News
October 15, 2009—Grameen Foundation Expands Technology Program for Poor Farmers in Uganda
Community Knowledge Worker Initiative Provides Vital Information Link to Improve Agriculture. Read the full press release here.
Oct 14—Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announces $120 million in new agriculture grants, including funding for Grameen Foundation's Community Knowledge Worker Project. Read the Foundation's press release here.
October 5, 2009—AppLab Featured in New York Times
In this New York Times article, Eric Cantor, director of Grameen Foundation's AppLab Uganda initiative, explains how cell phones are being used to give Ugandans health tips and information to protect their livestock and produce.
October 4, 2009—AppLab invited to participate in SANGONeT
Eric Cantor, AppLab Uganda Manager, will participate in SANGONeT, Oct. 15 in Johannesburg. During this 5th Annual ICTs for Civil Society conference, Eric will be participating in a session entitled "Innovating on and offline."
September 25, 2009—AppLab Featured in the Economist
The Economist examines Grameen Foundation's AppLab initiative as part of its special report on "telecoms in emerging markets." David Edelstein, director of GF's ICT Innovation program, and Eric Cantor, GF's ICT Innovation AppLab director, discuss how cell phones open the door to a variety of services that benefit poor people. Read the article or Download the full report.
September 9, 2009—Eric Cantor, AppLab Uganda Manager, has accepted an invitation to present and participate in a roundtable discussion at Mobile Web Africa, Oct. 13-14 in Johanannesburg.
The title of Eric's talk will be "Reaching the Hardest to Reach: Best Practices in Mobile Application Development for Low-Income Communities" The topics covered will include:
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Challenges in delivering critical information to those who need it most
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Developing mobile-based services that allow people to access information in critical sectors
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Searching for sustainability in telecom business models serving the poor
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The road ahead for socially-relevant mobile applications
For more information on the event, please visit the Mobile Web Africa site.
August 17, 2009—Thomas Friedman discusses importance of cellphones and Internet connectivity in Africa
In this Thomas Friedman op-ed in the New York Times, Eric Cantor, manager of GF's AppLab operations in Uganda, explains the huge impact access to cellphones and the internet can have on the lives and livelihoods of those living in poor African communities.
August 10, 2009—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlights GF AppLab as example of innovation, discussed innovation in agriculture at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
During her seven-nation tour of Africa, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, together with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Kenya's Minister for Agriculture William Ruto. In her speech, Secretary Clinton cited Grameen Foundation’s recent collaboration with Google and MTN Uganda as an example of innovations that can meet some of the challenges facing African agriculture.
Washington, D.C./Kampala, Uganda, June 29, 2009—Grameen Foundation today announced the launch of a suite of mobile phone applications developed with Google and MTN Uganda (MTN) that deliver services and information that were previously unavailable to Uganda’s poor and disadvantaged communities.
For a full overview of AppLab's work in Uganda, watch the AppLab Launch Video.
AppLab in the News
The following media have covered the launch event. Click to read:
The launch event has been covered in over 50 media outlets. Click here for a complete transcript of all coverage.
