The ICT4D Conference organising committee is pleased to announce the "Call for Speakers" to the 11th ICT4D conference which will take place on April 30th to May 3rd 2019 in Kampala, Uganda. ICT4D conference is a yearly gathering that bring together public, private and civil society organizations from across the humanitarian and international development community. Participants share how they have used innovations in technology to solve today's humanitarian and developmental issues and also how ICTs increase impact of their work. Conference themes for 2019 Agriculture Digital Financial...
Collecting data in the field has always been a headache for researchers, students, aid projects, and international organizations alike. Thanks to technology, we can now collect data through using mobile technology and replace the traditional approaches. Despite the advances in technology, haphazardly collected data tends to be a headache to analyse. In order to support the use of mobile phones and other handheld devices, US Global Development Lab and their partners have published the “ Paper-to-Mobile Data Collection” manual. Paper-to-Mobile Data Collection: A manual This manual was designed...
This conference is being collaboratively organized by AFITA, INFITA, and INSAIT with the aim to coalesce the 'Research Frontiers in Precision Agriculture' for sharing the recent advances in Remote Sensing & GIS, ICTs, IoAgT, sensor networks, image processing, robotics, machine learning, big...
An interesting article appeared in The Guardian and reports that Dutch scientists say they can create millions of bee-like drones to take over if the insects die out. This comes at a timely moment when bees and other pollinators are reported to be under threat. In a recent report the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations noted that “present species extinction rates are 100 to 1 000 times higher than normal due to human impacts”. The solution of robotic bees by scientists at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands is an example of using ICTs to tackle world’s...
The GSMA today announced a new Innovative Fund for Rural Connectivity seeking to expand digital inclusion in Ghana and Uganda. The Fund will provide grants up to £300,000 and is open to eligible companies who can deploy solutions in Uganda or Ghana and is implemented in partnership with MTN Uganda and Vodafone Ghana respectively. Projects eligible for funding should employ innovative ways to deploy mobile broadband networks in rural areas with partnerships with a mobile operator and projects should be commercially viable and scalable in similar environments. The Innovation Fund for Rural...
Thomson Reuters Foundation profiles young farmers who have stayed on the farms despite a drift of young people from farming in Africa. According to the African Development Bank , Africa has the world’s youngest population with 60% of its 1.2 billion people under 25. Yet Africa’s young people are off the farms. There is hope that technology such as mobile telephony – where Africa penetration rates remain high – could be a rallying point to bring young farmers back to the fields. Meanwhile, developed nations turn to robots, blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve...
The growing world population means that food production will have to increase to meet the growing demand. ICTs are touted as one of the boosters and possible contributors to increased agricultural productivity. In a recent blog , it has been argued that the Internet of Things is one of such technologies to be watched. The Internet of Things in agriculture is construed as a “group of technologies that include soil sensors, cameras, weather stations and other technological gadgets that gather data about farming activities”. The data obtained is analysed by algorithms and other software and...
CTA has launched a Call for Proposals to support the implementation of blockchain use cases addressing the agri-food sector in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific countries. Proposals must be submitted by Monday 12 November 2018, in English or French. A maximum of six grants will be awarded. The maximum amount per grant is Euro 60,000. The objective of this call is to support the implementation of blockchain uses cases addressing the agri-food sector in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific countries, in order to contribute to its transformation. Information for applicants A maximum of six grants...
Xinhua News reports that FAO is going to use the new digital tool to fight the fall armyworm in South Sudan. The article further reports that FAO will distribute electronic tablets to 220 villagers to help monitor, track and share the information about the location and spread of the fall armyworm infestations. Related news on Fall Army worm FAO launches mobile application to support fight against Fall Armyworm in Africa FAO launches guide to tackle Fall Armyworm in Africa head-on Briefing Note on FAO Actions on Fall Armyworm in Africa We reproduce the full article for the e-Agriculture...
Land cover changes can impact many areas of life. These changes can affect deforestation, ecological communities, wildfire extent, and urban growth. This advanced series will focus on using satellite imagery to map changes in land cover. Attendees will learn change detection methods, including...
This conference is being collaboratively organized by AFITA, INFITA, and INSAIT with the aim to coalesce the 'Research Frontiers in Precision Agriculture' for sharing the recent advances in Remote Sensing & GIS, ICTs, IoAgT, sensor networks, image processing, robotics, machine learning, big...
