-TEDIndia invites applications from Indian trailblazers for TED Fellows program-

The future beckons’ is being held in India for the first time ever from 4-7 November 2009, at the Infosys Campus in Mysore. What makes TEDIndia extra-special is, that the TED Fellows program will include a group of 100 innovators from India and South Asia who have shown unusual accomplishment and exceptional courage. These young world-changers will get the opportunity to become a part of the TED community which will help amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Lakshmi Pratury, Co-Host of TEDIndia 2009, considers the TED Fellows program to be an intrinsic part of the spirit of TEDIndia, stating “There is a tremendous surge of innovation at the grassroots in India. People are redefining culture, economy, society, technology and the intersection of these is creating new and empowering models of growth. TEDIndia Fellows program seeks to support Indian innovators who, in Gandhiji’s words, are being the change they want to see in the world.”

The TED Fellows program will draw insights from many disciplines that reflect the diversity of TED’s mission: technology, entertainment, design, the sciences, the humanities, the arts, NGOs, business and more. The gamut of activities that a TEDIndia fellows could be involved in include, access to education via the internet in rural areas: mobile rural healthcare networks; low cost solar power; preservers of Indian’s living heritage – across art, language, wildlife and nature; empowering underprivileged youth through education that helps them excel at competitive exams; financial literacy and business training for underprivileged women, social enterprise etc. This list is only indicative and can be increased in scope.

The TEDIndia Fellows program seeks next-gen innovators who have demonstrated remarkable accomplishments and outstanding potential to positively be the change in the world. The profile of the next-gen innovators sought by TED Fellows include those who are notably curious, passionate, open-minded and have done something fascinating for their community. They’re people who have created an idea that can change the lives of millions.

The deadline for applications for TEDIndia Fellows is June 15, 2009. The application form for TED Fellowship is available on the TED site.

TEDIndia Fellows program hopes to represent the diverse and exciting nature of innovation from the frontlines of change in India.

For further information please contact
Sushmita Bandopadhyay Celna Chacko
Perfect Relations Perfect Relations
Mobile: +91 9818267532 Mobile:

Notes to the Editor:
TEDIndia Fellows program
Closing date for applications June 15, 2009

Who should apply?

We are looking for an eclectic, heterogeneous group of young thinkers and doers from the fields of technology, entertainment, design, the sciences, engineering, humanities, the arts, economics, business, journalism, entrepreneurship and NGOs. At TED, we can take risks on unconventional innovators. We value achievement over credentials — making and doing over merely talking.

How to apply
To apply to become a TED Fellow, please complete the application form in its entirety. (http://www.ted.com/fellows/apply). Before beginning the application, please review the applications tips and terms and conditions.

In addition to basic details [e.g. individuals 21-40 years] and contact information, the application asks applicants to upload their photo, answer essay questions and provide three references — one of whom must submit a completed confidential reference form. Applications must be received complete and on time to be considered.

How it works:
1. Candidates apply to attend one conference.
2. Individuals can apply directly or be nominated by others. We’ll also directly recruit potential Fellows and invite them to apply.
3. At TEDIndia we will bring 100 Fellows together from around the subcontinent and beyond.
4. Working with the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, we plan to establish a follow-up network and Fellows meeting.

Benefits to Fellows
• Attendance to one TED or TEDGlobal Conference with all expenses paid (conference, travel, room and board)
• Participation in Fellows pre-conference activities
• Private social networking on TED.com
• Potential to speak on the TED Fellows or TED University stage
• Potential to have that talk posted on TED.com

Responsibilities of Fellows
• Full attendance and participation at the Conference
• Submission of a post-conference report
• Regular posting on the TED Fellows Blog

Connect with TED: Become a member at TED website, Facebook, Linkedin
Twitter: @TED, @TEDtalks, @TEDchris, @tedx, @TEDindia

Contact: tedindia@ted.com

TED video links:

TED Talks, YouTube,
Flickr, TED Indian Fellows video, Apna tube, Big Adda, Ibibo.

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This is one of those videos that really makes you think about how trivial some aspects of social networking sites like Twitter can be. From: “SuperNews!” An animated sketch comedy series airing on Current TV.

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If you believe in the power and value that the internet can bring to your business then try typing your web address into your mobile phone…..frustrating isn’t it?

The Web has revolutionized how we interact with and publish information, however surfing the internet using one’s mobile phone, whilst being quite convenient, can be a very frustrating and time-consuming exercise if trying to access a non-mobile compliant website. The result is often that people then prefer to wait until they are sitting at a PC than have to try to scroll down and across on their tiny cell phone screen. Added to this is the problem that the majority of South Africans do not have access to a PC yet they more than likely own a cell phone which is a much cheaper means of accessing the internet.

According to Liron Segev of Swift Telecoms, “The problem that exists is that websites have been created to work with powerful PC’s, with a 17” screen, a mouse and a keyboard which means that traditional websites do not function or display correctly on mobile phones. Hence the creation of .Mobi websites whereby a dedicated Mobi site is created to deliver your information to a mobile phone anytime, anywhere there is cell phone coverage, without the current frustrations of non-mobile compliant websites.”

The .Mobi phenomenon has already been widely accepted in the international arena however the need is only now being recognised for South African internet users with larger companies slowly starting to establish a mobile presence.

Read more »

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The announcement today of a formal agreement for the construction of the West Africa Cable System (WACS) by all South Africa’s major telecommunications operators sets the scene for total international bandwidth capacity coming into Africa growing more than a hundredfold by the end of 2011.

The Internet Access in South Africa 2008 study, conducted by World Wide Worx and supported by Cisco Systems, shows that international bandwidth available to sub-Saharan Africa was a mere 80 Gigabits per second at the end of 2008. This was split between the Telkom-controlled SAT3/SAFE cable and the West African Atlantis-2 cable.

