Community of mobile industry visionaries, developers and influential’s
It is time to network with other mobile industry visionaries, developers
and influential’s again!
In short
Topic: A look at Mobile Value Added services (Media, Content & Marketing)
Date: 15.3.2010
Time: 16.15 – 19.30 (program starts 16.30 sharp)
Location: Primi Forum, Melrose Arch
RVSP toni@ungana-afrika.org (note that seats are limited)
Continue reading ‘momo#8 on the 15th Mar 2010: A look at Mobile Value Added services’
MoMoSA is proud to kick-start year 2010 with a great event!
In short:
Topic: Meet the MoMo Global founders from Finland, Japan, India and Germany
Date: 25.1.2010
Time: 16.30 – 19.00 (program starts 17.00 sharp)
Location: Primi Forum, Melrose Arch
RVSP toni@ungana-afrika.org (note that seats are limited)
Great news! We’ve reached the 100 rsvp mark and there are already a few names on our waiting list. If you can not make it on the 7th December and have already rsvp’d, please let us know (toni@ungana-afrika.org).
Toni & MoMoSA team
Adele Botha (CSIR)
Adele Botha is a researcher the CSIR’s African Advanced Institute for Information and Communications Technology. Her research interests are in MHCI and MobileUX research and application. She has been published in various National and International Conferences, Journals and publications. She is currently completing her PhD at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University School of IT and actively involved in various large scale mobile initiatives for development.
Sean Pashley (Starfish Mobile)
Having joined Starfish Mobile 5 1/2 years ago as Sales & Marketing Manager for the SA office and since has been appointed Chief Commercial Officer for the group. Starfish Mobile has become one of the leading playing players in the MVAS arena with a footprint of 20 territories in Africa. Services include content provisioning, content aggregation & promotional strategies for Telco’s as well as mobile marketing services for 3rd party brands.
Uwe Schwarch (Sibesonke)
Uwe Schwarz is co-founder and CEO of www.sibesonke.com a start-up company with the vision to empower under-served consumers globally with an innovative mobile service. Before Uwe worked 10years in the telecom industry with focus on technology and new business opportunities in the base of pyramid (BOP). His education background is in science (physics) with a PhD in engineering. Uwe holds about 40 patents (Nokia Top Inventor of 2002).
Steve Vosloo (Shuttleworth Foundation)
Steve Vosloo is the fellow for 21st Century Learning at the Shuttleworth Foundation. He is passionate about the effective use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) — especially mobile phones — to support teaching and learning in developing countries. Steve has a Masters degree in Information Systems from the University of Cape Town and was previously a research fellow at Stanford University, where he researched youth and digital media.
Note the Event Time: 16.30 – 19.45 (program starts 17.00 sharp)
In South Africa almost 40 Million people live on less than R 140 per day, which equals more than 85% of the population. Of this group, almost half live on less than R 20 per day. These are the base tiers of the income pyramid where the latest smart phones are seldom used. The base of pyramid markets have several needs that can be addressed via mobile and therefore provide an opportunity for mobile service providers. MoMoSA has invited few industry specialist to share their insight and discuss with the participants about the challenges and opportunities related to these markets.
16.30 – 17.00 Arrival and Networking
17.00 – 17.30 Opening presentations
17.30 – 19.00 Interactive panel discussion
19.00 – 19.45 Nokia announces Calling All Innovators Africa winners
Our panelists include Uwe Schwarz, a co-founder and CEO of www.sibesonke.com, a start-up company with the vision to empower under-served consumers globally with an innovative mobile service, Steve Vosloo, the fellow for 21st Century Learning at the Shuttleworth Foundation who is passionate about the effective use of mobile phones to support teaching and learning in developing countries, and Sean Pashley from Starfish Mobile which focuses on driving data ARPU via content and interactive applications While building permissive and profiled databases for Telco’s in 18 African markets. The session will be moderated by Adele Botha, who is specialising in Mobile Human Computer Interactions (MHCI) in development and currently working as a researcher at African Advanced Institute for Information and Communications Technology.
MoMoSA continues the collaboration with Nokia, and as a special program number Nokia will announce the winners of the Calling All Innovators Africa contest. Five top applications are given prize money totalling more than R1-Million and all the top 10 applications are being showcased during the evening. Join us to give a big hand to the winners!
In short:
Topic: Mobile services for the base of pyramid markets
Special: Nokia will announce Calling All Innovators Africa winners
Date: 7th Dec 2009
Time: 17.00 – 19.45
Location: Primi Forum, Melrose Arch
RVSP toni@ungana-afrika.org (note that seats are limited)
Continue reading ‘momo#6 on the 7th December: Mobile services for the base of pyramid markets’
Pitch your idea to make your content mobile!
The inaugural MoMo Johannesburg on Oct 19th brings the Forum Nokia Challenge to mobile and web developers – if you have a great app or idea for Web Runtime (WRT) widgets, applications or mobilized websites on Nokia devices, share it with the event jury by sending it to toni@ungana-afrika.org for an on-the-spot competition. The best entries will win latest Nokia devices.
Mobile Monday South Africa is proud to host the fifth Mobile Monday event
together with Forum Nokia!
In short:
Topic: Forum Nokia
Date: 19.10.2009
Time: 16.30 – 19.00
Location: Primi Forum, Melrose Arch
RVSP toni@ungana-afrika.org (note that seats are limited)
Exciting news! This months MobileMonday on the 19th October is dedicated to Forum Nokia, who has sent a team from their HQ in Finland to explain how they can support South African innovators. More details later this week! Note that the initial Mobile Media theme will be postponed.
I knew it was going to be an interesting session when one of the audience told me she was looking forward to the banks slugging it out. Unfortunately the banks did not end up fighting each other but rather shared a common understanding of what needs to be done to allow all South Africans the ability to use their mobile phones as cash.
FNB was noticeable by their absence which left Absa and Standard Bank to share their insights with us. Adrian Vermooten (Head: Mobile @ Absa Digital Channels) reminded us that South Africa is a pioneer in the mobile banking space. Absa launched their mobile banking offering in 2000 and now have a total customer base of over 5 million. Adrian also elaborated on the Absa strategy of developing multiple channels for all types of customers – from simple WIG and USSD to fully functional WAP Banking. This is constantly evolving and soon we will see on device applications and possibly an iPhone version too. This is an important lesson to remember, especially in South Africa with our dual-market. It is imperative that we develop mobile applications for all segments of the market not just those with fancy new phones. This will truly democratize the access to services for al our people.
Dave Parrat (GM Yello Bank) raised the important issue of Mobile Operators over charging for transaction processing which leads to inability to sell products using their systems. More than 50% of the end user cost is taken by the Mobile Operator which leads to insufficient margins for the retailer and content owners. This is not a sustainable business model and needs to be challenged. The banks are well positioned to do this. Dave shard his vision of the day when we will able to use a PIN on our mobiles to facilitate online payments.
Finally Johan Campbell introduced us to MiMoney which is Standard Banks new payment platform. Using vouchers that can be paid for fro any bank account, MiMoney allows you to pay from your MiMoney account to a number of merchants including Ster Kinekor and Kalahari. John explained that the merchants were very keen on accepting MiMoney payments and preferred it to cash in many cases. MiMoney also gives business a cost effective way to accept mobile payments and has allowed Mxit to increases their margins over Mobile Operator billed transactions.
As expected the panel discussion was very lively, with the audience asking some very tough questions. As always the most important part of the event was the networking with many people making new contacts amidst shooters!
Once again a big thank you to all those who attended the event, you make Mobile Monday a success.
Our next event is a not to be missed evening. Check back regularly for updates, you should receive you invitation soon.
The Mobile Monday SA team.