Kenyan Pundit

One of the featured speakers this afternoon is Ivan Marovic. “Ivan is one of the founding members of Otpor, the Serbian political student group. Ivan was an engineering student at Belgrade University and one of the student organizers who helped bring down Slobodan Milosovic. He was one of the most public of the organization’s members, speaking often at rallies and marches. He was drafted into the Yugoslav military forces a few days before the September 24 election and served with the equivalent of the coast guard in Belgrade. Ivan has since been involved in exporting student democratic movements around central Europe and was a key player in Ukraine’s Orange Revolution. Ivan recently partnered with a US company called BreakAway Games, that teaches players how to use strategic non-violent resistance to force regime change.” Breakaway Games is to be launched in January next year, the idea came about because of high demand from activists from other countries who wanted to improve their advocacy strategies. Among the scenarios that will be available in the game include: bringing down a dictator, fighting corruption; and fighting discrimination. Users will also be able to add their on scenarios online.

I think could be a potentially useful tool to learn from but I also wonder how easy it will be to translate the lessons from the game into the real world.

Current session underway is “East meets West” featuring Oded Shenkar who is discussing the power struggle between the rise of China and the hold of America, and Rebecca Mackinnon who will discuss how the internet is changing China, and how China is changing the internet. As I am listening to Oded, it just occured to me that China’s aggressive entry into the African market is not making headlines in this part of the world…a few years from now everyone else will wonder how they missed the boat.

Some stats from China from Rebecca Mackinnon’s talk. 385 million mobile phone users (largest subscriber base in the world, and lots of room to grow), 5 million blogs; over 200 billion SMSs sent in 2005. She makes an important point about mobile phones increasingly becoming the primary internet access portal for many people in China, particularly those in rural areas. I think this is the model that will eventually be successful in Africa in terms of increasing the numbers of people who are able to access the internet (more so than $100 laptops).

Session 4 starts off with Peter Diamandis speaking about private space exploration and the X Prize Competition. Some outcomes of the competition - it inspired 26 teams from seven nations, changed the paradigm that space was only for government, leveraged seed capital by 50-fold, brought about regulatory reform (he says that prizes are a great way to drive regulatory reform…interesting). The X Prize Foundation is now looking to expand to other areas like energy, environment, genetics, education and poverty and also launch a new venture capital model that will operate along with the prizes. Quotable quotes: “Unconstrained thinking leads to what most consider true breakthroughs.”

The concept of using prizes to fund innovation is definitely something that could be applicable in Africa, particularly when it comes to seeking applications/tools/etc. that are relevant to the African context. How about less donor aid to corrupt governments and more support in the form of competitions that attract bright innovators who want to make their ideas a reality and eventually commercialize them? I’m just saying.

As I listen and watch a hilarious presentation by Ze Frank, I am reminded of one of the things that has struck me since moving back to Kenya and during my travels within the continent - how narrow-minded people are as far the perceptions of what one person can do or should do…there’s an almost impulsive need to pin you into one box or another (especially as far as employment goes) and God-forbid if you have more than one expressed interest. It’s left me floundering a bit as I try and find people who can relate to my “eclecticness” and who see it as a plus rather than a symptom of still not knowing what I want to do when I grow up. It’s one of the (few) things I miss about the U.S., the ability to reinvent yourself constantly and to explore the path less traveled without being (heavily) penalized.

Session 2 is now underway. Here’s info on the session: We’ll look at the scientific race quietly underway to develop life, molecule by molecule, from scratch in a test-tube. Presenting are Norman Packard and Theo Jansen. Norman Packard is the CEO and co-founder of ProtoLife (www.protolife.net, which is trying to construct cells from non-living material. Theo Jansen makes creatures, or rather, skeletons that walk in wind. On his website (www.strandbeest.com) you can look at a photo gallery of his various creatures (definitely check this out…the human brain is amazing I tell you)

Other folks liveblogging the conference (much more comprehensively than I am) - Ethan Zuckerman, Dina Mehta, Stay of Execution, Sam Perry (Bayosphere).