EntErprISE

THE FACE OF INNOVATION

CD SALES: kenya kES 200 | rwanda rWF 3,000 | Tanzania TZS 5,200 | Uganda UGX 5,000 | ISSUE 8

tEchnology
NEW
APPLICATIONS GALORE EAST AFRICA THE TOP 20 > Financial
> Social services

> > > > > >

Whistleblowers Games Government Sports Health Entertainment

Incumbents takes a backbench as rookie innovators jump into the fray

Going, going...gone digital

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ISSUE 8 | 2012

10

13

STAYING AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION: HOW TO kEEP INNOVATION ALIVE IN YOUr COMPANY and re-invent YOUr brAND

44 14

AN ENIGMA ALIVE, AN ICON DEAD

6 | INNOVATION EAST AFRICA 8 | INSIGHT

17 | PERSPECTIVE ON THE KILLER APP

18

INNOVATION TOP 20
EAST AFrICAS MOST PrOMISING APPLICATIONS

17

GOOD rEADING African Apps in a Global Marketplace By Andrew Mugoya

HOW TO USE ET DIGITAL MAGAZINE Search the PDF for a keyword or a topic of interest. You will be taken to all instances of that word. Get additional information by placing your mouse over a topic or word to see an active link that will take you to a website with more information when you click it Send email directly by clicking an email address in the magazine

EVENTS
Top row: YouTube Uganda launchguests enjoy the multicoloured fun; Huawei Director at the launch;Enterprise Technology staff practice their TV careers Bottom row: Orange Expo; Simon Kaheru, Director SMS Media at the Mobile Monday App Circus Kampala; App Circus winning team (Mafuta Go) to present at the Mobile Premier Awards in Barcelona

EntErprISE tEchnology
Managing Editor Joyce Kyeyune Tonda

Copyright 2012 ICT Creatives. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without ICT CrEATIVES EXPrESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WArrANTIES, WHETHEr EXPrESS Or IMPLIED. IN NO EVENT SHALL ICT CrEATIVES bE LIAbLE FOr ANY DAMAGES OF ANY kIND ArISING FrOM THE USE OF Or rELIANCE ON ANY INFOrMATION PrOVIDED IN THIS PUbLICATION. All correspondence to ICT Creatives, P. O. Box 30532, Kampala, Uganda Tel: +256 414 266 423 Plot 4667, Ggaba Road, Kampala permission from the editor.

Enterprise Technology offers technology services through its network of leading IT Consultants.

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Innovative companies are like salads. They value diversity and have created an environment where different perspectives are encouraged, a variety of people thrive, and new ideas are rewarded.
The Ever-Evolving Enterprise: Guidelines for Creating Your Companys Future By Stephen C. Harper, Brett Martin

innovation east africa

LExICON

Android: An operating system for mobile phones which has become the defacto platform for developers. It is managed by the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 85 companies, led by Google. From a market share of 2% in 2009, the Android smartphones now hold a 52% global selling average according to global researcher, Gartner. API: An abbreviation of Application Programming Interface, this a set of tools and protocols that enables developers to create software applications.

killer App: A highly innovative app that decimates kills the competition literally

Permissions: Before a user downloads an application, it will usually display all critical services and data it will need. The user can then decide whether they are comfortable with the app accessing their data or device resources. This has been popularized in Facebook apps.

Hackathon: Like a marathon where runners compete, a hackathon brings together developers to create an application in a limited period of time which may be 48 hours, days or weeks. Linux platform developers refer to this as Codefest.

ZUBEDI THE CTO

Absalom I found this really nice app that helps you find a wife, so I downloaded it... Then why are you crying? I gave my personal details and physical features... I selected Brenda from the list but now on the screen I see they have given me a Ms. TrojanSMS.exe

Then...

EXCErPT: Science, Technology and Innovation in Uganda: Recommendations for Policy and Action
ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 8 | 2012

Explore opportunities to pilot technology demonstration projects to show local businesses how to jumpstart scientific processes or technological capabilities needed at the local level. Fund the creation of a centre for computer science research, development,

and training to develop the capabilities needed to aid and support inudstry.

Analyze the institutional landscape in terms of knowledge partnerships with collaborators (across all key science and technology sectors, nationally or internationally) to ascertain

opportunities to forge, optimize, and sustain knowledge parternships in critical science and technology areas.

