Juliana Rotich: Meet BRCK, Internet access built for Africa

[@criticalthinking5077]

I love it when Africans show the world that they are capable of being builders and creators rather than the typical stereotype of being poor and needy. Africans are brilliant people and most people don't even know that the West does not support Africa, that in fact Africa supports the West. The West provides about $30 billion in aid to Africa per year, while Africa gives $192 billion to the West every year through exploitation of resources, tax-dodging by corporations, etc. Much of the wealth of the West has been dependent on resources from the Southern Global countries of the world for centuries. Well done Ushahidi team!

[@sichtbar7624]

They aren t poor if they lerarn to plant their own food ...rather than to destroy earth with us...If people dont t learn to learn that knowledge. education.food.health.school is mothers business.........world will be lost........Food giants are destroying the earth........Humans are all gone in 60 years if people go on like that.

[@filipesaz]

Did anyone notice that clear difference from the way so many people talk? At 3:26 she says: "We are humbled that this has roots in Kenia", not "We are proud that...". Now that is what I call a small big big difference.

[@YXiao]

Problem is, we seem to be always spending rather than creating. It's just that we now have new ways to spend... Until we can really effectively utilize external energies, resources available will sooner or later be depleted.

[@MacTomas1]

I believe that the translation work is being done all the time on TED website. Anyone can find videos in their language there and become a volunteer-translator for TED.

[@zizzlestick42]

In Kenya, where Juliana Rotich is from, there are 7.3 million people who have access to running water (according to the Joint Monitoring Program). It makes perfect sense that these people would want to be connected to the Internet. It can provide weather information for farmers (crops are not a luxury), provide medical information or even telemedicine when there are no doctors nearby, provide books and education, and provide access to news sources not under the control of the Kenyan government.

[@Chiriproject]

Brilliant, hope this will be productive for we the developers in Nairobi- Kenya.

[@kelodymuzyamba9182]

you are a great presenter

[@adorablebelle]

Not trying to take away from the topic at hand, but her skin is on point. Great talk.

[@InstrumentalsBeats]

There's also backup generators in Africa (obviously). However, if you ever have the chance to look properly, you'll realise that many places in Africa, India and elsewhere don't. Many can't afford that luxury.

[@cantstopthebeatify]

What I don't understand is why are they selling it at a price that the typical person in Africa cannot afford

[@adorablebelle]

Amen. Seriously. Internet is vital to being a part of global society these days.

[@kurtilein3]

when faced with power outages, you use laptops, desktop computers are close to nonexistent in these surroundings. Thats the problem they have, when electricity goes out, laptops keep running and can be kept running by plugging in additional battery packs. But the internet goes down and its a hassle to switch to wireless.

[@Charleroifa]

I don't like that the BRCK depends on the company's infrastructure. They are obviously setting it up to charge their customers in the future. It would have been so easy to have local settings, like any other router does. Instead, you have to connect to their site to configure the thing.

[@IdleGod]

Indeed. It isn't new, but it is cheaper. I have a friend in Liberia who suffers major internet outages. We built him a similar solution that was far more expensive, but his business depended on it. It is a good, ad-hoc temporary solution, but not a substitute to getting a proper internet connection hauled in. Their infrastructure is broken, and it needs to get fixed. This is just a sign of how broken it is, and how slow they are in getting an official solution.

[@JeffSauke]

Glad to have met Juliana today...

[@drakcoreoriginal]

If you can afford backup power then get satellite as your backup link. Better to find solutions to stabilize that area that has rolling blackouts/internet failures. Don't waste your time on patching the problem but rather find a solution for the cause.

[@amitguitarist2008]

would be extremely helpful to get internet connection up and running in countries where power cut off is a problem.... however google's amibitous project Loon also seems to be a perfect match for remote internet access ...

[@unvergebeneid]

Whenever some site plots where its users are coming from, Africa is little more represented than Antarctica This needs to change!

[@surambaya]

Simply because of logistics. Those generators most likely run on diesel which is expensive more so in the rural areas (I suggest you check back in with your India colleagues and see how the high oil prices are affecting them now). Also in many parts of Africa generators are pretty useless when you only have 30% power grid coverage. You cannot run a generator 24-7.

[@HolgerKraus23]

Seems rather odd to me. When I was in India we also had power outages all the time. Therefore each place had a generator which kicked in as soon as the power grid failed, resulting in all electricity (and yes, also the internet) being back again within seconds. I don't see why we can simply implement the same technology (so simply backup generators and modems which can deal with a lack of electricity for a couple seconds) in Africa?

