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Collaboration Basic Internet Foundation-Mandela Institute of Development Studies Mar2020
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Collaboration Basic Internet Foundation-Mandela Institute of Development Studies Mar2020
Home Projects Solutions Impact Research Opportunities About us

BasicInternet:Collaboration Basic Internet Foundation-Mandela Institute of Development Studies Mar2020

Topics

• Introduction of Basic Internet Foundation and Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS)
• Collaboration Basic Internet Foundation-Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS)
• Introduction of the work of Basic Internet Foundation in Tanzania with the knowledge portal
• National Knowledge Portal(NKP) for youths in electoral processes, educational scholarships and entrepreneurship

Notes and Agreements

BIF and MINDS came into an understanding that the main question and discussion is always providing the internet to the basic in the pyramid and who needs it the most is the and therefore, the provision and solution of such is paramount and highly accommodated. Therefore, the came to the below agreements:

• MINDS and BIF will elaborate on the existing model of the Knowledge portal in Rwanda and Zimbabwe and how it can be replicate it to other African countries for youth entrepreneurship and education
• MINDS will capitalize on the knowledge portal established by BIF in Tanzania as an avenue to provide information on existing scholarships and opportunities at Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS)
• The two partners will work on putting into place a funding plan
• BIF and MINDS will put together a proposal which will also be used to sell out to the potential donors
• Ian Mashingaidze will look for the opportunities of collaboration with telecom providers in Zimbabwe

Introduction to MINDS work in South African

• MINDS has a youth programme on elections and governance to equip young african leaders with knowledge and skills required fro them to be strategic and active participants in the electoral processes
• MINDS offer scholarships for master degree studies in selected universities across the continent
• MINDS is an incubator for the African Youth Networks Movement (AYNM) aimed at creating a platform for the youths so as to create change for the Africa they want and are currently consisting of 93 youth networks present in 36 African countries reaching a million young people

Introduction to Basic Internet Foundation

The Basic Internet Foundation was established to solely focus on connecting the unconnected, and provide affordable access to the Internet. The solution, following the freemium for access, consists of the free access to information, and the premium access to broadband. The Solutions for connectivity is further outlined here.

Through the "Non-discriminating Access for Digital Inclusion" (DigI) project we connected more than 10 villages in Tanzania, see DigI:Villages for an overview over all activities in Tanzania, as well as the pilots in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Myanmar, , and other countries. Focus in TZ has been on the knowledge uptake through digital health information - with tremendous success, see a.o. 6he 60% knowledge increase in Cysticercosis, see Free_access_to_digital_health_information-results_2019/10/25

Another main outcome was the connectivity in areas which were "far outside the reach of the mobile network:

• Selela, Arusha District - connecting the market place to the mobile tower being more than 20 km away
• Izazi, Iringa, District - see also our Blog on It takes 90 min to connect a village

School Connectivity and Empowering the Youths

The solutions discussed on connecting schools was implemented in Migoli, Iringa District - connecting the Julius Nyerere High School, and from there the Community Office and the Dispensary. Thus, from an initial school connectivity we reached out to other places in Migoli, providing information spots. Some aspects being discussed were the costs of access, can they be tailored to the needs? - Yes, we start often with a 10 GB/month package (costs of typical 35,000 TZS), but it is up to the school to adjust can the costs of the access be even lower? - Yes, applying either a model where several schools share one access (one SIM card), or where a wholesale model is applied, e.g. providing 1 contract with 10 SIM cards, and a total of 100 GB/month. Through such a contract the costs per GB are lower, being able to come down to 20,000 TZS/month.

The National Knowledge Portal

COVID-19 is giving an impetus in global activities and is a driver for digitalisation and the affordable (fri?) access to the National Knowledge Portal. We need to ensure that the youth have free access to the National Knowledge Portal - regardless of where they come from. Though, there is no "quick fix". we need to establish local points of presence at information spots. The National Knowledge Portal is currently adopted in Zimbabwe and Rwanda The advantages for a National Knowledge Portal include:

• Ability to upload and download contents
• Multilingual
• Inclusive to variety of target groups
• Online and offline courses
• Revenue streams created
• Digital literacy courses

The Benefits of the National Knowledge Portal to MINDS

• Enabling the youths in the involvement and dissemination of information in the electoral processes and generally in governance
• Helping in disseminating information affiliated to the numerous scholarships opportunities provided by MINDS
• Providing MINDS with a starting point in replicating the beneficial model that is already in Rwanda and Zimbabwe to the other countries within Africa
• The portal will be used in boosting the growth of young entrepreneurs across the globe with by providing content in matters pertaining to such so as to foster empowerment

DigI:TZ-Sustainability_SchoolConnectivity_Feb2020 on Sustainable School connectivity DigI:TZ-Hackathon_Feb2020 Hackathon on Community involvement DigI:Meeting_the_Ministry_of_ICT_Uganda_Feb2020 Discussing National Knowledge Portal with Ministry of ICT in Uganda