But, according to the report, the capacity will rise to around 10 Terabits per second by the end of 2011, or 120 times the 208 capacity. This growth will be the cumulative result of the existing SAT3 cable being upgraded, three major new cables becoming operational this year, another two in 2010, and the WACS cable in 2011.

These figures exclude capacity available to North African countries that have access to a network of cables criss-crossing the Mediterranean.

Says Reshaad Sha, Senior Manager of Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group, “It is encouraging to witness and be part of the telecommunications revolution that Africa is currently undergoing. The role that the undersea cable operators will play is crucial to both the developmental and economic agendas that have and are being set by African Governments.”

The confirmed new cables due to serve West, East and Southern Africa are:

• SEACOM, East and Southern Africa, 1.28Tb/s – Due end June 2009
• GLO-1, West Africa,640 Gb/s, ready for operations, 2009
• TEAMS, East and Southern Africa, 120Gb/s – Due September 2009
• EASSy East and Southern Africa, 1.Tb/s – Due June 2010
• MainOne, West Africa, 1.92Tb/s, due 2010
• WACS, West and Southern Africa, 3.8Tb/s, Due 2011

“The WACS agreement puts in place the final spark for the broadband revolution that is about to sweep Africa,” says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx. “The real significance of all these undersea cables is that they will in turn lead to further infrastructure expansion to bring this bandwidth to end-users, especially in the business world.”

Cisco’s Sha concurs: “The telecoms operators and governments are still required to fulfil the role of delivering this connectivity to their citizens. This will probably be the most challenging role in realising the benefits of the terabits of bandwidth that will be reaching the African coastlines.”

The Internet Access in South Africa 2008 report includes an overview of each of these cables and a timeline for their implementation.

Media contacts

For comment on this press release, please contact Zweli Mnisi, PR Manager: Cisco South Africa

Cell: +27 83 616 6175 Email: zmnisi@cisco.com

For further information, please contact Arthur Goldstuck at World Wide Worx, on 011 782 7003 or 083 326 4345, or e-mail arthur@worldwideworx.com

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An in-depth analysis of the Internet strategy of the main political parties in South Afrca’s 2009 general elections reveals that the Democratic Alliance has a substantial lead in online performance over its rivals. The African National Congress comes in a distant second, narrowly ahead of the Congress of the People. The United Democratic Movement and Independent Democrats, in turn, are well behind COPE, while the Inkatha Freedom Party trails so far behind, its web presence is described as “damaging”.

The first formal web site benchmarking survey of South African political parties was released today by World Wide Worx, which uses its Webagility system to evaluate and benchmark web site usability and strategy of companies, organisations and institutions in South Africa and globally.

The Webagility system breaks the analysis down into several modules, including usability, social media, campaign effectiveness, and content strategy. Each module contains up to 30 micro-elements, which are each assigned a score, providing a detailed measure of overall effectiveness of online presence. Webagility has been used to analyse sites for clients as diverse as major retailers, banks, bookstores, the City of Jo’burg, SA Revenue Services, the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants and Wits University.

“The DA site achieves only an average score from a usability point of view, but their content strategy sets them apart,” says Steven Ambrose, manage director of WWW Strategy, which conducts the Webagility analyses on behalf of World Wide Worx. Ambrose heads up the Webagility team of analysts. “Benchmarked against global best practise, the DA scores 81% on content strategy, against 64% by the ANC and 60% by COPE.”

In usability, the DA score drops to 69%, while the ANC is consistent at 63% and COPE drops to 57%. Campaign effectiveness sees similar ratings for the DA, at 65%, while the ANC scores only 48%, COPE 45% and the UDM comparing well with these at 43%.

The much vaunted use of social media like blogging, Facebook and YouTube by the political parties is revealed by the analysis to lag behind global best practise. While the DA still leads substantially here, its benchmarked score drops to 69%. The ANC plummets to 47% and COPE 43%.

“The difference lies not so much in what they are doing, but in how they are doing it,” says Ambrose. “The ANC have clearly invested heavily in their online presence, and their YouTube site looks most impressive at first sight. But it is put to very poor use, with uninspiring content, and little opportunity for voter engagement. The DA, on the other hand, has spent less money on the Internet, but scores far higher due to the direct engagement of its own representatives. Their blogs are not only relevant, but interesting, so it comes across as real engagement rather than a public relations exercise.”

The overall Webagility scores of the major parties, benchmarked against global best practice, are:

• DA: 76%
• ANC: 61%
• COPE: 56%
• UDM: 43%
• ID: 32%
• IFP: 23%

“The poor performance of the IFP web site, which our system characterises as ‘potentially damaging’, is a reflection of the reality that the IFP does not expect its target voter audience to be found among Internet users,” says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx. “It is probably not vote-effective for them to spend too much energy online. The ID’s performance is more a reflection of poor understanding of online strategy, with its leader famous for her attacks on blogs.”

Goldstuck adds that the DA has clearly done its homework on the Obama campaign in the USA, which set the standard globally for embracing the Internet in political campaigning.

Says Goldstuck, “We have nothing like that kind of sophistication in South Africa, but lessons are being learned fast.”

A PowerPoint presentation summarising the Webagility analysis can be downloaded at the World Wide Worx web site.

Media contacts

· * For comment on this press release, please contact Steven Ambrose, MD of WWW Strategy, on 011 782 0045 or 083 601 0333, or e-mail steven@wwwstrategy.co.za

· * For further information, please contact Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, on 011 782 7003 or 083 326 4345, or e-mail arthur@worldwideworx.com

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