Sukhdeep Brar, Sara E Farley, Caroline S. Wagner, Robert Hawkins. The World Bank (2012)

He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils, for time is the greatest innovator.

Quoted

Francis Bacon, English Philosopher

innovation east africa

INNOVATION NUMBERS EAST AFRICA

14
Average age of East African students trained by the Kenyan branch of US based app development firm, Ruby Nuby

27
Percentage of total apps which focused on mobile payments and commerce submitted for the Pivot25 competition held in July 2011
Before: A massive cumbersome immovable single purpose contraption. After: A lightweight, mobile gadget capable of multiple functions, from finding places to a personal jukebox all the way to virtual shopping.

2007
Year that the globally renowned mobile banking innovation, MPESA was launched in Kenya

SAVE THE DATE FOR APP DEVELOPERS

27th Feb -1st Mar 12
Mobile World Conference 2012: Visit App Planet, the words largest gathering of app developers Pivot East: Call for entries to mobile applications competition now in its second year

35,000
Euros received as payment by a Ugandan developer for his innovative application

Jan 2012

Jan 30th 2012

Intel AppUpSM developer challenge: Web Apps Edition

Feb 2012
World Summit Awards Winners Conference and Gala, Cairo, Egypt

1,900,000
Funding secured in 2011 in US$ by Ushahidi Crowdsourcing platform based in Kenya

DEVELOPER PLATFORMS IN EAST AFRICA

driven innovation to ensure that breakthrough low-cost, high-value mobile solutions can be developed into sustainable businesses ---Tandaa kenya A brand of the Kenya ICT Board, it exists to support the development of local digital content in Kenya and provide seed money for techpreneurs. ---iHub Nairobis innovation hub for technologists, investors, tech companies and hackers in the area. ---

---Hive Colab An open, collaborative, community for young tech entrepreneurs to develop apps and showcase them to the public. ---m:lab East Africa The consortium facilitates demand-

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 8 | 2012 7

Google Technology User Groups (GTUGs) User groups for people who are interested in Googles developer technology

Note: In Rwanda, various youth projects focusing on the development of ICT are regularly funded to develop innovations. --Nokia Developers East Africa A platform that discusses everything relating to apps development as well as resources for developers --MobileMonday (MoMo) is an open community platform of mobile industry visionaries, developers and influential individuals who manage local chapters in over 100 cities worldwide. There are chapters in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania meeting on Mondays.

insight

Move over inc. , the rookies turn has come

Thereve been many such get togethers where developers are given a platform to convince lesser mortals about the magic of their innovations but the last quarter of 2011 has been especially significant as some of these apps actually got round to churning out some disposable income or global recognition.

he enthusiasm with which those 20 somethings justified their innovations was enough to get the greatest cynic interested in figuring out just how much money was going to be made from these unconventionally named apps.

What is especially striking is that the rookie developers are young, fresh from school and full of solutions to save the world. While companies are tied up in the quagmire of keeping their competitors down and making supernormal fortunes, the socialists are not yet purely driven by monetary compensation-recognition will do. And so they create and tweak, refining and expanding features and as long as they have a couple of hundred downloads, these rookies are happy. This issue is dedicated to innovation because here at ET we believe that this will herald in an era of entrepreneurship in East Africa as more and more young people discover that they have within them the potential to create their own employment by harnessing technology. Ultimately innovations will change the way companies do business, making them more relevant and therefore increasing their profit potential. Technology can solve unemployment problems, address service delivery, enable good governance and enhance global knowledge sharing. While these social niceties may not necessarily be everybodys cup of tea, they do result in improved quality of life.

