Partnership:

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  USA
  Senegal
  

Sponsors:

• Nokia provided 35 phones to be used for the deployment of the mobile applications in Senegal. These phones are used by students for development and by the beneficiaries of the mobile applications - artisans at the Artisan Villages of Thies and St Louis in Senegal. (2009)

• Building A Global Network to Support Sustainable Information and Communication Technologies Entrepreneurship in Senegal, National Collegiate of Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), December 2008. This grant supports the creation of a network of universities interested in mobile application development. (2009-2010)

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• Sustainable Technology-based Entrepreneurship for the Senegalese Market, National Collegiate of Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), December 2007. This grant supports the partnership between Pace University, Stony Brook University, Thies University and NCNW. (2008-2009)

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• NOKIA provided Nokia N95 and 6300 devices to the University of Thies for the introduction of mobile in the curriculum.

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• Pearson Education donated books for the students in Senegal. (2009 and 2010)

  • Kicking Butt with MIDP and MSA: Creating Great Mobile Applications, ISBN-10: 0321463420

    Web Development: A Visual Spatial Approach, Craig Baehr, ISBN-10: 0131701223

Description:

Africa is referred to more for its problems than for its opportunities. But this may change with current investments from major mobile phone providers and venture capitalists targeting the mobile phone market. A substantial amount of money has been already invested in telecommunications and this continent is now the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world. Mobile phone subscribers have raised to more than 200 millions in Africa in 2006 - the fastest growing rate in the world.

Developing mobile applications adapted to the African market is a challenge and an opportunity demanding a deep understanding of the African realities - as diverse as they are even inside a single country. African computer science students will play a crucial role in this context and be key in the development of such applications corresponding to the needs of their compatriots - from various backgrounds.

The goal of this project is to educate Senegalese students on the potential and procedures - at the technical and business levels - for creating tech startups based on mobile technology corresponding to the needs and realities of their country.

People:

• Prof. Christelle Scharff, PhD, Associate Professor, Pace University, US, cscharff@pace.edu, http://www.csis.pace.edu/~scharff

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• Prof. Anita Wasilewska, PhD, Associate Professor, Stony Brook University, US, anita@cs.sunysb.edu, http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~anita

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• Mamadou Bousso, Assistant Professor, Thiès University, Senegal, mamadoubousso@gmail.com, http://www.thies.univ.sn/sitethies/

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• Prof. Ibrahima Ndiaye, PhD, Director of the Economic and Social Sciences Education and Research Unit, Thiès University, Senegal, ibndiaye2004@yahoo.fr, http://www.thies.univ.sn/sitethies/

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• Cheikh Sarr, Assistant Professor, Thiès University, Senegal, Cheikh.Sarr@insa-lyon.fr, http://www.thies.univ.sn/sitethies/

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Previous partners: