Faculty Training on Mobile Development for Senegal at Manobi, Dakar (2009)

When: May 26th, 2009

Where: Manobi, 4231 Amitié II, Dakar Fann

Duration: One day

Time: 9am-5:15pm

Photos of the training: https://picasaweb.google.com/senegalthies/Training652009

Event description:

The mobile application landscape is evolving rapidly with a variety of possible portable experiences for the global audience – experiences in social networking, gaming, entertainment, marketing, mapping, finance, arts, training, health and agriculture. Mobile application development is a challenging endeavor where creativity, technology and social concerns are equally important. Applications are developed on one platform and need to be deployed on another one – a mobile phone – but each device comes with its specificities. Data related to the use of these applications needs to be collected for future analysis and to inform for intelligent mobile applications.

Africa is the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world. Mobile phone subscribers have risen to more than 200 millions in Africa in 2006 (150% of growth in some countries). Thus, it appears to be more relevant to look at mobile phones rather than traditional desktops/laptops for bridging the digital divide and increase the quality of life of people in Africa. It appears that most of the initiatives in mobile computing are concentrating in English-speaking countries rather than in French-speaking countries in Africa.

Who will develop the mobile phone applications that will have a social impact on the populations of Africa? We believe that African students will play a crucial role in this enterprise but need to be trained and better prepared as software developers / engineers and entrepreneurs to be actors of this promising field. On the other side, areas of research in mobile computing adapted to Africa need to be developed.

Manobi (http://www.manobi.net) is a Senegalese company established in Dakar. It is the first operator of mobile and Internet services for the agricultural and fisheries sectors. Manobi’s services are currently generating real added value for more than 150,000 subscribers for agricultural producers, fishermen, middlemen, wholesale fish merchants, manufacturers, exporters, importers and retailers.

This training will guide participants in their first step into the world of mobile. It will present the current global offering in terms of mobile applications – commercial applications and applications more focused on social changes. Manobi will showcase its mobile solutions in the agricultural and fishery sectors. The mobile development process including usability concerns and quality assurance will be covered. The participants will understand different technologies that can be used to develop mobile applications with a particular focus on using Java ME. This training will explore low-level and high-level user interfaces, record stores, SMS/MMS and Bluetooth in Java ME. Google Android will be demonstrated. The JotBi platform developed by Manobi will be presented.

The training will be interactive. Participants will bring their laptops to get hands-on experience. Each faculty will be asked to answer an online survey at the end of the training and to participate to a Ning network on Mobile for Senegal. Additionally, faculty will be presented with possibilities of collaboration.

Objectives of the Training

  • Demonstrate the promises of the mobile application development field for Senegal;
  • Present current initiatives of mobile application development in Senegal;
  • Kick-off the introduction of mobile application development in curriculum in Senegalese universities;
  • Present a model of teaching mobile application development;
  • Establish a network of universities, companies, NGOs and local community associations worldwide to build a community, foster collaborations and facilitate initiatives to promote mobile application development in Senegal;
  • Present opportunities of research in the mobile field; and
  • Find a Ms. / Mr. Mobile in each Senegalese university.

Schedule

9:00 am to 6:00 pm [The schedule is subject to changes]

  • 9:00 am to 12:30 pm: Welcome Manobi’s mobile solutions The mobile landscape Getting started with Java ME I
  • 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm: Lunch
  • 1:30pm to 5:15 pm: Getting started with Java ME II; Manobi JotBi platform Testimonials from the faculty and students of the Thies Going further and collaborations Book raffle
  • 5:15 pm End of the training

Intended audience

This training is intended for faculty (in Computer Science and Information Systems) interested in learning about mobile application development. It can be of particular interest to faculty willing to start research in mobile and to integrate mobile application development into their teaching.

Software and Material

French version

Organizers:

Dr. Christelle Scharff, Associate Professor of Computer Science (cscharff@pace.edu, http://www.csis.pace.edu/~scharff), Pace University, Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, Department of Computer Science, Pace University, New York, NY 10038, USA

Dr. Daniel Annerose, Directeur Général de Manobi, http://www.manobi.sn, Manobi, 4231 Amitié II, Dakar Fann, Senegal

Presenters:

Dr. Christelle Scharff, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Pace University, Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, Department of Computer Science, Pace University, New York, NY 10038, USA

Dr. Daniel Annerose, Directeur Général de Manobi; Manobi, 4231 Amitié II, Dakar Fann, Senegal

Mr. Mamadou Bousso, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Université de Thiès, Thiès, Senegal

Abdoulaye Samba Macina, Manobi, 4231 Amitié II, Dakar Fann, Senegal

Coly Senghor and Tamsir Diop, students, University of Thies

Attendees:

  • MANOBI
    • Abdoulaye S Macina (abdoulayesamba.macina@manobi.sn)
  • THIES
    • Moussa Dethié Sarr (dethiesn@gmail.com)
    • Dame Samb (dcsamb@gmail.com)
    • Mamadou Bousso (mamadoubousso@gmail.com)
  • BAMBEY
    • Mohamed Sall (sallkt@yahoo.fr)
    • Amadou Dahirou Gueye (amadoudahirou@yahoo.fr)
    • Ibrahima Dia (ibrahima01dia@yahoo.fr)
  • SAINT LOUIS
    • Seydina Ndiaye (seydina@yahoo.com)
    • Cheikh Talibouya Diop (talibouya1@yahoo.fr)
    • Ahmath Ba (mathba2002@yahoo.fr)
  • ADIE
    • Ndeye Astou Ndoye (andoye@adie.sn)
    • Omar Mar (omar.mar@adie.gouv.sn)
    • Aboubacar Cisse (aboubacar@adie.sn)
  • ESP
    • Papa Baba Fall (pbfall@gmail.com)
    • Samba Baldé (sambabaldebatch@yahoo.fr)
    • Ibrahima Ngom (ibngom@gmail.com)
    • Aminata Diop Diene (amicoleydiop@hotmail.com)
  • ESMT
    • Eric Zongo (eric_zongo@yahoo.fr)

Acknowledgments

This training is funded by an NCIIA Sustainable Vision grant #5956-08 (National Council of Innovators and Inventors Agency), May 2009 to December 2010, “Building A Global Network to Support Sustainable Information and Communication Technologies Entrepreneurship in Senegal National Collegiates Inventors and Innovators Alliance”.

The training takes place and is facilitated by Manobi.