Some interesting presentations from Nokia, particularly ‘Discovering Emerging Markets & ConsumerLandscapes’ from Jan Blom and Jussi Impiö, whose research focuses on India and Africa. Here is an idea of what Nokia Research Africa is doing.
More information at Nokia Conversations.
The ideas can come from anybody, anywhere and can be anything, ideas that Google has cited as good examples are the Hippo Water Roller. Which in my opinion not the ideal solution, but it is inspirational and has seen a lot of press coverage, which helps the world think about how the other 4 billion live. Project H has called for a re-design of the roller for improved shipping efficiency for wider distribution and a lower price point. A new design should see a smaller, lighter more usable roller, which will help delivery and lower costs, lets see what happens.
But, back to 10^100;
Categories:
Criteria:
Hard to believe Google is only 10 years old.
See Erik Hersman‘s presentation from Picnic08, a good overview of mobile growth and applications in Africa. I like the title, ‘If it Works in Africa, It Will Work Anywhere’, excellent.
The Curry Stone Design Prize has been won by MMA Architects for their low cost housing design which is being built in Freedom Park in Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town.
The idea behind the design was conceived by Ravi Naidoo during Design Indaba 2007, the 10×10 Housing Project invited leading international and South African architects to submit housing designs for lower income families.
“Lets give dignity and empathy to the poorest of the poor by designinga house that pushes the envelope in terms of ingenuity, creativity and sustainability.” Ravi Naidoo; PingMag 2007.
The design from MMA Architects is a low cost, timber and sandbag infill construction, can be built with little or no electricity and uses unskilled labor from local communities.
This looks like an interesting event, Surprising Africa @ Picnic 08 is a one day conference on the 26th of September exploring what can be learned from Africa; from Google‘s new business development, Vodafone and mobile banking to NairoBits, a digital design school for youth from the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.
Speakers include Eric Hersman, Ethan Zuckerman, Younghee Jung and Zina Saro-Wiwa.
Should be good, can’t wait to see what comes out from it.
Technology Showcase: This is an opportunity to create and showcase compelling, experience driven applications, using any technology that runs on Series 40 or S60 devices, such as Flash Lite, Java, Python, or
open source. From a single-purpose application to completely community driven, this developer’s showdown will help open consumers’ minds about what an application can do.’
One area that should show a lot of entries is the Emerging Markets, I hope to see some great ideas concerning mobile education, this is one area I think Nokia can make a huge impact in the future.
More on mobile education soon.
Willowlamp is a small company in Johannesburg that produces very unique lights, particularly chandeliers. A combination of laser cut steel and ball chain (which is the what keeps your bath plug attached to the bath) creates beautiful organic shapes.
The Cape Craft and Design Institute is a joint initiative of the Western Cape Provincial Goverment, AMTS, DST and CPUT. The CCDI incorporates a Fabrication Laboratory (Fab-lab), this laboratory is a high tech facility with open-source design software linked to digital desktop manufacturing technology.
This means that people in the emerging creative class will have access to improve their economic situation, grow their business and learn new skills.
Erica Elk, executive director of CCDI says ‘We aim at design that makes a difference to quality of life in our developing world.’ from South African crafts: style and social investment, Pingmag 2006.
One of the success stories is the range of wire tables and stools produced by Willard Musarurwa and developed by New York designer, Steven Burks, as part of the Aid to Artisans programme. They are being marketed in Italy and Europe by Enrico Basson of Artechnika and are availabe at Weylandts in South Africa.
Based on ‘flying toilets’ which is a term coined from Kibera, Nairobi. ‘It means that one uses a normal plastic bag as a toilet, which after use, is thrown outside the home into the street or on a pile. The name flying toilet indicates that it is thrown as far as possible.’
The Peepoo bag is a more elegant solution, and Peepoople hopes that the bags will be collected and used as fertiliser. Oh, yes, it is odor free too for up to 24 hours.
I hope that sustainable economic benefits evolve for distributing and collecting the bags, which will add value and communicate clear benefits to the people who purchase them.
In a recent article in Business Day, Roelf Mulder MD of XYZ Design, discusses using offshore toolmakers while manufacturing in South Africa. The benefits are increased product quality and export competitiveness.
‘South African manufacturers ought to see themselves as part of a global product production community that combines the best resources from around the world to take a product to market, rather than trying to keep all the processes onshore’
The Condom Applicator won the ‘Winner of The Most Beautiful Object In South Africa 2007 Award‘ at the 2007 Design Indaba.
