All girls team wins Kshs 1 million

An all girls team made of two BBIT fourth year students – Lilian Nduati and Linda Kwamboka, and two alumni - Jamila Abass and Susan Eve Ogula and Catherine Kiguru a developer in Tracom , won the top prize of Kshs 1 million in the inaugural  IPO48 software application development competition hosted by SEP (Strathmore Enterprise Program) at the University from 29th to 31st October. The four are members of AkiraChix a group of geek girls.

The winning team developed an application dubbed M-Farm - an information service that focuses on delivering real time information to farmers on current market prices of their products. It also aims to bring farmers together in a collaborative forum.

Essentially, the M-Farm service will help small-scale farmers get price information that will help them know where to get the best deal for their products through their mobile phones. It fills an information gap currently used by middlemen to the detriment of the farmer.

The service will also provide farmers with weather alerts, connect with other farmers, find nearest farm stores and get help from farm experts. M-Farm has simple and easy to use features. It can be accessed in Kiswahili language and integrates an Interactive Voice Response (IVR).

IPO48 is a boot-camp style initiative whose aim is for developers to build new web and mobile services in 48 hours only! It was organized by HumanIPO and Garage48.org. It was the first time the competition was being held in Africa.

Blogger Moses Kemibaro wrote: “the IPO48 was a highly competitive and successful event with many great software applications and business concepts coming to the fore. Its amazing how much creativity and ingenuity was presented there and I found myself thinking more like a venture capitalist, rather than observer. One thing however is for sure – many of the ideas that did not win will still find suitors and in fact it was announced that one already had an Angel Investor in place!” See: http://www.moseskemibaro.com/2010/11/01/akirachix-win-kes-1-million-in-ipo48-with-m-farm/

For a full breakdown of the results, visit this post at Afrinnovator.com  who also covered IPO48 in detail..
Adopted from Strathmore website.

FreeBSD Query....

Hello chix,

My trust that you are all well. I have a problem in installing FreeBSD on a Mecer Computer. I have tried everything with no success. The thing is when i install and enable GNOME on rc.conf file, after restarting it tales me back to the root login after a few seconds. It never takes me to the GUI window :( Anybody knows what the problem might be?

AFCHIX: The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship: Europe...

AFCHIX: The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship: Europe...: "“Her capacity to mix technical expertise and a relentless vision inspired, motivated and moved women to embrace technology instea..."

The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship: Europe, the Middle East and Africa

“Her capacity to mix technical expertise and a relentless vision inspired, motivated and moved women to embrace technology instead of avoiding or ignoring it.”

Dr. Anita Borg (1949–2003)

Anita Borg believed that technology affects all aspects of our economic, political, social and personal lives. A technology rebel with a cause, in her life she fought tirelessly to ensure that technology’s impact would be a positive one. It was this vision that inspired Anita in 1997 to found the Institute for Women and Technology. Today this organization continues on her legacy and bears her name, The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (www.anitaborg.org).

The Scholarship

Dr. Anita Borg devoted her adult life to revolutionising the way we think about technology and dismantling barriers that keep women and minorities from entering computing and technology fields. Her combination of technical expertise and fearless vision continues to inspire and motivate countless women to become active participants and leaders in creating technology.

As part of Google’s ongoing commitment to furthering Anita’s vision, we are pleased to announce The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship: Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Through the scholarship, we aim to encourage women to excel in computing and technology, and become active role models and leaders.

Multiple scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic performance, leadership experience and demonstrated passion for computer science. A group of female Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD student finalists will be chosen from the applicant pool. The scholarship recipients will each receive a €7,000 (or equivalent) scholarship.

In June 2011, all scholarship recipients and finalists will be invited to visit Google’s Engineering Centre in Zurich for a networking retreat. It will include workshops with a series of speakers, panels, breakout sessions and social activities, and will provide an opportunity for all finalists to meet and share their experiences.

Eligibility requirements

Candidates must:

• Be a female student enrolled in a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD programme (or equivalent) in 2011/2012.
• Be enrolled at a University in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa. Citizens, permanent residents, and international students are eligible to apply.
• Be studying Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Informatics, or a closely related technical field.
• Maintain an excellent academic record (e.g. a First Class Honours degree).

How to apply

Please complete the online application and submit all requested documents by 1st February 2011. All application documents must be in English. Scholars and Finalists will be notified in April 2011.

You will be required to submit the following:

• Up-to-date copy of your CV

• Answers to the following short essay questions

  (suggested word count is 400-600 words per question):
  • Describe a significant technical project you have worked on. If you have worked on a major independent research project (such as research for a Master’s or PhD programme), please describe that work here. Give an overview of the problem and your approaches to the key technical challenges. If this was a group effort, be sure to specify your individual role and contributions.
  • Give one or two examples of your leadership abilities. Explain how you were influential and what you were trying to achieve. These need not be demonstrated through formal or traditional leadership roles. Feel free to think broadly and examine the many ways you impact members of your technical community.
  • Suppose someone gave you the funding and resources for a 3- to 12-month project to investigate a technical topic of your choice. Write a short version of a proposal, including a description of the project, your planned methodology, and your expected results. Please pick something other than the project you described for the first question.

• Transcripts

  • Bachelor’s: A copy of your current academic record.
  • Master’s and PhD: A copy of your previous and current academic records.

• Enrollment confirmation for 2011/2012 or confirmation of graduation date

  Please include with your application an official enrollment confirmation or a confirmation of your graduation date issued by an official authority of the university e.g. your departmental administrator or a professor.

• Recommendation letters

  Two strong referral letters from individuals who are qualified to evaluate your academic and leadership accomplishments, e.g. from a professor, adviser or supervisor.

Copied from http://www.google.com/anitaborg/emea/

AFCHIX: Embracing the Digital world... the new era!

AFCHIX: Embracing the Digital world... the new era!: "When we first started out using the Internet a couple of years back, there wasn't a lot out there in terms of information sharing, and netwo..."

Embracing the Digital world... the new era!

When we first started out using the Internet a couple of years back, there wasn't a lot out there in terms of information sharing, and networking.

Today the world has changed so drastically that it is easy to do just about anything in the digital world. Be it start a business, advertise a commodity or constantly keep in touch with friends and family, the Internet has got it all.

I would like to consider myself a Digital native, a person who uses the Internet on a daily basis to bring a special cause to notice, or writing about my personal experiences and thoughts. I thank the Internet for the opportunity.

Am passionate about issues concerning gender inequalities in my field of work, and that is the Technology field. I would love to see as many women take up the spotlight that they deserve to shine in their careers in Information Technology and Engineering and also step up to mentor other women to do so. There are many ways we can achieve this, and I must say we are already in the right direction. With forums where we get together like AfNOG CHIX to study and share technical knowledge, to blogging and tweeting, we are one foot in the right direction.

Ladies on this forum, the AfCHIX as we call ourselves, I would like to encourage us to embrace the Digital world, to learn to communicate and keep the fire burning even after workshops like the just concluded one we had in Nairobi, Kenya. There is power in connections, and I can testify to this. Through these connections we shall be linked to a world full of opportunities, be it a job opening, an opportunity to attend a conference, a community knowledge sharing workshop, mention it.

Lastly, we need to learn to think like business people, you can start your own business initiative and through this connection and many more get it up and running. It all takes passion and having a vision.

I look forward to learning more from all the CHIX on this forum and to share more on my life experiences in this lovely field of Technology that we all embrace.

Welcome.

AFCHIX: Apps for Development by the World Bank

AFCHIX: Apps for Development by the World Bank: "The Apps for Development Competition aims to bring together the best ideas from both the software developer and the development practitio..."