[@FreeFromWar]

Internet is an incredibly powerful tool. There isn't just porn on it, but information about almost anything you can think of. With easy access to internet, people can use the information on it to FIGURE OUT how to get clean water and build houses. Maybe even invent new technology to get clean water. Desperation is a huge motivator and the internet is the perfect tool that can support that motivation.

[@jono3952]

Yes, there is a lot of work to do, but we're not going to help long term by throwing money at it, people have to start learning how to fix things for themselves, and the internet is a great way to do that. Any knowledge you could need to survive is on the internet somewhere.

[@CarterColeisInfamous]

so inspiring

[@aspenitself]

What is that wristband that she has on. The black one that you sync with your phone?

[@IdleGod]

This technology is pretty old. I've dealt with routers that do this for more than a decade. What is special about this isn't that it does it, but that it does it cheaply. Thats what makes this exciting.

[@HarkyOfficial]

Food, Water, Shelter, Technology.

[@sinkiller21st6]

does it give you wifi or just connect to it what I'm trying to say is if I bye it would I get free wifi or is it just a way to connect to a wifi spot and still need to pay for wifi

[@steelejoe99]

It's nice to see that poorer countries in africa have services that more well off people have aswell

[@themarinathegreat]

interesting that you see it that way, i dont understand enough about the technical aspects, but got the same impression.... brck is cheaper and stable enough for the african infrastructure = looks like a good example of reverse innovation

[@HiAdrian]

Well done.

[@ItsTheTruthBro]

yay!

[@arlenkalifuentes]

.could be the heaven sent solution for my turtle-paced net connection.

[@bxox]

This is great

[@ansoufall4131]

Thank for your presentation but pay attention that im coming incha allah !!!

[@Aresftfun]

African nations were innovative in the past. Numidia...Carthage...Egypt...and that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. African nations are innovative now. They have always been innovative.

[@sallykabukuru1638]

Great!

[@DJEvansZ]

Ah, but internet will help connect developing countries to the rest of the world which will bring things like water and houses. Plus it could be used to cheaply educate people so that they can build their own houses and fix their own problems which is a much better way of doing it. That way they aren't dependent on outside aid.

[@samfromcadott]

Is this open source hardware?

[@zizzlestick42]

Those are only the statistics for Kenya. I can't find any statistics about the percent of people on the African continent who have running water. However, if 300 million people don't have access to clean drinking water, that means that 700 million people do. Internet access can help them obtain food, medical care, and education, and can help political movements against bad government - which is cited as a major cause of famines. There must be long-term strategies against poverty, Internet is one

[@CrowbarOfJustice]

the Internet holds a sea of information that they could use to solve their already existing problems on their own.

[@locao51]

from what she said the 3g network in africa is better than brasil.

[@m1kac]

I thought that 3g modems and routers are widely used for like 5 years. At least there are a lot of relatively cheap solutions on the market. Nevertheless, good thing they care.

[@filmtress]

lol, I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that. Yes, I've been there.

[@101PINTSOFLAGER]

Beautiful

[@gulllars]

You can make money and educate yourself with the internet, which gives better opportunities for acquiring clean water and better housing, as well as lots of other stuff. There is a thing called the multiplier effect in economy. Here is an example with made up numbers: Spending say $1M on connectivity allows 10.000 african coders to work online and earn $10M over a 5 year period, this enters local and national economy through purchases and taxes, leading to $50M national economic activity.

[@gwuthie9090]

I'm sure you'd agree that education and knowledge are the best way to escape poverty. Think of how many 'middle class' Africans there are and how they can influence the countries' economies. Stronger economies = less starving people. (if the governments aren't too corrupted)

[@cheeseisgreat24]

well, considering that the biggest problem in africa right now ISN'T clean water and houses, but education and acquisition of reliable information, I'd say the internet should be a priority for them. Giving them clean water methods is useless if some people in the village still don't see a problem with using the bathroom in the same place they get their water. Also more importantly, they have to come up with the ideas themselves, so giving them research tools to find it for themselves is VITAL.

[@lakshmanankomathmanalath]

great

[@Altrantis]

I suggest to take a look at "the danger of a single story" in this very channel. Just because some people in African countries don't have enough water or houses doesn't mean -everyone- in in that situation, lots of people are on the internet like everywhere else. Furthermore, the internet helps a country to develop itself, so they have the money to get the basic needs of the population by themselves rather than requiring foreign help.