The rookies have a lot to teach corporations - in lieu of donating blankets and sweeping sprawling slums-they can actually engage in Corporate Social Responsibility that has a lasting transformative effect- innovating apps that can improve life in the long term. The top 50 are essentially those apps that we believe will have the greatest reach, mainstream appeal and of course an element of newness where they deliver value faster, easier and more efficiently. And on that note, Enterprise Technology is going to be bringing you an innovation of its own-a technology TV drama spiced up with exciting information, over the top interviews and personalities who will have you tuned in and glued boosting your interest in technology and its marvels.
ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 8 | 2012

Heres to greater innovation in 2012! JOYCE KYEYUNE TONDA MANAGING EDITOR

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executive discussion

JOSHUA MUSASIZI

Head of Operations, African Vending Systems-Payway

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ou were established in 2009 in Africa. Whats the story? Well the founders are from Russia and thats where the story begins. Previously in Russia all payments were made using scratch cards; from paying for TV to electricity and water. Every time you wanted to top up you had to buy a card, get a pin number and reload. We often find it tedious to queue and pay bills or visit the bank because they are open during working hours and yet, paradoxically we are supposed to be at work during working hours. To address the problems of queues, inefficient

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 8 | 2012

tellers, wasted time, online purchases and all the other inconveniences of traditional payment methods the founders established African Vending Systems as an easy electronic payment system aware that the challenges faced in Russia were very similar to the ones Africans faced. Under the brand Payway, this electronic payment system was designed to service multiple vendors because a user would be able to pay bills, bank, pay for TV, airtime and any range of services that can be bought from different companies and service providers. All payments are done electronically.

...collecting payments is not the core business of utility companies or telecos for example; if someone with the expertise can do it better then it should be left to them to handle it. This helps companies focus on doing their core business excellently.
It makes sense because collecting payments is not the core business of utility companies or telecos for exampleif someone with the expertise can do it better then it should be left to them to handle it. This helps companies focus on doing their core business excellently.

Joshua Musasizi is surprised and pleasantly delighted that we are 10 minutes early for our interview. For me business moves at the speed of light. I often assess character by the ability to keep time.

In Africa we started off with Kenya and then moved to Uganda which is now our African base from which we shall extend to other countries in the region. We currently have 20 locations with our kiosks in Kampala and about 100 retailers with our mobile Point of Service terminals.

Your payment network is the first of this kind in East Africa. Is it reliable? Service providers have realized that they can sell better and sell more through our Kiosks, our Mobile Point of Sale units and the Web based Interface while customers benefit from the convenience, ubiquity of payment locations and speed of transactions. Our kiosks are placed in public places like retail outlets, cinemas, and other high traffic areas where you select the service you want to pay for airtime, TV, internet, select the vendor, enter your subscriber number and once your cash is verified instantly your account is credited. In addition you get a receipt with an ID of the terminal, the date, the time, the operator, and the amount of money you paid. Within a few seconds the transaction is complete, compared to 10-15 minutes queuing at a service providers office.

where the internet is not very accessible. The PoS is a handheld device managed by an individual who will help the customer go through the entire payment process.

executive discussion
Our only job as Payway is to facilitate payments not to sell services, so if a customer indeed does not get the service they paid for airtime in this case, the problem is usually with the service provider who may be experiencing technical problems, which has been the case with one teleco this month. We have thoroughly tested all the security loopholes both human and non-human to ensure that our service is safe to use.

With the webbased interface you simply log in and pay for services using your virtual wallet. This is especially useful for customers who do not have the time to leave their offices to clear bills, buy airtime and other time consuming tasks. The mobile Point of Service has proved useful in rural areas, small trading centres (we have them in places as far as Ntungamo, Kalangala and Mbarara) where

Another user said he inserted a 2,000 note and claimed that he did not get his airtime. We sent in our customer care rep who opened the machine and upon examining the cassette did not see any 2,000 note. The machine organizes the money in all the different denominations. We are thoroughly transparent, accurate and all the transactions can be seen in real time.

Who regulates your service if I have a complaint against you? Whoever the regulator might be we are not yet certain, however in the event of arbitration all transactions will leave either a digital or paper trail so justice will always be done. The regulator can access our database and do all the verification

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ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 8 | 2012

We have heard some interesting stories, for example at one of the kiosks in Nalyaa we had people asking for permission to take their pictures beside the kiosks. Other people have been fearful of failing to use the terminals but usually once they try it, they realize how easy and convenient it is and they go and tell their colleagues about it. I have often sat and observed that wow-it-works moment when a person comes to the kiosk for the first time to buy airtime for example and they receive a confirmation instantly on their mobile phone- the smile on their faces is amazing. (Our wow moment came when we tried to buy airtime and instantly the logo of the service provider changed.)

