Rachel Pott
Freelance Writer & Communications Professional
  • Home
  • About
  • Freelance Writing
    • Innovate Development
    • Collectively
    • Relief to Recovery
    • Other
  • Poetry & Musings
    • Poetry
    • Musings
  • Photo Gallery

Archive for Communication

BRCK
Posted by Rachel Pott 
· July 8, 2015 
· No Comments

BRCK by BRCK – Solving Last Mile Connectivity in Africa

Posted on Innovate Development.

Power blackouts are relatively uncommon across North America. Poeple still talk about the 2003 blackout, where for up to a week, 50 million people across the Midwest and Northeast U.S. and Ontario were without power.1 While calamitous, the event was a complete anomaly.  Across Sub-Saharan Africa, power spikes and outages are everyday occurrences, no matter your income level. Nigerians expect nearly 300 outages a year, each lasting five to eight hours.2

In a global world where borders mean less, countries without internet connectivity “lag behind in the development of their businesses and can’t capture the efficiencies that the technology provides.”3 Internet has become an essential element of our day to day lives, yet most devices require a stable source of electricity to maintain connection. But, “what if we could overcome the problem of unreliable internet and electricity, and reduce the cost of connection?”4

The BRCK was created to meet this challenge. It is a full-featured modem and router designed in and for the developing world. Developed by Ushahidi, a non-profit technology company that develops open source software, the product has since been spun out into its own company, BRCK Inc. Their portable, rugged, self-powered Wi-Fi device makes accessing the internet simple and reliable, no matter where you are. It connects via Ethernet, Wi-Fi and mobile phone networks, recognizing that the way we connect to the web is changing. By taking advantage of Africa’s pervasive mobile connectivity, when the power cuts out, the BRCK can intelligently and seamlessly connect to the nearest network, with enough speed to simultaneously share with up to 20 devices. Multi-SIM capability for over 140 countries allows you can hop on to the fastest network. An external antenna port ensures connectivity in even the most remote regions.

 

Tough as Nails

Beyond connectivity, the BRCK was designed to withstand anything Africa could throw at it. It has enough backup power to survive a blackout – eight hours in full power mode – and can handle everything from surges to reverse voltage. The lithium battery can be charged from a solar panel, car battery or computer on as little as 5-18 volts. At 132 x 72 x 45mm, it is smaller than a brick, and ¼ the weight, while its rugged design allows it to work through drops, dust and less than ideal weather.5

BRCK CloudThe idea, according to COO Philip Walton, is for the BRCK to be one component of a larger development ecosystem, not unlike the bricks and mortar of a structure.6 Its design allows for the addition of customized software or hardware, while the BRCK cloud facilitates remote access and management.7 Sensors and other machines can be attached to the BRCK, allowing a continuous flow of information to a remote monitoring or data collection station.8

With all of these features, the BRCK has little competition. “There are modems, there are routers, there are mobile phones, [and] then there is the BRCK,” says BRCK CEO Erik Hersman. There’s nothing else that “combines the best parts of these all into one place and in a package that is built for Africa’s low infrastructure.”9 BRCK seeks to fill a significant market gap, and investors are recognizing the potential. A successful Kickstarter campaign attracted 1078 backers and raised $172,107, and in July 2014, BRCK closed a $1.2 million seed funding round.10 At this point, the BRCK has been sold to 54 countries around the world.

 

Pride of Place

According to Hersman, one of the company’s greatest assets and appeals is that the product is designed in and made for Africa. This allows them to see and feel the problems first hand and connect with their target market. For instance, the BRCK can absorb a 400 volt charge – 70 to 80 times the electricity used to operate most electronics – because they had that happen during production. On the bottom of each BRCK, the inscription reflects this sense of pride: “Designed in Nairobi, Kenya. Manufactured in the USA.”11
BRCK - ruggedHowever, development has not been without its challenges, and often for the same reason. During early prototyping, many parts had to be sourced from outside Africa, costing a great deal of time and money. For instance, “two $15 cases that would have been overnighted for $20 in the US, EU and parts of Asia … cost $100 in shipping and another $200 in customs duty and clearing costs” and took over a week to arrive. The delays have been significant: the second version of the BRCK, originally slated for May 2014, is three months from final testing, with the expectation that they will have them out by the end of the year.12

At $249.99, the cost matches their focus on companies and governments over individual consumers. However, they are considering purchasing plans similar to those in the cell phone and energy sectors.13 The device itself also reduces the both monetary and time costs for connections.

