Tablets

mashable, How tablets are transforming the lives of young refugees in sub-Saharan Africa "The Vodafone Foundation announced its Instant Schools for Africa program on Wednesday—an initiative providing free, unlimited access to online educational materials for young people and teachers. Developed with Learning Equality, a leading nonprofit provider of open-source educational technology, the program launched in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Tanzania."

US warns of links between Islamic State, Boko Haram

AP/Daily Mail, US warns of links between Islamic State, Boko Haram, 20 Apr 2016 "At "Ground Zero" in Africa's counterterrorism fight, senior U.S. officials warned of deepening links between the Islamic State and Boko Haram and prodded Chad's ruling strongman to introduce reforms for the sake of long-term stability."

The Islamic State’s Online Strategy and Violent Extremism in Africa

David Fidler, Into Africa: The Islamic State’s Online Strategy and Violent Extremism in Africa, 19 Apr 2016 "Military campaigns in Iraq and Syria have re-taken territory from the Islamic State and damaged it in other ways, including its ability to finance military operations. As counter-attacks continue in the Middle East, the Islamic State’s activities in Africa, especially North Africa, are increasing. These activities include a defining characteristic of the Islamic State—its use of the Internet and social media to strengthen its control of territory and advance its extremist agenda. This aspect of the group’s efforts in Africa has garnered less interest than the number of its fighters in North Africa or its territorial foothold in Libya. However, the Islamic State is applying its online strategy in Africa, which raises questions about how to respond to this development."

"There Aren’t Nearly Enough Women on the Internet"

businessweek.com, There Aren’t Nearly Enough Women on the Internet "Women in developing countries spend more time at home than men, making them less likely to be in public places where they can use computers in Internet cafes. Women are generally poorer than men and have less control over household wealth. When they have spare cash, they’re more likely to use it to pay for necessities. Women also have lower literacy rates, so they may not be able to read or type. In Barcelona last month the GSMA, the smartphone industry association, announced an international design challenge for software programmers to come up with operating systems and apps for people who are less literate—emphasizing pictures over text, for instance." Refers to this report: Women and the Web: Bridging the Internet gap and creating new global opportunities in low and middle-income countries (PDF). I have yet to read this report (which has a commercial edge to it).  Also see Cherie Blair Foundation, Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity

Potential researchers on this subject can contact me via this blog.

ubuntunet

New high-speed internet connects African research to world - University World News:
"An African-led high-speed internet network has been launched to connect academics and researchers throughout Southern and East Africa to peers across the two regions and in Europe. The network will promote African collaboration in research globally."

Digital revolution Africa

Digital revolution lights up Africa with maps, mobiles, money and markets | World news | The Guardian:

Africa internet

From farming to films: how the web is changing Africa | World news | The Observer

Africa? There's an app for that

Wired UK, Africa? There's an app for that

Sub-Saharan Africa

ThisDay (Tanzania), Tanzanians go to church, the mosque and the witch doctor, 21 Apr 2010, "As sub-Saharan Africa looks to the future, an intriguing attachment remains to the traditional beliefs that many Christian and Muslim leaders condemn.

"Though it may be that influences from beyond Africa, not least those available through the power of the internet, may yet contribute most to changes in the religious landscape in future."

This is an informative article. Take a look at the Pew Forum survey, Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa, April 15, 2010. The full report is available as a pdf - which should make for fascinating reading

Report: ICT in Sub-Saharan Africa

Open Net Initiative, Internet filtering in Sub-Saharan Africa "Many sub-Saharan African governments view the Internet as a key tool for development and are developing ICT policies accordingly, though the region still lags behind the rest of the world in both number and percentage of Internet users. Sub-Saharan Africa has a history of media abuses and restrictions on freedom of the press, and the region would seem a likely setting for equally restrictive Internet policies. However, ONI testing found evidence of a technical filtering regime in only one country, Ethiopia. As the Internet continues to develop in sub-Saharan Africa, so too will laws regulating its use. To what extent these laws will encourage education, commerce and online governance or restrict free expression largely remains to be seen."

The report clearly has significant implications in its discussions on a variety of Muslim contexts, although I haven't read it yet.

Download available: Open Net Initiative, Sub-Saharan Africa [pdf]