Mobile Monday is back next Monday on June 11th! This time the theme will be ICT Security Awareness, and the discussion will focus on what threats ICT has brought and how we can best protect ourselves from these threats.

Check out the full program and speakers and remember to register on Eventbrite.

Here’s the recap of last Friday’s session with Marlon Parker from Mxit Reach & RLabs. First Marlon introduced the Mxit platform – here are the quick facts: Mxit has over 50 million users making it world’s 9th largest social network, and the largest in Africa. It started in South Africa in 2005 initially spreading virally as a free messaging platform. Since then a lot of other applications have also been developed based on it, for example apps providing information, entertainment, counceling, communication, education. However, Mxit is not yet widely adopted in East Africa: Tanzania has about 25 000 Mxit users and for example Kenya about 100 000. This is something they are looking to change.

Marlon is the head of Mxit Reach, Mxit’s social arm, where they are focusing on apps with social impact in education, health & safety, economic development and advocacy. Related to this, Marlon introduced an exciting challenge for Tanzanian developers: to develop a social or social business app using Mxit especially for Tanzania. It needs to be a team effort (min. 2 people), submitted by 31st July 2012, and they asking you share the development experience with Mxit.

The winner of the challenge will get:

• Feedback from RLabs on the app development,
• Publication of your app on Mxit Reach,
• 1 000 000 Tanzanian shillings in cash, and
• 19 000 000 Tanzanian shilling worth of advertising on Mxit in East Africa.

Here are the next steps:
1) Register your developer team on code.mxit.com.
2) Submit a description of your idea to Marlon by June 10th to get feedback.
3) Submit the app by 31st July on code.mxit.com.

You can download Mxit to your mobile from m.mxit.com and all the developer tools from code.mxit.com. You can develop on Mxit using .NET SDK, Mobi Portal API and REST API. Especially with the Mobi Portal API you can get started with simple local content -based apps with html skills. Check all the details from Marlon’s presentation:

Good luck to the challenge everyone! Already at the end of the session there were 3-4 ideas that participants were going to submit as an app for the challenge!

Click on image to see full gallery

Justin Arenstein from African Media Initiative introduced us to the African News Innovation Challenge (ANIC) on January 30th 2012 and there were a lot of excited people at the Innovation Space that evening. For some time it seemed like nothing happened because it took the organizers longer than expected to open the Challenge. But like they say, good things are sometimes worth the wait – have a look at the ANIC website now: http://africannewschallenge.org!

The competition opened on May 10th and will accept submissions until July 10th. We heard the first submissions from Tanzania have already been entered to the competition!

Here’s a short quote on what the competition is about from the website:

ANIC is looking for ideas that will transform the way that African media work. This means that your idea should offer significant and tangible improvements to existing tools or techniques, or should propose new ways for African journalists to gather news, tell stories, engage with audiences, or sustain media organisations. 

So what does all that mean? Where to get started with the ideas? Last time on January 30th, there were very few journalists and media people in the Innovation Space. It was mostly techies. Now that the competition is up and running, we want to organize another session where the journalists, media practitioners and techies can really brainstorm together on ideas, applications and tools that share stories from Tanzania, engage the people and increase transparency and access to information.

We have joined forces with Tanzanian Media Fund, KINU and UhuruOne to offer create a though-provoking information and brainstorming session along these themes. The session will take place at the Innovation Space on June 9th from 10.00-14.00. The event is free of charge and TMF will generously sponsor lunch, so you need to register to help the organizers prepare for the event: http://anic-dar-june9nd.eventbrite.com.

Read more details from the flyer and share the information with your friends!

Download and share event flyer

We don’t know what has suddenly happened, but Dar developers now have to multiply themselves to be able to take part in all the interesting things that are happening!

Next weekend on Saturday June 9th, GTUG will organize a Google+ APIs  Hackathon at the KINU Hub - big hand for KINU and GTUG team for their 1st event at KINU Hub!!!

Here are all the details regarding the hackathon from Tony:

Hello Tanzanian developers! After the successful Hackathons around Africa which saw some amazing applications built, there will be one in Dar Es Salaam too! It’s being organized by the Dar Google Developer Group (Dar GTUGs).

• Learning resources and tutorials on Google+ APIs
  • Here are some links to learning resources, and tutorials to help you prepare for the hackathon and beyond. link to G+ API resources
    • Getting started on Google api blog
    • AppConsole
    • AppEngine
    • Video session on Google+ API

• Build with Us or Build Your Own
  • Throughout the day, we will be building complete Google+ applications and aiding each other. You can start building your application beforehand.
  • We will have some of the applications demoed at the end of the event and there will be giveaways for the best ones.

• What Do I Need?
  • We will provide facilities, internet, power, food, refreshments, and experts to help you learn to use Google+ APIs and write your application. Just bring your laptop, ideas, and enthusiasm to complete the mix.

• When and Where?
  • The Google+ hackathon will take place Saturday, 9th from
  • 9am to 6pm. It will be held in KINU space at Morocco KINU space

Space is limited so sign up now by filling this form: Google+ Hackathon.

Whether you’re a newcomer or pro in social media and blogging, Saturday June 16th is your day!

In the morning 10.00-13.00 René Parker will hold an RLabs-style session called Blog Your World where she’ll introduce participants to blogging as a way to tell your story and help everyone in the room to open your own blog!

In the afternoon 15.00-17.00 Jumanne Mtambalike and Tony Severine will hold a more advanced session on blogging called Blogging Beyond Basics! Check the details from the flyer below!

On this Saturday there’s no such thing as staying home…

Both events at the Innovation Space in COSTECH. No registration needed. Bring your own laptop or mobile.

Do you remember Marlon Parker’s first workshop and visit to Tanzania last November? Since then he’s joined Mxit as Head of Mxit Reach in addition to working with RLabs. Mxit was the key platform for RLabs when they set up the mobile counceling system supporting over 2 million people with problems such as drugs and hiv/aids, and now Marlon is also involved in development and future of the platform itself for social good.

This lends to an exciting opportunity as Marlon is visiting Dar briefly this Friday! He’ll hold a session at the Innovation Space this Friday 10am-1pm to introduce Mxit Reach and the developer platform to Tanzanian developers and innovators. How can you use the platform? What can you do with it? How can you customize it? What kind of phones can people use it with?

Marlon will share answers and examples to all these questions, and to make things more interested he’s promised a 1 000 000 TSH award from Mxit Reach and RLabs for the best Tanzanian app to address a social problem!

Come this Friday 10am sharp to the Innovation Space to hear more!

Here’s a YouTube video giving you an idea what to expect: