December 16, 2011 – Kenya is leading the way in mobile health services, with new health platforms quickly emerging. Start-up company, Shimba Technologies, has partnered with Safaricom to provide 18 million subscribers with crucial access to doctors. The new app, called MedAfrica supplies its users with first-aid recommendations from local hospitals, health alerts, and a list of doctors and dentists.

MedAfrica is free to users and supported by advertising revenue. The creators hope to expand the service to include a comment feature, which would allow users to share feedback about health providers. Safaricom also recently partnered with another start-up, Call-a-Doc, which allows subscribers to call doctors for expert advice for two cents a minute.

World Bank officials see significant promise from mobile health efforts, pointing to the fact that 50 percent of all Kenyan banking is already done on mobile phones. Elizabeth Ashbourne, director of global health information at the World Bank says, “In terms of providing basic services through mobile phones on the continent, Kenya is the lead in many ways, and showing the way.” Ashbourne adds that “Local applications in the health space are absolutely frontier activities.”

To read the full Technology Review article, click here.

November 19, 2011 – Kenya’s rise as the economic engine of East Africa is being aided by its commitment to transparency and good governance. Indeed, Kenya is fighting corruption and empowering its people through the simple, but powerful tool of “e-government.”

Reforms computerizing the approval process for small business owners will “reduce the interaction between businessmen and state workers” — and, thus, reduce the opportunities for civil servants to enforce laws capriciously or be tempted by bribes — according to Jane Joram, senior deputy registrar general at the Company Registrar Office.

E-government will also make Kenya’s government leaner and more efficient. Already, reforms have cut the time it takes to register a new company’s name from up to 21 days to a mere five. Samuel Kimeu, executive director for Transparency International in Kenya, describes the promise of Kenya’s new reforms:

“Part of the reason people pay bribes is because it took forever to register a company or do any of the other bureaucratic processes…But when we make government processes automated, such as [getting] birth certificates, licenses, company registrations, IDs, I’m sure the impact will be immense in reducing corruption.”

To read the full Christian Science Monitor Article, click here.

October 14 – Kenya’s ICT Board is following in San Francisco’s footsteps to build its own portfolio of innovative and imaginative technology in Nairobi. Kenya is a leader in revolutionizing technology through creative advancements and the world is quickly taking notice. This video shows the strategic beginnings of what promises to be one of Kenya’s major contributions to the global economy.