[@zacharyp32]

I feel like loon project might work better

[@justicefist3729]

"Give a man a fish"....."forget clean water and houses". How arrogant can you be? Africa isn't some desolate wasteland hopelessly dependent on foreign aid. Africans are helping themselves and are pulling themselves up. No one needs to "give" them the internet (or anything for that matter). They are giving it to themselves. Africans are innovative and hardworking despite the negative stereotypes that are pushed by others.

[@sichtbar7624]

RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT

[@DIDAMI.Experience]

There's more internet in Africa than most of u think. The problem is that only a few can afford it. And a lot of ppl dnt have computers.

[@Plusimurfriend]

forget clean water and houses, what they really need is internet :)

[@Ihmahr]

Starts at 0:12

[@ThatGuyWithADD]

how what now?

[@YXiao]

but i guess resources are of no less importance than education.... or else one will just be a great cook with no ingredients (some old chinese saying)

[@Durrelito]

Internet is knowledge, think about that!

[@zizzlestick42]

Google the TED Open Translation Project (or go to ted dot com slash opentranslationproject) and then click on the drop-down menu beside 'Find talks in your language'. :)

[@robot6]

The technology is similar to the stuff Padcom (NetMotion) developed. Different market but same concept of survivable wireless ubiquity..

[@rothriss8157]

it would be more difficult for the world to ignore Africa's problems once it is a part of the net.

[@Aresftfun]

I dunno, SouthernPlayboy7, it seems pretty plausible to me.

[@weefeatures]

Yeah, culture really prevents bad behaviour *COUGH COUGH*

[@1schwererziehbar1]

google is already on the job. step out of the way, juliana! let the nerds handle it!

[@Regimeshifts]

Ever heard of battery on your laptop? Flip your laptop around and check underneath!

[@gideonnyanjui8478]

ANOTHER GOOD REASON TO OPENLY DECLARE THAT AM PROUDLY KENYAN.OBAMA, ROTICH AND MANY OTHERS KEEP KENYA BURNING

[@Rumdreg]

Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Give a man internet and he'll forget to eat.

[@samuelnjoroge4656]

were not americans we have roots and culture that govern our behavior n discipline

[@ashleyashleym2969]

They're not all that poor and there organisations that already help with that.

[@drackar]

In the cities? Yeah, actually, the water and housing problem is pretty much licked, it's infrastructure that's an issue. Africa is a lot more than a never-ending row of mud huts and death, you know.

[@fullfist]

a tool is only as good as the craftsman using it.

[@NDPdEport]

but its true

[@BenaOti]

That is so rude, she used "what if" & "Places like" Africans are humans too dont you forget.

[@Brulluhman]

Maybe move to some places where there is some land called firtile or water. African that need to walk 3 miles and back every day are stupid. Why not settle there? (just some logical Western idea).

[@weefeatures]

Fuck some people on youtube need to lighten up.

[@ductuslupus87]

Or he can order large fucking quanities of fish from a supplier.

[@utnye22]

BRCK... Brock?

[@Wosjb78]

Or he might go to ebay and order his own fish

[@glorious_help]

GOOGLE BALLOOOOONS

[@Ugleskjegg]

if they get internet, they can order water by mail :)

[@Cjeska]

1:40 Turk!

[@zizzlestick42]

Ignorant statement. A lot of people in Africa have decent living conditions. Juliana Rotich is African. Does it look like she is starving or ill? Moreover, telecommunications are not a frivolity or a luxury. They help people live better lives. Obviously if you have to choose between food, water, shelter, or medicine and telecom, you should choose the former. However, that choice rarely has to be made in such a cut-and-dried way. Cell phones, for example, help reduce poverty.

[@OrthodoxAtheist]

Obvious troll is too obvious.

[@ItsTheTruthBro]

Ah shit was it too obvious...? Better luck next time... :D

[@SeanLumly]

Your comment is extremely offensive and disgusting. Please go somewhere else, you are not welcome in this civilized discourse.

[@weefeatures]

A whole new area of porn

[@Plusimurfriend]

you dont understand sarcasm :( ? google it

[@copperhead4102]

Potato

[@vengxance]

What if solutions to the world's problems came from Africa? lol, and what if pigs could fly, wouldn't that be great?

[@AhmadMouk]

another brick

[@Rumdreg]

Get a sense of humor.

[@Rumdreg]

Get a sense of humor, son.

[@zizzlestick42]

Terrible talk. Unfocused and underwhelming.