superfast broadband

Our technology minister isnt tech savy and still stuck in with the 1940's ideas

The same applies to our media and others

in short like in many other sectors, WE ARE NOT SERIOUS na ukilalamika utaambiwa si mzalendo au Mkenya au sijui kabila gani

Ukweli ndio huo japo unauma

mambo yote bado yapo kwenye mchakato!!!

[e.base]

Patience Mwinyi, patience..yes the ICT is not yet developed but rmbr the govt has a lot in its hand, and i observe that there are trying their best in ICT but need more capital which isnt available because ICT is a trivial matter..lets focus on poverty reduction, infrastructure devp, social services availability in rural areas etc ICT will come in later when peoples lives are at least better than yesterday.

[mwinyi]

Originally Posted by e.base

Patience Mwinyi, patience..yes the ICT is not yet developed but rmbr the govt has a lot in its hand, and i observe that there are trying their best in ICT but need more capital which isnt available because ICT is a trivial matter..lets focus on poverty reduction, infrastructure devp, social services availability in rural areas etc ICT will come in later when peoples lives are at least better than yesterday.

50 years of patience and rewarding incompetence hasnt got us anywhere

bad enough we are using same methods we used to cause problems to solve problems

im very frustrated with Tanzania

[Uhuru na Umoja]

Originally Posted by Dhuks

At this rate you will get more enemies than friends. Patriotism is Tanzanians second name.

He is not Tanzanian! he/she is Kenyan and for long we have said it. he/she poses as Tanzanian. We do not know who he/she is along with Soulrebel and his friends or his/her fake names. we have I identification thread "with photo".

[Mintali]

Originally Posted by Uhuru na Umoja

He is not Tanzanian! he/she is Kenyan and for long we have said it. he/she poses as Tanzanian. We do not know who he/she is along with Soulrebel and his friends or his/her fake names. we have I identification thread "with photo".

So how is a photo going to prove the nationality of someone? Dude, you are either plain stupid, uneducated or an educated chimpanzee

[Dhuks]

Originally Posted by Mintali

So how is a photo going to prove the nationality of someone? Dude, you are either plain stupid, uneducated or an educated chimpanzee

They want to know who is anti Jamhuri. They are the shining beacon of Democracy in Africa so they say.
For others to have divergent views they must be Kenyans.

[bantugbro]

Originally Posted by bantugbro

Interesting thread....



Lets meet there...

http://www.ist-africa.org/conference2012/

Guys stop derailing this great thread and lets be civil for once...

I once again invite you to this conference i will be presenting a paper on one of the panel/track.

I will be talking about the role of Cognitive Radio and Dynamic Spectrum Access technologies over Television White Spaces (TVWS) in bridging of the digital divide in rural Africa.

[mwinyi]

simple google search found this:

http://www.jamiiforums.com/jukwaa-la...hawa-hapa.html

[bantugbro]

Research, research, and more research .....we will get there

[TZBoy]

Originally Posted by bantugbro

Guys stop derailing this great thread and lets be civil for once...

I once again invite you to this conference i will be presenting a paper on one of the panel/track.

I will be talking about the role of Cognitive Radio and Dynamic Spectrum Access technologies over Television White Spaces (TVWS) in bridging of the digital divide in rural Africa.

Interesting, if i was in Dar I would have certainly visited.

[e.base]

I got tired of reading senseless Kenya v Tanzania fights, im now onto France v UK, next up USA v China.

[kiligoland]

Originally Posted by bantugbro

Guys stop derailing this great thread and lets be civil for once...

I once again invite you to this conference i will be presenting a paper on one of the panel/track.

I will be talking about the role of Cognitive Radio and Dynamic Spectrum Access technologies over Television White Spaces (TVWS) in bridging of the digital divide in rural Africa.

fanya mambo mkuu

[bantugbro]

Originally Posted by kiligoland

fanya mambo mkuu

[bantugbro]

Originally Posted by TZBoy

Interesting, if i was in Dar I would have certainly visited.

We will meet next time...

[mwinyi]

This is the official Tanzania statehouse e-mail contact:
mawasilianoikulu@yahoo.com

and this is the official Tanzania statehouse website:
mawasilianoikulu.blogspot.com

this is a country of 45 million
70% are under the age of 30

the average age of its political and decision makers elites are above 50

either way we are fucked!

[Geza Ulole]

Logo_post_b
Print Back to story
Tata Communications Plans African Expansion, Business Day Says
By Jana Marais - Mar 26, 2012

Tata Communications Ltd. (TCOM) plans to expand its operations in Kenya, Tanzania and southern Africa and will seek partnerships with domestic companies to build infrastructure, Business Day reported.