How different is your service from mobile money offered by various telecos? Mobile money is strictly for transferring money via a mobile phone; thats the only way it works and it is vendor dependent. Payway works on three platforms; the self-service kiosk, the mobile PoS and the web interface so issues of downtime and delayed payments are non-existent. For example ever since we started our operations in Uganda in May 2010 our system has been down only once-for about 6 hours. We are vendor neutral and we accept payment for all services. We also have an accountability system where users are given detailed receipts that can always be referred to if they encounter a problem with the service.

Furthermore, all our staff have undergone both technical and customer friendly training to deal with any customer queries. We even have a toll free line which is available 24 hours everyday- all you have to do is quote your receipt number and your problem.

Once we get fully integrated with the banks users will also be able to transfer money from the bank to their virtual wallet and then pay for the services they need. You will also be able to transfer money from one virtual wallet to another.

Is your system fool proof? Every transaction you perform on our network is visible to us. For example, we have a machine at Tirupati and someone called to say he put in his 50,000/= and the screen went back to the home screen before activating his orange internet. However, the machine cannot accept any money before a subscriber number is input- its a step by step process because the money has to be tied to unique number.

Can I use dollars in the kiosk? How about other currencies? Or counterfeit notes? There is a dollar function though right now it is not in use. The machine knows the dollar rateit is programmed in the system; however, we have deactivated it for now because all service providers would have to provide different dollar rates which would significantly complicate the payment process for the user. However for a service provider like Multichoice, the machine has been customized to accept dollars at the Multichoice exchange rate since payments have to be made in dollars. The machine is programmed to work with the currency of the country. In Kenya it will only accept Kenyan Shillings, in Uganda it only accepts Ugandan Shillings. If you put in anything else, a paper or card or counterfeits, it will eject it.

executive discussion
necessary. How do you guarantee the security of money inside these kiosks? Can thieves carry it away? (Joshua laughs, contemplating an answer) Yes they can be picked and taken away, however these particular ones are designed to be indoors and monitored by security. There are outdoor units which are more robust and near impossible to movebut they are currently not available in Uganda. Which type of vendors have found Payway most attractive? Currently our client list includes Uganda Telecom, MTN, Orange, Airtel, DSTv and Star TimesTV, Warid Telecom and Datanet. We are in talks with banks to integrate our service with them so that very soon customers will be able to deposit money on their bank accounts via Payway.

We are system programmers, we wake up everyday thinking about how we can make Payway more useful to customers. Heres a great example. We had a client come in and request to have airtime of 50,000 UGX given to each of his 120 employees. These employees were all on different networks and the process had to be done manually and accurately otherwise any mistake

figure out how to make it a reality. Soon you will be able to pay for grocery shopping at Uchumi, Nakumatt, fuel, school fees- for example St Lawrence University now accepts fees payment through the Payway network. We also plan to enable online payments and integrate international vendors like Paypal for example.

12

How else can these terminals be How do i profit by having used? one of these kiosks on my Theres commercial targeted premises? What is the advertising on the kiosks. process of getting a kiosk Our terminals have screens When a client walks up to us and asks on my premises? which users can see and the Businesses can benefit whether our system can perform a certain machines can be programmed by earning commission task we say: Yes, and then we figure out how to show advertising based on on sales made using the what users have paid for. If for to make it a reality. kiosks. However we do not example a user pays for Warid necessarily give kiosks to airtime, the system will then every business; we have to show a PakaSurf advert. If the user pays for in the numbers would be a loss on our first assess the traffic on the premises Airtel it may show something about Kika part. After that horrendous experience I and determine whether it makes business Too Good. gathered our team of programmers and we sense for us to have a kiosk or a mobile developed a system for batch processing. What do you do apart from PoS. If you want to become an agent/dealer With that system all we had to do was copy programming? you simply fill in an application form, and paste the numbers and the system Programming takes a toll on you. When we will come to the site and assess the would automatically give them the airtime. Im not at work I spend time at home suitability. We try to anticipate customer needs and with family looking after my three young Currently theres TV, Internet and then program the system to satisfy that children- two girls and one boy and my Airtime, what other services might need. When a client walks up to us and older child- my wife. Its refreshing. we be able to access with the Payway asks whether our system can perform a system? certain task we say: Yes, and then we

If I have a service that I want customers to buy through Payway how do I get onto your network? The most important requirement is to have an Application Programming Interface (API) which simply enables software applications to talk to each other in terms of how certain tasks should be performed without the user being aware of the backdoor communication. So the API would help your service talk to our system. If it makes business sense we would be happy to integrate your service into our system, we benefit from the commission off your sales.

