Kiwanja
From Betavine Resources Wiki
UK / Worldwide: Kiwanja
Supporting local, national and international NGOs with simple, nifty (and free) technology solutions.
Ken Banks’ years of experience has helped make Kiwanja a success – benefiting not for profit organizations in over 50 countries. Initiatives like Kiwanja’s FrontlineSMS and nGOmobile are providing low-cost, grassroots solutions around the world, and encouraging innovation in communications.
The Challenge:
Ken Banks started Kiwanja in 2003. With a degree in anthropology and 17 years experience in conservation and development in many African countries and India, as well as a strong background in business and technology, Ken wanted to offer technology-based solutions to help projects all over the world to use the latest mobile technologies in their work.
Ken knew that low-cost field solutions to collect and report data, as well as communicate efficiently and simply were perennial problems for NGOs and community groups and he set about working on simple solutions to help.
The Solution:
In 2005, Kiwanja launched FrontlineSMS. With SMS emerging as the most practical communication tool in developing countries, many projects have been developing their own solutions independently with varying degrees of success, and at varying costs. Some organizations did not have the resources or know-how to develop a suitable solution themselves. FrontlineSMS has provided a simple open-source solution, only requiring a computer and cell phones to work, and the software is free.
With an impressive list of donors including The MacArthur Foundation, The Open Society Institute, The Hewlett Foundation, HIVOS and the Rockerfeller Foundation, Kiwanja has created a useful app that is genuinely helping all over the developing world.
Local Deployment Model:
FrontlineSMS simply requires a computer and a mobile phone, so it can be used anywhere there is network coverage. All data is stored on the computer, not controlled by someone else on an external server, so all information is completely local and editable.
It allows communication to large groups with a simple ‘compose and send’ format, and allows automated or individual replies.
Developers can freely add code and customise, adding their own features.
Kiwanja says Frontline SMS now comes with on-screen language support for English, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, German, Spanish, Finnish, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Khmer, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili and Chinese.
Looking forward:
NGOmobile, launched by Kiwanja in 2007, is an initiative in the form of a competition aimed at grassroots, non-profit organisations in the developing world.
It is designed to encourage them to think about how text messaging could benefit them and their work, and offers laptops, mobile phones software and cash prizes to winners coming up with the most innovative application ideas.
Links:
Donor Links:
