“Made in Africa” my talk from Pop!Tech

by HASH on October 29, 2008

Here is my 5-minute talk that I did at Pop!Tech this Saturday. It touches on Ushahidi, AfriGadget and why I’m optimistic about Africa.



The best part for me is that in a recording I can make sure I don’t forget any lines and I can add more images into the slideshow. I know I had to cut out a section of the talk in the live event as I was running out of time. Either way, I hope you enjoy it, as it’s a mixture of my history that explains a little of my present occupation.

{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Nic 10.29.08 at 8:34 am

Hey Erik - Nice one, you’ve been getting around hey!

Would love to see this video on Zoopy too! :)

2 HASH 10.29.08 at 8:38 am

Hey Nic, I’m happy to upload it to Zoopy too, I just need to convert it from m4v to mp4 in order to make that happen. For some reason, iMovie just wants to spit out m4v, I wish it gave me options for mp4.

3 Made in Africa | SA Rocks 10.29.08 at 9:02 am

[...] picked this video/presentation up from Erik’s blog, White Africa. It’s a presentation he did at [...]

4 Ntwiga 10.29.08 at 9:11 am

Just took the time to watch your very informative presentation Hash.

5 Anders Mogensen 10.30.08 at 12:48 pm

Great story Eric - Thanks for sharing it! Your introduction reminds me somewhat of my own life. Grew up in Nigeria, and left part of me there as we moved back to what was supposed to be my home - Denmark. Have been involved in a few tech initiatives in Nigeria, most recently the setting up of a new OLPC test school (spring 2009) - wanting to prove that it is possible to get such a project right even in a somewhat difficult Nigerian setting. As the saying goes, if you can make it in Nigeria you can make it anywhere.

6 Chris Scott 10.30.08 at 8:41 pm

Erik, even though I know you and keep track of you online as well as whenever we can get together for a beer this was a great and succinct way to get a better idea of what it is you’re doing. And, more importantly, why.

7 kiwanja 10.31.08 at 12:47 pm

Great work, buddy…

Of course I prefer the log cabin version (!) and am honoured to have been one of the first people to hear this. It’s a great piece and a great story, and frames everything you do incredibly well. I think it’s almost worth publishing a blog post of the text some time…

See you at “A Better World”!

Ken

8 Veronica Henry 10.31.08 at 6:52 pm

Excellent video! I have to say I hadn’t fully understood Usahidi, but now see what a necessary tool it is. Love the work you’re doing.

9 Taylor 10.31.08 at 10:55 pm

Awsome Erik! I hope our kids’ stories are as hope filled as yours after growing up in Africa.

10 Geir 11.01.08 at 1:59 pm

Great! Wonderful! Just wonder how we in a provincial town in Norway can take part in these projects. Get in touch if you want!

11 kari 11.02.08 at 1:35 pm

i’m intrigued by this story, as i also grew up in africa to missionary linguist parents. i also am a product of two cultures, but fit exactly into neither, although i mostly think the idea of fitting in to a culture is a myth. and i’m now back in africa, working in tech. we build towers and provide internet and computers for villages in senegal. pactec.org. are you currently in kenya? love to talk more about ushahidi.

12 Made in Africa at novel-a-month.com 11.03.08 at 12:05 pm

[...] is Afrigadget founder Erik Hersman’s talk from last weekend’s Pop!Tech conference. There is a frenzy of African technology and [...]

13 Greg Silsby 11.03.08 at 5:08 pm

Extremely interesting and encouraging! Not only is the information exciting, but the presentation is very well done. It is now also posted at tubervision.com (http://tubervision.com/video/150/Made-in-Africa).

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