activatelondon2013-blog

[activatelondon2013-blog]

New Radar reporters flourish at Activate Summit

A small group of newly-trained young reporters from a London charity dominated reporting of the Guardian's Activate Summit earlier this week. The citizen journalists arrived promptly at 8am but wasted no time with one reporter - Jeredyne - chasing down the keynote speaker for an exclusive interview. Jeredyne showed great tenacity and determination by following Marie Eitel, CEO of the Nike Foundation who had opened the conference with a discussion on girls and technology, up the stairs and recording an audio interview using her mobile phone.

Meanwhile, Arizona Smith made her own b-line, this time for the Guardian's Digital Media Correspondent Jemima Kiss. She posed a range of tough questions in her interview, including whether the Summit was truly diverse.

Throughout the day, Radar staff ran the multimedia hub, sending SMS updates to those who couldn't be at the conference and fielding SMS reports back from those in Kenya, Sierra Leone and India who wanted to be a part of the event.

Microreports included a comment piece from Sierra Leone, arguing we have "become slaves to technology", and Kenya, claiming technology has helped citizens to hold politicians and institutions to account.

Reporters sat in on co-director Libby Powell's talk about Radar, in front of over 300 conference attendees and speakers. As winners of the Guardian Tech Talent day, Radar was able to pitch the idea to the conference and received great feedback.

Even when speakers and attendees thought they had a moment to relax and eat lunch, our reporters were quick to utilise the free time. Linford Superville even managed to interview the Summit's moderator Jeff Jarvis, professor of journalism from NYU. 

The afternoon was dominated by short, sharp reports from Shuwanna Aaron who followed the debates from the front row, reporting via SMS with accuracy and speed. These contributed to more than 40 Tweets throughout the day. Shuwanna's Tweets were picked up by the likes of social media expert Liz Scarff, the Indigo Trust and Paul Hilder, vice president of change.org campaigning group.

Summing up the day, Shuwanna said: "Working with radar at Activate London 2013 was an amazing experience. Reporting against the clock was difficult but very exciting - it meant I had to listen carefully at all times and have my fingers on the keyboard ready to press send. So naturally, I loved it.

"Radar is an innovative movement and I'm looking forward to working with them again," she said.

Adding her thoughts on the day, Jeredyne said: "It was such a wonderful experience, it gave me a lot of courage and self-belief."

[activatelondon2013-blog]

Kenyans use technology to hold greedy politicians to account

Wanja Maina, a Radar reporter in Kenya, responds to the #Activate2013 Summit session entitled 'how open data is changing the world'. 

"There has been a lot of advocacy in Kenya due to poor governance. The move by parliamentarians to buy high end cars and increase their salaries led to a twitter revolution of sorts. Under the hashtag #OccupyParliament and #MPIGS Kenyans mobilised a public peaceful protest in the streets of Nairobi which culminated at the parliament building.

"The government is opening up and using technology, like creating Facebook pages for officials and government bodies where statements are given concerning issues of nationals interest. For example, the Foreign Affairs Secretary used Twitter and Facebook to discuss the plight of Kenyans stuck in Egypt as Morsi was ousted from power."

[activatelondon2013-blog]

"We have become slaves to technology considering the mobile phone"

Radar reporter Tamba Tengbeh reflects on the #Activate2013 summit from Sierra Leone: "I think technology is answering some questions for humans, but we have become slaves to technology considering the mobile phone. For example, I cannot walk out for a day without a phone, even if the world is ending at that moment. The #Activate2013 summit needs to strategise how remote places can have access to the internet, not just accessing it but also making it faster. Many ppl are not benefiting from technological advancements. The summit must come out with recommendations that will benefit all, not just western countries."

[activatelondon2013-blog]

Matt Simons from ThoughtWorks tells Radar reporter Jeredyne Mingo how some technology advocates and events suffer from an "overabundance of optimism" regarding tech, which can only ever be "a small piece of the pie" in solving poverty.

Remember to enable cookies from audioboo.com to hear audioclips.

