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Need To Find a Hackerspace In Africa? Check This Map
pigrabbitbear writes "These days you can crowd-map just about anything, from Hurricane Irene to what you eat for breakfast, as long as you either have a phone or a basic internet hook-up. One of the largest and most used platforms for crowd-sourced mapping is Ushahidi (Swahili for 'witness'), an open-sourced platform has been used for tracking and mobilizing movement around more serious topics. Ushahidi was used in developing Syria Tracker, a crowd-sourcing of reported deaths in the conflict in Syria. Now the Ushahidi platform is putting technology hubs in Africa on the map. The map, simply named Tech Hubs in Africa, was launched by Bongohive, a self described non-profit technology and innovation hub located in Lasaka, Zambia for one purpose: To have likeminded organizations across Africa — notorious for low levels of tech infrastructure — begin plotting the locations of tech hubs available around the continent right now."
Can't help wondering why hackerspaces in France are plotted on this map
"That's either incredibly asinine or the most brilliant troll I've ever read. Not sure which." -Anonymous Coward
You mean Lusaka, Zambia?
I found this post "Informative" for two reasons:
1. Kwanza is Swahili
2. Kwanza means "first"
--both of which I didn't know until I read it.
Some of these sites, like MEST (Meltwater) are quite promising, but it is yet to be seen if they will produce good coders. The "tinkerer" economies (Japan, southern China, Singapore, Korea) with few natural resources have always seemed to leapfrog the natural-resource based economies, but most of the investment in Africa has been in resources. Nations earning $3.5k per person per year are getting online at 10 times the rate of growth of the OECD. The tinkering there has a lot of potential. The most opportunity currently is probably in repair and refurbishing, but eventually programming may follow. http://bit.ly/xAMhds I'd like to see all the internet cafes, used computer stores, etc. put on the map as well.
Gently reply
I found this post "Informative" for two reasons:
1. Kwanza is Swahili 2. Kwanza means "first"
--both of which I didn't know until I read it.
No, 'Kwanza' means 'post' and 'post' means first. Both are Swahili.
Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis
No, 'Kwanza' means 'post' and 'post' means first. Both are Swahili.
And yet, if 1P had said "Post Kwanza" we would've immediately looked at our calendars to check. :)
Jesus, people. Do your research.
The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka, not Lasaka. I realize this is a copy/paste from TFA but I thought I'd point it out anyway.
www.clarke.ca
I've actually been to the first place on the list (Macha), they are doing some very innovative things, like putting internet cafes into converted cargo containers. Macha is in the middle of nowhere, which just goes to show that there are smart and capable people everywhere you go. It's -20C where I am right now, I wish I was in Macha instead