Macha Works Zambia

During the past year Macha Works Zambia continued diligently to inspire people in rural communities to reach their collective and individual potential. Attached qualitative Year Report Fiscal Year 2010, 1 Apr 09 - 31 Mar 10, provides an overview of supporting activities during the year. Also attached documentation of the underlying organisational ethics of Macha Works Zambia.

A paper on "Internet usage and performance analysis of a rural wireless network in Macha, Zambia", produced in collaboration with scientists of the University of California, Santa Barbara is accepted and being presented at the 4th ACM Workshop on Networked Systems for Developing Regions (NSDR'10) in San Francisco, CA, USA. The meeting provides a venue for researchers to propose and discuss ideas concerning the design, implementation and evaluation of new computing and communications technologies to support the sustainable development of developing regions.

Oscar Kaate of Macha Works / LinkNet presents Network Infrastructure in Rural Areas of Zambia, "Mesh Network in Practice" at the sessions 'Africa Networks' at the STADTWERKSTATT LINZ - International Festival "Treffpunkt Afrika": May 20-22, 2010 in Austria, Europe. Oscar's presentation deals with the realities, on the ground, of mesh networks in rural Africa.

As part of its commitment to collaborate with peers to impact communities and nations, Macha Works published and presented two peer-reviewed papers for WebScience 2010 in Raleigh, NC, USA. The first paper is on the Macha Works Model, and the second paper on ePiano, a case of music education via internet in rural Zambia. 

Live from Macha, through the internet Macha Works presented at ICTDelta 2010 in Rotterdam Netherlands. The Macha Works model, Telecentre developments, and results of research and development activities with the University of Zambia were presented and discussed during the first BarCamp in Africa between Macha, rural Zambia and urban Rotterdam, The Netherlands. At ICTDelta 2010, 1,600 ICT European experts, policy makers, and stakeholders met, while Mrs. Nelie Kroes, EU Commissioner, unveiled plans and priorities for the European ICT Agenda.

LinkNet was part of a historic event in Brussels, when sub-Saharan African and European policy-makers and research organisations were together March 25-26, 2009, to address the development of research collaborative projects in the information and communications technology (ICT) field. This first Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research was organised by the European Commission (EC Directorate-General Information Society and Media) and the African Union Commission (AUC) with support of the EuroAfriCa-ICT project. LinkNet partners with many parties involved in this field, and files with Global Research Alliance partners a proposal in line with Framework Programme 7 (FP7). The event aimed for coordination and support action to enhance ICT research cooperation between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.

Hundreds of attendees attended the forum, which offersed opportunities to network with key stakeholders (both private and public); identify potential cooperation partners; learn more about the ‘EU-AU Partnership on Science, ICT and Space’ (8th partnership) and the EC/AUC Programmes; and access information on the EU’s FP7 for Research and Technological Development and opportunities to enhance African participation in FP7.

LinkNet was represented by Gertjan van Stam during two forum discussions. As requested by the forum leader, he provided feedback and lessons learnt from private partnerships and showed insights and voiced ideas on technology roadblocks encountered in research in (rural) Africa.

Recently presentations were done on the work at Macha. Here they are:

"Macha benefits from e-agriculture" @ http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/092208-macha-benefits-from.html?hpg1=bn
"Zambian community sets example for rural connectivity" @ http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=8ACAF29A-17A4-0F78-3122A1EA3087869F
& http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=15&articleId=9115268&intsrc=hm_topic & http://www.itworldcanada.com/a/Voice-Data-and-IP/c20c106a-6412-4be8-a4ea-98a1f5e95ac2.html & http://zambianchronicle.com/2008/09/22/rural-zambia-sets-example-for-internet-connectivity/ & http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/2008/092208-zambian-community-sets-example-for.html?hpg1=bn
"Computer Aid International to Set Up Refurbishing Center" @ http://www.cio.com/article/450769/Computer_Aid_International_to_Set_Up_Refurbishing_Center & http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/092308-computer-aid-international-to-set.html?hpg1=bn & http://newswire.webprowire.com/summaries/1908809.html

The collaborative paper of LinkNet and TNO on "Internet in rural areas of Zambia: a user study" was presented at the IST-Africa 2008 conference today. Presenters were Paul van Hoorik, TNO, and Fred Mweetwa, Secretary Board of LinkNet. The audience responded being encouraged that implementation of ICT was taking place in rural areas, and lots of interest on progress was shown. New contacts emerged, resulting in growth of the number of stakeholders involved in Zambia and abroad.

In the IEEE GOLD publication, an article appeared entitled "an inclusive world". It was written in Macha and is at page 4. It starts with "In rural Africa one learns to appreciate the inclusive nature of the local African culture. Where I live and work, one is instantly regarded as an integral part of the social environment and interactions proceed with people as if one has been always present. For true progress, co-operation is imperative between engineers and applied scientists all over the world in a multi-disciplinary way. Africa has contributions to make, especially since working inclusively and holistically is enshrined in the African philosophical framework of a cultural reality based upon relationship-based economics."