Four Students, Four Countries, Four Perspectives: A Roundtable Discussion of Technology, Business, and Youth in Namibia, Ghana, Cameroon, and South Africa.

Mobile phones represent more than 90% of all telephone lines in Africa. With access to mobile data growth at 129% per year and a growing online subscriber base, the internet and mobile technology is having a transformative effect on the lives of millions of Africans.

Image courtesy of kiwanja.net

This Wednesday, October 26, the University of Washington’s African Studies Program is hosting a rare opportunity to hear from three students and one graduate of UW’s Masters of Communication in Digital Media program who have first hand experience of the ways in which the digital world is creating new opportunities and realities throughout sub-Saharan Africa. MCDM Associate Director, Anita Verna Crofts, will moderate the panel.

Current MCDM students Shelby Barnes, Pam Kahl, and Joseph Pavey recently spent time in Namibia, Ghana and Cameroon respectively, while MCDM graduate Alvin Singh lives and works in South Africa. Their experiences offer different perspectives on how digital media and information and communications technology (ICT) is affecting young people, culture, and business on a daily basis.

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The second annual Integrated Marketing Communications Conference is taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa on June 6-7, 2011.  Presenting the latest trends in global media and innovative marketing to industry leaders this conference is where South Africa’s leading communication voices are.

Over 200 people from various fields including public relations, digital media, marketing, advertising and communications are gathering in a Sandton hotel to figure out ways brands can develop an open ear to its consumers.  The opening keynote speaker was Vice President of Africa for InMobi, Isis N’yongo the world’s largest mobile advertising network spoke about the rapid growth of mobile technology on the African continent.  With 489 million mobile phone subscribers Africa is without a doubt a market segment that can no longer be ignored. “This continent has the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world.  If you combine this with the fact that more Africans access the Internet from mobiles than any other platform, it means the market for mobile advertising is set for strong levels of growth.”

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When I landed this past week in the O-R-Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, I had been flying a cumulative 20 hours since leaving Seattle. After clearing customs into South Africa, I made a beeline to the restroom to freshen up. On the wall of the spotless restroom was the sign photographed to the right.

I haven’t yet seen a sign like that in SeaTac Airport, but in South Africa it’s not surprising given how ubiquitous cell phones and text messaging have become.

The breathless adoption of mobile telephony on the African continent–with South Africa leading the charge — means that I learn as much about the power of mobile adoption and use when I travel there as I do when I am walking around the hyper-connected city of Seattle.

The African continent has impressed me again and again the last seven years with their creative utilization of mobile–which in large part inspired the first course I taught for the MCDM, Emerging Markets in Digital Media. Today, the African market is growing to include producers as well as consumers. According to Erik Hersman, co-founder of Ushahidi and the voice behind the blog White African, the African continent is in a great position to produce relevant technology moving forward.

Why? Read more…

A variety of different types of video formats were used in putting this piece together.

“Sondella” is a Xhosa word which means “come closer”. The footage was shot with a:

Panasonic GH1 Digital SLR micro 4/3′s sensor @ 1080/24p – AVCHD
Nikon D90 Digital SLR @ 720p M-JPEG
Panasonic DVX-200 Standard Definition 720/24p

The piece was edited together using Final Cut Pro 7 with a wee bit of color grading using Color and a sprinkle of optical flow filter using Motion.

Let me know if you can name which part was shot with what camera.

Through the use of digital media and social software artists performing in Seattle and South Africa are be-coming closer. This web-based offering is but a first step…for when these artists are able to actually be in the same time zone, zip code, and space they will manifest a movement that amasses major moves that matter.

posted by Adri

Ethnographic films (documentaries) are an emerging research method used to understand culture, consumer behavior, and social constructs that transcend mere data and can provide a rich understanding of a subject and its environment. Here’s an interview with the Chief Technology Officer of the UW College of Education, Scott Macklin discussing Documentaries as a research method and how it applies to his latest film: Masizakhe.

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