Tata will use its Neotel unit in South Africa to expand in the region, the Johannesburg-based newspaper said, citing Chief Executive Officer Vinod Kumar. Neotel posted its first full-year profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization since it began operations five years ago, Business Day said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jana Marais in Johannesburg at jmarais@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/...-day-says.html

[Geza Ulole]

Dar’s own Bill Gates in the making Send to a friend
Saturday, 24 March 2012 09:20

Eric Mutta, 28, gestures during an interview at his parents’ home in Dar es Salaam. The ambitious ICT professional says the youth have to be committed to attain their goals. PHOTO | EMMANUEL HERMAN
By Bernard James
The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. Eric Mutta is only 28, but he is already making waves at home and abroad.
The self-employed youth is on the verge of a computer software breakthrough that could thrust him and Tanzania into the limelight in the world of Information and Communication Technology.
Even though he is virtually unknown at home, the world has already rewarded Eric with international recognition for innovation.

And today, as a budding software designer and developer, he is all fired up and determined to use his talent not only to bring solutions to the many development challenges facing the nation but also to grow rich at the personal level.

Eric took up programming 13 years ago and has steadily worked on ever more ambitious projects—from an SMS-based mobile dating service which, at its peak in 2010 had 10,000 members, to his prize-winning Grainy Bunch, a food management and monitoring system.

“I’ve learnt that innovation works well for large companies, but it’s not so easy for a sole trader,” he said soon after learning that he had won a US sponsored contest to suggest a software solution to climate change issues. “In the past, I had to spend a lot of time convincing people and explaining the significance of my applications,” he recalls.

The feat landed him a much-needed boost of $15,000 (Sh24 million) which he intends to invest in his cherished entrepreneurial dream—to give some of the best known software companies in the world a run for their money.

The Citizen on Saturday traced Eric to his parents’ home in Mikocheni, where he exclusively told us his inspirational story and shared his dreams. He is the first of four children. His father, Mr Felician Mutta, is a music producer who also handles promotion and distribution work, and his mother Celina is a businesswoman. He studied locally and in Kenya and honed his ICT skills in the UK.

As the saying goes, a prophet receives no honour in his own home. But Eric’s determination has paid off. With the prize money from the US department of State Bureau of African Affairs, he plans to hire a programmer and continue to develop apps that will solve problems in society. “I have to figure out how to turn $15,000 into $15 billion (Sh24 trillion) in 15 years,” he chuckles.Eric wants to be part of a group of young people who thrive on belief, commitment and hard work. He dreams big and wants to see his nascent company—Problems Solved Limited—become the first Tanzanian ICT firm to be sold for $50 million (Sh80 billion), and this by 2015.

But how exactly does this ambitious young man intend to achieve a dream that many would dismiss as mere fantasy? Does it matter that his office now is nothing more than a Toshiba laptop computer, a printer, a mobile phone and, of course, his mind?

“Not at all,” Eric declares. During his brief employment history, he helped Tanzania Revenue Authority and the Tanzania International Container Terminal Services install software that helped reduce cargo clearance time.
In 2007, he designed the Import Declaration Form (IDF), his first major achievement in software innovation, and it helped reduce congestion in Dar es Salaam port. Importers now spend only a few minutes to fill and clear the forms when that exercise could take up to 48 hours using the old system.

He is now riding high with “Mini Shop”, a low cost software he designed to help small businesses keep records of stock, sales, purchases and expenses even in the event of power black-outs. His prize winning idea was based on the same Mini-Shop.

It is this Mini Shop software that Eric has upgraded to an “automated accountant”, which he hopes banks will use for risk analysis and management to enable customers access finance—the biggest challenge for struggling traders. The system, according to Eric, should enable banks access stock data on clients who would otherwise fail to qualify for loans for lack of collateral or a national identity card. The technology will also help follow up credit and sales.

“At Sh200,000, my product is a cheap software version of the expensive Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) that have frustrated many small enterprises,” explained Eric, whose software is now in use in Dar es Salaam and other towns. He also has one client in Rwanda. The TRA EFDs cost an average of between Sh2m to Sh6 million.

The Mini-Shop is installed at the point of sale to manage stock, sales purchases and expenses and to send income reports periodically using internet modems. One can, therefore, monitor his business performance from a distance.

Public agencies and private companies can save billions of shillings that is now spent on paying expensive foreign accountants or consultants to prepare financial statements—work, he says, that can be done by his cheap and reliable accounting software that incorporates additional aspects in accounts.

Part of Eric’s prize money will go into transforming his company so that it can earn the same amount in a month.

