Thursday, March 01, 2007

The VillagePDA

Perhaps interesting that this project appears to be dead....

"FIRST AFRICAN TRIAL OF VILLAGEPDA - FISHING FOR CHEAP RURAL CONNECTIVITY
The first sub-$25 PDA is about to be "road-tested" by the fishing community of Kenya’s Lake Victoria. A partnership between Environmental Liaison Centre International (ELCI) and the PDA’s creators, MediaSolv, the trial is seeking to address issues such as over-fishing in the lake. Vasee Nesiah of MediaSolv describes what they are setting out to achieve."

Full news item

1 comment:

Kevin Walker said...

This project appears to be dead, as does the company that started it (MediaSolv).

It involved a partnership with a satellite company which is providing INMARSAT service. After the pilot, users will be billed for this service.

A Bluetooth 'personal area network' shares Internet connection via satellite.

Web data is being repackaged for the villagers and the PDA.

Some useful quotes:

The vast majority of livelihoods in rural Kenya rely directly on natural resources and most involved engagein unsustainable practices, with potentially dire consequences. The natural resource base is constantly under siege, an issue that must be addressed in the interest of sustainability.

[...]

Access to information is an effective means to empower the affected community and overcome these challenges; whether it is to enlighten the community on safeguards or to gather and record vital data. An affordable and sustainable communication means that can readily disseminate information where required, is clearly essential.