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 8 | 2012

How to keep innovation alive in your company and re-invent your brand
Joyce kyeyune Tonda ompanies tend to want to play it safehiring cookie cutter employees who fit in with our corporate culture. While this plays out well for maintaining a brand image, it does zilch for keeping the wheel of innovation spinning. preconceived ideas about how things should be done when there is no real logic and it all boils down to personal preference. Innovators, however, are people who upset the cart and discover that consumers have actually been looking for something new.

STAYING AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION

Weve seen the dramatic climb of companies that birthed an innovation-a change in the way things are done, a new product or service that offers new value but then over time weve seen those same companies slowly fade eventually becoming irrelevant to the audiences that once heralded their arrival. We know that those companies have eventually been swallowed up in mergers, bankruptcy, low value deals or mass exodus of employees. What do companies need to do to keep innovation alive and survive the onslaught of fierce competition?

C
1 2

enterprise innovation

Some managers are too engrossed in daily operations that they do not see the signs of the times-trends that are going to affect their businesses. Social media for example has long been on the scene and while a few companies took note and started harnessing its marketing power, others continued with expensive traditional marketing to their detriment.

Keep your ear to the ground

Innovators are people who question everything-can it be done more efficiently, more creatively, totally differently? Often we have

Turn the apple cart

Companies live with a common falsity that managers have all the best ideas, however it is usually unheard break away factions in the lowest rungs that often end up building rival companies with great innovations. Clever companies invite everyone to suggest an idea for improvement.

Invite the rank and file to the roundtable

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 8 | 2012 13

Logic says this is professional suicide but on the flipside hiring different types of people provides different solutions for old problems. Maintain a set of values that you hold dear in your company-integrity, loyalty, commitment, hardwork but dissenting opinion should have its field day as long as it can be justified with facts and figures.

Hire dissenting opinion

Customers needs are constantly growing and fluctuating and although they cannot all be satisified there are needs that are constantly echoed. Companies need to think like the customer not like the service provider in order to be able to innovate a new way of providing an old service. Apples Steve Jobs was a stickler for this-all the technologies iPod, iPhone, iPad he invented addressed his own pet peeves. If something irks you- it probably irks most people too-solve it.

Be the customer

STEVEJOBS
An enigma alive, an icon dead, what did that odd i nomenclature really mean?

1955-2011

On October 5th the man who had been the fulcrum of Apples revolutionary products- the iMac Book, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Tributes flowed far and wide, from Barack Obama to David Cameron to rivals like Microsofts Bill Gates, Samsungs GS Choi with whom Apple was embroiled in a patents battle, to media maestro Rupert Murdorch. From China 35 million tributes were sent in and Jobs death became one of the most talked about events in recent history 14 14 with 10,000 tweets per second.

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

e was known as the egomaniac of Silicon Valley and was officially acknowledged as one of Americas toughest bosses in 1993.

Several theories have been suggested for the unique i naming trend that Apple adapted. One theory suggests that this unconventional naming policy was copied from Intel around the time Intel wanted to brand their versions in the 80s. The i stood for Intel and was placed before a numerical representation of a version e.g. i8768, instead of just 8768. Another theory suggests it stands for internet since many of the Apple products provide access to the web. Then there are the more romantic theories, suggesting that it i stands for this is a highly personalised, customized and user-friendly device you can call your own.

In 1998, at the Apple Back on Track when Steve Jobs introduced the iMac computer to the world amd he displayed a slide that supported the romanticists; the i stood for: internet; individual; instruct; inform and inspire, because it did all of those things for the individual. Was he an innovator who believed what worked for him, what solved his problems, would probably do the same for everyone else? Your son might walk with an iPod everywhere he goes, your daughter might be glued to her Mac computer and your spouse might be begging you to get them the latest iPhone. You might use iTunes software to arrange your Michael Jackson collection and your toddler might love that Pixar-animated movie;Toy Story or A Bugs Life. Whatever Apple product has made its way into your life, Steve Jobs is responsible

for its innovative features, sleek design and marketability.

tribute

Perhaps Jobs was a highly individualistic person who believed in the philosophy of self? After all, when he resumed as Apples CEO in 1997 he got rid of all their philanthropic programs, claiming that they should wait to make profit then think about giving it away to charity. Was he a narcissist? Does the i in those brand names actually stand for Steve Jobs himself?

