Entrepreneurship

Fourth Digital Media and Learning Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Yipe) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:35:00 +0000

The Digital Media and Learning (DML) is inviting proposals for two competitions that will be organized under the main DML Competition. The two competitions for which the proposals are sought include a design competition on Badges for Lifelong Learning; and a research competition on Badges, Trophies, and Achievements.

Badges Competition: Badges For Lifelong Learning

This Competition focuses on building digital badges for lifelong learning. The Competition is designed to encourage individuals and organizations to create digital tools that support, identify, recognize, measure, and account for new skills, competencies, knowledge, and achievements for 21st century learners wherever and whenever learning takes place.

Find out how to participate by visiting http://www.yipekenya.org/Fourth Digital Media and Learning Competition.htm

African Mobile Money Research Conference - Call for Papers

noreply@blogger.com (Yipe) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:51:00 +0000

African Mobile Money Research Conference (AMMREC) to be held on April 5th -6th 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya invites unpublished, original papers describing ongoing or completed work on ‘Evidence of Financial Inclusion through Mobile technology’, originating from academia, government, private sector and development partners.

Authors will have to submit a maximum 500 words abstracts by October 31st 2011 to the Conference Portal. http://ammrec.uonbi.ac.ke

They will be reviewed by the International Program Committee to establish their suitability for the conference. Acceptance notifications will be sent to the authors by November 15, 2011.

2011 Innovators Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Yipe) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:06:00 +0000

The mHealth Alliance and the Rockefeller Foundation are seeking nominations from innovators across the world for the Top 11 in 2011 Innovators Challenge enabling them to attend the all-expense paid trip to the 2011 mHealth Summit in Washington, DC’s National Harbor to be held during December 5th – 7th 2011. The winners will be also honoured at a reception on December 4th.

The 2011 mHealth Summit will build on last year’s success by bringing a dedicated focus to the business, end-user, and policy perspectives of mHealth, fostering in-depth dialogue to identify and accelerate cross-cutting value chains and sustainable mHealth business models from around the globe. The summit will also provide a dedicated focus to the healthcare research and evaluation needs of mHealth, facilitating the development and commercialization of empirically-supported solutions.

The 2011 Innovators Challenge is aimed at identifying and awarding individuals who have used mobile technology in innovative ways to improve health systems and outcomes in even the most remote areas of the world.

Ashoka – 20 Challenges for 20 Entrepreneurs

noreply@blogger.com (Yipe) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:39:00 +0000

Ashoka, world’s largest community of social entrepreneurs, with support from its global network of Fellows, business entrepreneurs, policy makers, investors, academics, and journalists works collectively to ensure that social entrepreneurs and their innovations continue to inspire a new generation of local changemakers to create positive social change.

During the past three decades after its launch, Ashoka has responded to a wider range of programs and initiatives to deal with the citizen sector’s growing needs by launching thousands of social entrepreneurs and helping them succeed.

In continuation of its efforts to achieve its objectives, Ashoka has now taken up to explore the challenges facing the world today and as a result it has determined 20 main issues that require an immediate attention of excellent entrepreneurs (social or business).

Find out more by visiting http://www.yipekenya.org/Ashoka – 20 Challenges for 20 Entrepreneurs.htm

DuPont and 4-H Announce Youth Development Initiative for Rural Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Yipe) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:42:00 +0000

DuPont Commits $2 Million to Global 4-H Network to Develop Future Farmers; Addresses Food Challenges for Growing Population

“The farmer who will feed the world over the coming decades is a young person today. Empowering them to do so is a great responsibility for all of us”

DuPont and National 4-H Council have announced a partnership to strengthen youth development in rural African communities. DuPont’s commitment of up to $2 million over the next two years will allow the global 4-H network to help African youth create sustainable livelihoods and improve household and national food security for people across the continent.

Following a successful pilot in Tanzania that was completed this spring, the global 4-H network now will launch a year-round Leadership Institute for 4-H leaders and volunteers in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania, starting in January 2012. The global 4-H network will train African-based 4-H leaders and mentors about agricultural innovation and farming practices. They also will provide culturally relevant, research-based tools, expertise and resources that can be used at the local level.