[activatelondon2013-blog]

Jeff Jarvis interviewed by Radar reporter Linford Superville at Activate

Radar reporter Linford Superville interviews Jeff Jarvis at Activate London. Jeff said that 7 years ago he bought into ‘the online stuff’, and then started the Centre for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the City University of New York. Jeff described his day at Activate as ‘stimulating’, stating that the most interesting parts of his day was listening to Ev Williams, co-founder of Twitter and sitting next to Vint Cerf, ‘a man who changed the world’.

[activatelondon2013-blog]

The UNDP's Stainslav Saling tells Radar roving reporter Jeredyne Mingo how technology can transform the future at the #Activate2013 Summit

Remember to enable cookies from audioboo.com to hear audioclips.

[activatelondon2013-blog]

Jemima Kiss "aggressively promotes women in tech" - interview

Roving reporter Arizona Smith spoke to Jemima Kiss, Head of technology at the Guardian, who chaired the panel debate on 'cities, innovation and entrepreneurship' at the Activate Summit 2013. The panel addressed questions like 'How does innovation and entrepreneurship to investing in startups?' and 'What is the UK governments approach to investing in startups?"

Although admitting that the panel did not show an 'accurate demographic' for dealing with issues of education and accessibility, Kiss pointed out that this is "not a problem specific to the tech industry", and that she herself "aggressively promotes women in tech."

Radar reporter Smith also pointed out that the only female panel member was promoting gaming for children, and was this "telling"?

"I can see how that would be perceived" Kiss said, but, "the tech scene is so broad, and there is a smattering of women...so, no I don't' think so".

[activatelondon2013-blog]

Radar reporter Julius Chemitei sends this audio report from Nairobi into the Activate Summit in London. Responding to a talk on gender by Maria Eitel of the Nike Foundation and Chris Vein of the World Bank. Julius explains some of the barriers preventing Kenyan women from engaging in technology in Eastern Africa.

Remember to enable cookies from audioboo.com to hear audioclips.

[activatelondon2013-blog]

Radar reporter Jeredyne Mingo (right) gets stuck in to her first reporting assignment...by chasing Nike Foundation CEO Maria Eitel up the escalator at the Guardian's Activate Summit! Such determination from one of our newest citizen journalists.

[activatelondon2013-blog]

From London to Kigali: Maria Eitel, CEO of Nike Foundation, tells Radar's reporter Jeredyne Mingo that we must get the voices of girls from all over the world, out into the open.

Remember to enable cookies from audioboo.com to hear audioclips.

[activatelondon2013-blog]

Activate Summit opens with debate on women and technology

Speaking at the Guardian's Activate Summit in London today, the CEO and president of the Nike Foundation, Maria Eitel, has been talking about 'unleashing the girl effect' and some of the ways young women are engaging with technology.

But Maureen Dalitzo, one of Radar's Kenyan reporters, says women are not always able to access technology as equally as men in her community, owing to cultural norms.

"Women are excluded from technology in many ways. Culture has led to women being denied ownership of mobile phones where it is believed that men are the only people required to have access to information."

She says illiteracy has led to most women in the community not using technology, though she says some women "ignore the importance of technology and therefore feel there is no need to even access it or have knowledge".

Arizona Smith, a newly-trained Radar citizen journalist, is covering the Summit as a roving reporter. She listened to Maria Eitel, CEO of the Nike Foundation, who discussed 'unleashing the girl effect'. Eitel said: "The most powerful impact for investment is to stop poverty before it starts." 

Technology design should be for all girls as they are the least empowered, the most unheard and yet the "backbone of community who teach the rest of the family". 

[activatelondon2013-blog]

Radar's team of roving reporters, young Londoners fresh from training last week, listen to the opening session at the Guardian's Activate Summit on openness and innovation. They're full of excitement and energy to report the event via mobile throughout the day.

[activatelondon2013-blog]

Radar's co-founder Libby Powell pitches to Guardian Activate London's tech talent panel at #guardiancoffee