The European Commission presented on Thursay, May 4th, "Digital4Development", a strategy to mainstream digital technologies into European Union development policy, contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The EU lacks an appropriate framework for mainstreaming and ensuring an effective delivery of digital technologies and services. Digital technologies can be very useful in key areas for development, such as agriculture, job creation, access to micro-finance, education and health. The Digital4Development project is intended to be part of overall development...
The GSMA mAgri Programme forges partnerships between mobile operators, technology providers and agricultural organisations. Although it has enourmous potential, Mexico seems to have been left out by ICT for agriculture initiatives. This article presents seven reasons for which Mexican agriculture should invest in ICT related projects to lift farmers out of poverty and into the 21st century. 1. The needs of Mexican farmers are huge 3.9 million farmers out of 5.3 million in Mexico earn of less than USD 1,000 per year. 61 per cent of Mexican farmers live in poverty. The reasons for this...
The World Food Program (WFP) is officially partnering with WeRobotics to develop coordination mechanisms to guide the safe and effective use of aerial robotics (UAVs) in response to humanitarian disasters. Assisting 80 million people in around 80 countries each year, the World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. UAVs are increasingly recognised by humanitarian organizations for their potential effectiveness in disaster response...
The G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Declaration 2017 "Towards food and water security: Fostering sustainability, advancing innovation" published after the meeting held on January 22nd 2017 in Berlin, acknowledges the importance of ICTs for agricultural development, following the discussion on ICT in agriculture initiated at the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting in Xi’an in 2016. The Agriculture Ministers acknowledged the potential of ICTs for improved food chain efficiency, productivity and sustainability of agriculture, improved animal husbandry practices and for adaptation and mitigation...
After a two-year ban of unmanned aereal vehicles for non-military reasons in Kenya, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has approved draft regulations on the commercial use of drones in the country. The law will be released soon, according to governemnt officials. Kenya is the second African nation after Rwanda to grant the permission to fly drones for commercial use. An article released in May 2016 by the Daily Nation newspaper, Kenya's largest, reported that more than 1,000 applicants were already seeking regulatory approvals to operate drone-based transport services in Kenya. Among...