IT challenges
The biggest challenge for development of IT in Tanzania, he says, is a procurement system that sets up a string of conditions that favour large local and foreign companies in tendering and locks out individual developers and beginners. “Procurement in IT should be reviewed to support people like us,” he adds. “It should be based on deliverable ideas and not on how big your company is.”

He has yet to approach the government over Grainy Bunch, though. “But as far as our procurement system is concerned, I am sure it is hard to win such tenders,” he adds.
Piracy of software designed by local experts is also a big problem as many people prefer cheap products. “The very first thing I created in Mini Shop software is an anti-piracy programme,” he confides. “You can’t apply the system without being sanctioned.”

Potentials of ICT
Information Technology has the potential to change the lives of young Tanzanians, he says, provided they get support and inspiration. “What a lot of young people lack here is inspiration,” he adds. “There is no a role model to inspire them and let them say ‘I want to be like this or that’.”

According to Eric, many young people would like to study IT but they lack support from the state that would excite them and also provide real opportunities.

Another barrier to IT development is “poverty of confidence” among youth. Those who are able to make it are ignored. Worse still, there is no inspiration to make people aware of the big things that are happening.

“Ten years from now, I hope to have a giant organisation taking the lead in IT retail products. My dream is to conquer the universe by developing simple and affordable software that will solve problems among the masses in the way that Bakhresa has done with foods and beverages.”
http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/componen...he-making.html

[Geza Ulole]

Young innovator’s software generates flood of enquiries Send to a friend
Saturday, 31 March 2012 10:52

“It took me only two hours to learn how to use Mini Shop system. The system is really good as it helps you keep track of stocks and sales. On every sale, the system automatically shows you what remains, and so, on the day you want to do stock taking, it takes you only a few hours to do the job that would normally take a day or two. When you sell a product, the system will tell you what remains of the stock or even change”
By Bernard James
Dar es Salaam. Eric Mutta, a largely unknown young Tanzanian who shot to the limelight recently, courtesy of The Citizen on Saturday that highlighted his computer wizardry, is now flooded with enquiries from potential clients who want to tap into his talents.

The focus of interest is a supply chain management system designed by the 28-year-old software engineer, who has already attracted acknowledgement in some quarters abroad. The United States Department of States Bureau of African Affairs has recognised Eric’s innovation, whose software, dubbed Mini Shop, as well as his consultancy services, local business enterprises are scrambling for, ranging from small-scale operators to major banks.

Would-be clients are anxious to acquire the software, because of its combined advantage of storing and retrieving records of stocks, sales, purchases and expenses easily and its relative cheapness.

The Mini-Shop is installed at the point of sale to manage stock, sales purchases and expenses, and to send income reports periodically using internet modems. One can, therefore, monitor his or her business performance from a distance.
Eric says he is currently holding discussions with a leading bank, to explore the possibility of engaging him for product innovations, as well as contracting him to automate its various systems.

The bank was the first to introduce Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), the use of credit cards and to open a branch outside Tanzania.

Eric has upgraded Mini Shop to an “automated accountant”, which he hopes banks will use for risk analysis and management to enable customers to access finance.

A financial and technology services company focusing on fast moving consumer goods was the second large institution to approach the young innovator.
He said the institution has shown interest in adopting Mini Shop as an easy way of accessing records of clients before they can grant loans to its clients.

Commenting on Eric’s innovation on line, a reader, Myoya, remarked: “Poverty of confidence” is what stops many of us to become innovative. We are always running for safe secure jobs but those who are able to make it are ignored. Congratulations to Eric.”

Another reader, Daniel Mbaya, commented: “Eric, I am impressed by your vision. “Problems Solved Limited” (PSL) is a “15 Bagger” and a “Top Dog” company in Tanzania. Think of floating shares to the public to increase your capital base and I will be the first to subscribe. God bless you, God bless Tanzania, God bless Africa.”

Eric has appealed to local companies to go for local cheap products instead of spending millions to buy similar and less effective products/systems abroad.

Sponsoring innovators
He says there is a heartbreaking phenomenon that sees big corporations pouring millions of shillings into sponsorships to award musicians and beauty contestants but ignore innovators, whom he says are key to simplifying human life.

“They give millions to sponsor Miss Tanzania or Kilimanjaro Music Awards. But who in this country is awarding people who use their brains to innovate things that make life easy?” he laments. One of the ideas he wants to float to local banks is for initiating an annual award for innovators.

“They award Miss Tanzania and forget the people who innovated TVs. They award musicians but forget who made a loud speaker or a guitar. Why do we have to wait for people from outside to recognise the works of locals?” he asks.
http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/-/2...d-of-enquiries

[Geza Ulole]