Additionally, 4-H will expand its Enterprise Gardens program for school-based youth, their families and their communities to inspire young people to explore agriculture and see their role in feeding the world.

“After walking the fields with many African farmers, I understand the urgent need to engage African youth in agriculture, where pressures of food insecurity are greatest. The farmer who will feed the world over the coming decades is a young person today. Empowering them to do so is a great responsibility for all of us,” said DuPont Executive Vice President James C. Borel, who serves as current chair of the National 4-H Council Board of Trustees. “DuPont and 4-H share a belief that youth development is a key sustainability initiative to address global food security. What’s more, our African-based businesses also are committed to imparting agricultural training to developing farmers, making this partnership a natural fit on many levels.”

“Youth development is the world’s best long-term solution to ensure food security and global economic stability,” said Donald T. Floyd Jr., president and CEO of National 4-H Council. “4-H’s 100-year history in agricultural innovation and youth skill-building combined with an existing infrastructure in more than 70 nations, has uniquely positioned our organization to equip millions of young people in developing nations with the skills needed to build a truly sustainable future.”

Sharing a similar global footprint, 4-H and DuPont plan to access local leadership to extend the program. 4-H programs have taken root in more than 70 countries, and DuPont has strong relationships with farming communities in more than 90 countries through its agriculture-based businesses.

Susan Naburi, CEO of Tanzania 4-H, said, “Our mission is to build a world in which youth can learn, grow and work together to become economically independent and responsible adults. We are excited and look forward to the increasing positive impact of the global 4-H network.”

“No single company or organization can solve global food security alone. DuPont is committed to being a part of the solution and we hope others will support programs like the global 4-H network to engage tomorrow’s agriculture leaders today,” Borel said.

4-H is one of the world’s largest youth development organizations, found in more than 70 countries in North America, South America, Central America, Europe, Asia and Africa. In the United States, 4-H is a community of 6 million young people learning leadership, citizenship and life skills. National 4-H Council is the private sector, nonprofit partner of 4-H National Headquarters located at the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). U.S. 4-H programs are implemented by the 111 land-grant colleges and universities and the Cooperative Extension System through their local Extension offices. 4-H programs are further supported by 514,000 dedicated adult volunteers around the nation who help to put 4-H youth on a path toward successful careers. Learn more about 4-H at http://www.4-H.org

DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit http://www.dupont.com

Contact:

DuPont

Jennifer Goldston

515-535-5744

jennifer(dot)goldston(at)pioneer(dot)com

National 4-H Council

Kristin Walter

301-961-2973

kwalter(at)fourhcouncil(dot)edu

Read more news items by visiting http://www.yipekenya.org/News.htm

2011 Apps4Africa - Climate Challenge competition

noreply@blogger.com (Yipe) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:48:00 +0000

The 2011 Apps4Africa: Climate Challenge competition begins in East Africa on 20th October, 2011 at the iHub in Nairobi. Winners will receive prizes, including cash awards. Challenge partners, including TED conferences and Indigo Trust, may contribute technical assistance, prizes, and follow-on support for the new applications created by this competition.

Buckminster Fuller Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Yipe) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:01:00 +0000

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge Award 2011 worth $100,000 in prize money is aimed at supporting the development and implementation of a strategy that has significant potential to solve humanity’s most pressing problems.

Buckminster Fuller Challenge: Program Goals

The Program’s guiding objective is to catalyze wide-spread change in the understanding and approach to solving complex global problems.

To achieve this, the program seeks to:

Create a rigorous, transformational process for entry in which applicants grapple deeply with a unique set of criteria.
Promote and disseminate an integrated, comprehensive, systems-based approach to the design of solutions.
Highlight and reward exemplary strategies which embody this approach.
Accelerate the implementation of these solutions.

Characteristics of a good entrepreneur

noreply@blogger.com (Yipe) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:56:00 +0000

In order to understand ourselves better, we need to be able to know whether we have the traits of successful entrepreneurs.

The following entrepreneur traits provide a useful rate card for you to examine and assess yourself. A good way to do this would be to rate yourself for each trait between 0 and 10 with 0 being the least.

You will then have a straight forward way of assessing which character traits you need to improve and which traits you are good at.