The 1%event at the naiLab

Since the beginning of this year, I have been participating in most of  Nairobi's tech activities. These are the kind of benefits you get when you are an akirachick : you get to know about what is going on in the tech world! So if you are a lady in IT and did not think of joining the akirachix group yet, please make a point!

The 1%EVENT(follow the live stream here),is the Open Space event that connects people with smart ideas for projects that stimulate the self reliance of individuals anywhere in the world and improve their standard of living.It brings together innovators, young professionals, entrepreneurs and change-makers that invest one day of their time, expertise, experience, talent, network and energy to work on new innovative approaches to international co-operation.

Yesterday's event was going on in three cities concurrently : Nairobi's nailab,Amsterdam's 1%Club and Douala's LimbeLabs.Technology, technology,technology! is in it sweet to be in three places at the same time? I went to Netherlands, then to Cameroon and back to Nairobi using technology! In short, live streaming with the other two cities was an excellent experience!


The case study-Nairobi team

Our team was asked to come up with micro justice solution. Micro justice is  an innovative way for legally empowering the poor and to make legal aid sustainable. It aims to provide assistance to people who live below the poverty line and help them solve their legal issues for free or at an affordable rate!

The question is, if we are targeting poor people how are we intending to deliver this content to them? They have no or little access to computers and/or internet. The use of mobile phones in Africa in the last few years has been more than people expected and continues to grow.It was unanimously agreed that providing mobile web,USSD and SMS is the best solution in such scenarios.
Cool,I can access the content via my phone by either visiting the website, dialling a short code number or get SMS alerts but what about the majority in this target group who don't know how to read or write?Are we going to let them be lacerated by this injustice and cruel world? No, of course not! The team suggested the use of Interactive Voice Response(IVR) where the user can access audio information and also interacts with the system.

How can we attract the developer and the user community to participate in the development and maintenance of the system?How can we get legal experts on board to offer their services for free?
These were also some of the questions that were discussed and we came up with a bunch of suitable answers such as making the system open source to attract the developer community, working with local NGO's and government bodies to mobilize the mass etc.
If you have suggestions regarding these questions please do not hesitate to comment. 
For more information on tech activities in Nairobi, stay tuned to this blog!