Melissa Kyeyune melissakyeyune@yahoo.com

Regardless of his motivation and shades of egomania, Jobs justifiably brought technology home- by taking the complex out of it and making it simple, beautiful and useful- all the those characteristics we value in our lives.

TIMELINE OF INNOVATION

1985 1976

Launches Apple Computer with Wozniak

Fired as Apple CEO for arrogance, failed projects and a failed board coup

1995

2003

Box Office success of Toy Story released by Pixar and Jobs worth is at $1.5 bn

Jobs diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

2011

Jobs resigns as Apple CEO and dies a few months later

Introduced to computers by Wozniak Stephen

1969

1980

Launches massively successful Apple II and the company goes public

1988

1996

Releases NeXT Cube PC but sales flounder

Job returns to Apple after it buys his NEXTSTEP software for Apple whose market share has been falling steadily

2007

iPhone wows the industry as the ultimate digital convergence debice

1991 1972-74 1986

Married in Buddhist Ceremony Intrigued by Eastern Mysticism, travels to India adopts vegetable and fruit diet Buys Pixar -Computer graphics company from George Lucas for $10 million

Job once again stuns the world with the digital music device iPod

2011

Jobs valued at $8.3 bn

1980

Steve Jobs worth $200 million at age 25

1998

The stunning white design iMac is introduced and puts Apple back on the map

2010

iPad unveiled with immense success

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ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 8 | 2012

2001

THE FACE OF INNOVATION

NEW

APPLICATIONS GALORE EAST AFRICA THE TOP 20 > Financial

> Social services

> > > > > >

Whistleblowers Games Government Sports Health Entertainment

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ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 88 | 2012 ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE | 2012

PERSPECTIVE ON THE KILLER APP

Veronica Ssempebwa hat is a killer app? Originality in idea: To create the perfect app, one must have an original idea, an idea not seen before. In this increasingly competitive industry, it is important for innovators to constantly come up with new ideas that are not only practical, but also new and exciting to the market. Usability: How easily adaptable would people be to this new app? No matter how great and useful your app is, if it is very complicated for the end user it will not succeed, especially in a commercial setting.

innovation top 20

Commercial aspect: Can you actually make money from this app? Unless you are in the charity business you need to develop an application that you can actually make money from! If it is one that allows per user subscription, so much the better. It is more astute to make smaller revenues over a long period of time than try and make huge profits in one kill. Successfully commercializing the app: Make it free the first time you launch it. This removes the hurdles for first time users. Manage it by providing user names for anyone interested in gaining access. Once you have a large number of users, then you can levy a users fee once people are addicted. When the users numbers grow constantly, then revenue can also be gained through advertising. Advertisers are very interested in wide user networks for massive coverage of their products.

Veronica Ssempebwa is the General Manager for SW Global, an African founded application services provider with operations in 10 countries across the world. Veronica Ssempebwa has 10 years experience working in financial services and ICT sectors. She holds a Masters Degree in International Business from the University of Wolverhampton, England. SW Global is one of the first globally competitive technology companies to emerge from West Africa and penetrate the global information technology (IT) market.The SW Global model is a unique adaptation of the now well-known ASP model. The company is successfully implementing a new paradigm that is based upon world-class, cutting-edge applications development and delivery. Its software as service business focuses on:financial Intermediation ;Consumer Aggregation and Application Service Provision.

