Why we get a better cup in Ireland than all the tea in China

This article by Conor Pope (Irish Times) provides an interesting view on the Irish love of tea and its relatively recent history and in particular how the (then) Irish Free State set about substituting its tea supply chain, away from the London tea market, to sourcing tea directly from suppliers in Rwanda.

At the time Rwanda was a French colony, thus making the international logistics (slightly) less complex given the wartime environment and the relative predominance of British colonial control of much of Africa at the time. 

https://www.irishtimes.com/

The DSA Ireland study group for Information, Technology and Development (ICT4D)

The scope of the DSAI study group for ICT4D is 

The ICT4D study group aims to establish an ICT4D community comprised of academics, researchers, development practitioners and anyone else interested in the field. The aim is to provide a focal point for discussion, learning, debate, collaboration and the sharing and dissemination of research. One of the main benefits of the study group is the bringing together of researchers and practitioners who are working in close geographical proximity on the Island of Ireland. This will allow us to interact more frequently, develop relationships, and benefit from a wider range of activities such as reading groups, workshops, summer schools, and conferences. This is particularly important in the field of ICT4D where researchers and practitioners typically meet only once or twice a year at one of the mainstream ICT4D conferences.

The aim of this study group is to create a strong base for practice and research which should enable members of the group to become more research active. This would include stimulating, facilitating, and providing feedback on new research in the field. The hope is that this research would evolve to a level appropriate for the DSAI working paper series or presentation at the ICT4D stream of the DSAI annual conference. This should also allow us to enhance our responsiveness to research opportunities and funding calls that require stakeholder involvement beyond a single institution, individual, or project.

https://www.dsaireland.org/groups/information-technology-and-development-ict4d-study-group/

Personal Reflection

Personal Reflection

The aim of a personal reflection is to give the student an opportunity to relate a personal understanding of the course. To highlight not just the described learning outcomes but also draw attention to challenges and areas of difficulty. Think of it as a statement of what you determine to be the key learnings and contribution of the course. It can be critical, highlighting gaps etc. Ultimately it is a personal statement of your own (perhaps new or changed) perspective on the subject, new understandings, difficulties, and insights.

Grading criteria:

The Personal Reflection is authentic, critical, supported by evidence and descriptive, conveying your own personal learning insights.

• A single page, approximately 500 words.
• Is it original? Is it your own work? (this is a basic requirement)
• Are the insights and learning described authentic? Does it honestly communicate your personal learning on taking this class?
• Is it critical? Critique isn't a bad thing. It challenges your own and others, even the subject itself. Consider prior understandings, misunderstanding, new knowledge, or changes in understanding?
• Are statements supported with examples? For example, comments or reflections on the homework tasks, the project, themes and subject matter?
• Core concepts? At the very best the reflection offers a compelling account of the significance of some of the key ideas arising in the course.

David Nyaluke seminar on Africa for Entrepreneurs - UCD Proudly Made in Africa Fellow in Business and Development

David Nyaluke - UCD Proudly Made in  Africa Fellow in Business and Development.
David presents a seminar on ``Africa an Emerging Market and Outsourcing''

David Nyaluke seminar on Africa 15/April/2020

The seminar covers broad themes:

• Understanding that Africa is a continent, comprised of 54 countries, with diverse languages and cultures, with colonial histories and affinities with former colonial powers.
• That independence movements and proxy conflict on the continent which held back economic development largely ceased during the 1990s. Since that time there has been a gradual shift from rural to urbanisation and industrialisation.
• African nations have young growing populations of talented people and an increasing desire for modern goods and services.
• Understanding the steps in value-added exports.
• Learning that Africa already has millionaire/billionaire entrepreneurs who are themselves investing back into their communities and promoting startups in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and others.
• Learning about the growing economy, demographics, educational attainment, and commercial opportunities in African countries.
• Finding out that African countries, relative late-comers to digital infrastructure, may benefit from first-mover and more recent technological solutions, by skipping wired and costly physical infrastructure, jumping ahead to wireless, decentralised, more advanced technologies for telecommunications and computing.

The following sequence of videos complement parts of the seminar nicely:

• 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rloG1sGBCKE "Father of M-Pesa Michael Joseph, former Safaricom CEO, talks to CNN's Richard Quest about the future of banking and how Kenya is positioned to lead once again."
• 2011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9_6G8J6VJg "TEDxVienna - Alexander Oswald - Why Kenyans do it better"
• 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQo4VoLyHe0 "Documentary showing how Safaricom's M-PESA Mobile Money Transfer service is changing lives in Kenya."

Hans Rosling - debunking third-world myths with data (2007)

Hans Rosling (1948 - 2017), a Swedish physician, researcher and academic (Wikipedia), ignited a debate surrounding preconceptions about the state of the world, between what was once thought of as the third-world, developing and western economies.

(illustration image from Rosling's TED Talk of 2007)

In this TED Talk (2007) Rosling seeks to reveal the relationships between investment in public services, in Aid, GDP, human development factors, trends and linkages over time.  Rosling presents using a set of startling animated data-driven visualisations generated with the then new suite of design tools and data indices gathered under the banner of gapminder.org.

Martin Fowler's ThoughtWorks Technology Radar

For an opinionated guide to technology frontiers, and a deep dive into the technology igniting discussion. Thoughts on market impact and leadership, by technologists for technologists, on the business of software itself, pure and simple.

https://www.thoughtworks.com/radar

"Software@" Sonalake - How we build software

Our next industry guests are from Sonalake: Ciaran Treanor (CTO) and Cormac Ó Foghlú (VP Operations)

They will be talking about how a software services business works, their client engagement models and software development and services as a team sport.

The software@ seminar series provides an insider's perspective on one or more of the following taking place in high-tech firms: software engineering approaches, methods, technology stacks, evolution of architecture, design process, dynamics of deployment, test culture, peer processes etc.

For more on this year's seminar series see http://mis.ucd.ie/news/software-speaker-series-2020