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China unblocked a bunch of previously filtered porn sites this week, just in time for the 21st anniversary of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Cunning gamble to pull netizens away from dangerous online discussions of political repression? Technical glitch? Attempt to placate the country’s growing population of young males? Check out my post on the OpenNet Initiative blog and tell me what you think.
GV Sudan: Checking in with Sudan Vote Monitor posted on April 29, 2010 - 6:16pm
My next post is up at Global Voices Online:
Citizen Media in Uganda posted on April 25, 2010 - 8:21pm
I’m headed to the 2010 Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in 10 days. Between now and then, I’ve been asked to put together a short overview of citizen media in Uganda, something I’ve had the opportunity to watch evolve from the pre-happy hour days to the citizen coverage of last September’s riots in Kampala and the burning of the Kasubi tombs.
Uganda: Will it last? posted on April 21, 2010 - 7:21pm
I just finished writing a paper on Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni for a class on African political economy. The starting point for the essay was an article by Harvard professor Robert Rotberg, in which he claims that “African leaders perform adequately during their early elected terms and then, in their second terms or beyond, become despots.” Museveni’s currently serving his third elected term after an initial four ten-year “interim period” between 1986 and 1996. An examination of his 26 years in power shows that he’s done great things for Uganda’s economy while becoming increasingly authoritarian.
Tracking Kenya’s Development Budget posted on April 13, 2010 - 6:25am
I woke up early last Monday morning to interview Philip Thigo of the Kenyan Budget Tracking Tool for the Technology for Transparency Network. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun asking someone questions. If you listen to the podcast, you’ll hear faint sounds of Nairobi in the background: horns honking, people walking around. As Philip chatted candidly with me about the successes and struggles of encouraging greater transparency in Kenya’s national budget, I imagined him in his office, the door propped open, curtains blowing in the breeze. Can you tell that living in New York has made me a bit desperate for sunshine and perhaps a return trip to Kampala?
Interview with Sudan Vote Monitor posted on April 12, 2010 - 7:03pm
Sudan’s first multiparty elections in over two decades began yesterday (New York Times, Al Jazeera) despite the fact that the majority of opposition parties are boycotting the entire process. The election — already marred by a lack of actual ballots, long waits at polling places and mix-ups in the symbols printed on the ballots (many voters are illiterate, and symbols are used to represent different parties and candidates) — is widely seen as a prelude to the upcoming referendum on the independence of Southern Sudan.
Mobile Money: A Recap posted on April 2, 2010 - 11:31pm
I’m spending today at the Macroeconomics of Mobile Money conference at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI). Liveblogging. Please excuse misrepresentation, misinterpretation, typos and general stupidity. James Alleman is giving closing comments. His takeaways: There is a class that’s underserved by formal banking, and there are a lot of people who are ready to use mobile banking services in the developing world. The success of existing services like M-Pesa and Menekse Gencer is impressive and lays a good foundation for future efforts. It appears as though mobile banking efforts will need a formal banking partner to be truly successful. We still don’t have a good idea of what kinds of regulatory systems are going to be required.
Mobile Money: Developing Countries posted on April 2, 2010 - 11:24pm
I’m spending today at the Macroeconomics of Mobile Money conference at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI). I’ve been eagerly awaiting the final session on mobile money for developing countries, which Raul Katz is moderating. Liveblogging. Please excuse misrepresentation, misinterpretation, typos and general stupidity. Katz kicks things off by admitting that “we’ve been dancing around the issue of developing countries” for much of the day. He hopes this panel will give us a chance to dig in to the implications of mobile technologies for economic growth in the developing world.
Mobile Money: Is the mobile secure? posted on April 2, 2010 - 10:14pm
I’m spending today at the Macroeconomics of Mobile Money conference at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI). Columbia University professor Steve Bellovin is moderating the first afternoon session, on security in mobile banking. (Side note: I blogged about Bellovin’s opposition to UN efforts to limit online anonymity for my first-ever post on The Morningside Post.) Liveblogging. Please excuse misrepresentation, misinterpretation, typos and general stupidity.
Mobile Money: Legal and Regulatory Issues posted on April 2, 2010 - 7:37pm
I’m spending today at the Macroeconomics of Mobile Money conference at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI). I wasn’t able to come to the first session on the macroeconomic impacts of mobile money, but the 11:30 session is on the legal and regulatory issues surrounding the rise of mobile banking and mobile payments. Liveblogging. Please excuse misrepresentation, misinterpretation, typos and general stupidity. Overview of Regulatory Issue of M-payments The lawyers are going to say there’s nothing new, and the regulators are going to say, “yes there is.” — Richard Field, moderator