My killer app The online reservation system: Its a massive time saver as you only need to sit at your desk and book whatever service you need. Works for users who need to book on short notice. Administrative costs are lowered for any business that uses an online reservation system. Provides the owners of the service a wider network coverage It often provides you the best bargains for say hotels, tickets, holidays, travel

rECOMMENDED rEADING
http://www.afriapps.com/ post/african-apps-in-aglobal-marketplace

Download ebook from

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 8 | 2012 17

innovation top 20

Mafuta GO: Keeps you up to date with fuel prices in stations near you around the city helping you save on fuel costs. (Uganda) Website: http://mafutago.appspot.com

GetH2O Mtaani: If you love strategy games you will enjoy this game which involves survival in an African ghetto where you have to battle gangs, find clean water, earn money and prosper. (Kenya) Website: www.geth20game.com

MedAfrica: Users subscribe to a number of health services including symptom checkers, first-aid information, doctor & hospital directories (Kenya) Website: www.shimbamobile.com e-Soko: Gives farmers, consumers and traders accurate market text messages on commodities and prices. It is currently used in 50 markets with plans for increased usage. (Rwanda ) Website: http://www.esoko.gov.rw

Nikohapa: This app enables you to earn loyalty points for visiting different locations in Nairobi thus providing businesses an opportunity to reward their most loyal customers. Nikohapa translates to I am here. (Kenya) Website: www.nikohapa.com

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY ISSUE 8 | 2012

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Shoppers Delight: Helps consumers compare prices across various retailers and find and receive bargain alerts (Kenya) Website: www.market.android.com

Matatu: Fastest downloaded application in Uganda- it is an electronic rendition of the card game popularly played in Uganda, where an individual has to finish playing all their cards before their opponent. There are plans to introduce Matatu tournaments (Uganda) Website: www.market. android.com

innovation top 20

ZWord: Fun educational tool that teaches children how to spell as they destroy zombies. Website: http://www.facebook.com/Zword

iCow: Gives diary farmers information on keeping their cows healthy from diseases, improving milk production, care during gestation and the nearest vet. (Kenya) Website: www.icow.co.ke

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Loopa: In Luganda, the word loopameans to report to the authorities. Loopa is an eco visualizing tool that enables the community to report water pollution in their area (Uganda) Website: http://wedcomuganda.com/loopa

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innovation top 20

kivuko: Enjoy online shopping in Tanzania with various payment methods including mpesa, airtel money, bank, paypal or Visa credit card (Tanzania) Website: www.kivuko.com

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Msema kweli: (Msema Kweli which means Truth teller) enables citizens to hold area MPs accountable for development in their constituencies by providing information on the use of donor funds, government funds, World Bank and the work of local NGOs. (Kenya) Website:http://msemakweli.ihub.co.ke/pages/ home.php

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kasha: Securely save/ backup all your important text messages for life. Texts of mobile transactions, evidence, dates and other details. (Kenya) Website: www.kasha.mobi

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Map the crap: This app provides visualizations of latrines that need emptying, thus saving cesspool emptiers many rounds in one area. It will also identify hotspots where sewage is being dumped and needs to be removed. (Uganda) Website: http://mapthecrap.freezoka.net

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Eat Out : This comprehensive guide will give you prices of your favourite restaurants from fast food to fine dining based on location, type of event, and even type of cuisine anywhere in Nairobi. Info about each restaurant includes wi-fi access, wine lists, maps and reviews. (Kenya) Website: www.eatout.co.ke

Hewa: If youre a fan of Kenyan music, Hewa is a one stop shop where you can access all Kenyan local music, buy using airtime on your phone, or simply listen without downloading (Kenya) Website: www.hewa.co.ke

innovation top 20

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MDGMaps: Generates printable maps that show performance in each of the Millinneium Development Goals in different locations in the world (Uganda) Website: mdgmaps. appspot.com Cheki: Use it to find car buyers and car sellers -4WDs, pikipikis, matatus, buses, trucks throughout East Africa and communicate by SMS or email (Kenya) Website: www.cheki.co.ke

Umuhuza Hi-Tech brokers An SMS-based real estate application that allows customers to search for houses, apartments, and land for rent or for sale with a simple text message. (Rwanda) Website: http://www.facebook. com/pages/Umuhuza-Hi-TechBrokers-Ltd

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brighter Monday: Job seekers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania can use it to receive alerts on job types they have specified as well as apply for the jobs directly within the app Website: www.brightermonday .com

al onals m ion ssi osiu eg fe R ro mp P y Sy ng log ou no Y h ec T

g in rt y ta log s o p n m h ju ec t ca ri Af st Ea
Kampala, Uganda April 20th-21st 2012

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