The BRCK’s potential extends far beyond the product itself. As internet becomes more accessible, it opens opportunities for education and learning. Hersman points out that “in Africa, where the youth bulge is high… it also creates a way for more people to get into digital jobs and a future that isn’t as wrapped up in the status quo businesses that are the only options around them right now.”14

To learn more, visit BRCK’s Twitter or website.

  1.  http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/oeprod/DocumentsandMedia/BlackoutFinal-Web.pdf ↩
  2.  http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2014/07/16/brck-africa-funding/ ↩
  3.  From correspondence with Erik Hersman on 07/03/2015 ↩
  4.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsJYrwzfd6w ↩
  5.  https://www.brck.com/ ↩
  6.  http://qz.com/82445/ushahidi-brck-of-africa-ensures-the-cloud-works-when-your-connection-doesnt/ ↩
  7.  https://www.brck.com/ ↩
  8.  http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/05/05/brck-keeps-the-internet-on-when-the-power-goes-off-even-in-africa/ ↩
  9.  From correspondence with Erik Hersman on 07/03/2015 ↩
  10.  http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2014/07/16/brck-africa-funding/ ↩
  11.  https://www.brck.com/ ↩
  12.  From correspondence with Erik Hersman on 07/03/2015 ↩
  13.  http://www.fastcoexist.com/3035137/change-generation/made-in-kenya-assembled-in-america-this-amazing-internet-anywhere-router-c ↩
  14.  From correspondence with Erik Hersman on 07/03/2015 ↩

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • Email
No Comments
Categories : Innovate Development
Tags : Africa, BRCK, Communication, connectivity, electricity, internet, Nigeria, technology, Ushahidi
World Radio Day
Posted by Rachel Pott 
· February 13, 2015 
· No Comments

Can Radio Change a Country?

Posted on Innovate Development.

This article celebrates World Radio Day, 13 February 2015.

Radio – not internet or television – hits the widest audience in the world. It is a low cost yet powerful communication medium, capable of reaching even the most remote, isolated and vulnerable people. It has infiltrated closed societies, like the USSR and Eastern Europe during the Cold War, and subverted governments that limit freedom of information as a means of preserving their power. In the case of North Korea, radio is the only non-regime source of real-time information and news available across the whole country. A prohibition on non-state radio has made created the need to innovate. Citizens tamper with existing radios to receive foreign signals, smuggle in Chinese radios and craft their own out of wood and basic electronics.

World Radio Day was founded in 2013 to celebrate radio and to recognize its unique and contemporary power to bring together people from every corner of the globe.1 Voice radio broadcasting began over a century ago with a Christmas concert broadcast by Reginald Fessenden on December 24, 1906. Ships across the Atlantic seaboard were shocked to hear music and voices amidst the usual Morse code dots and dashes.2 However, it was not until 1920 that the commercial potential was recognized, and the first radio news program was broadcast by the station 8MK (now WWJ) out of Detroit, Michigan.3 Currently, there are more than 2.4 billion radio receivers and over 51,000 radio stations, with a 28% average annual growth in online radio revenue from 2006-2013.4 While radio is continually recognised for its value despite the technological changes of the contemporary world, its potential to help marginalized groups has often been underestimated.

 

Radio Song

North Korea ranks 179 of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index, which shows the negative impact of conflict and abusive interpretations of national security on freedom of information. The index’s lowest ranking countries – Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea – “continue to be news and information black holes and living hells for the journalists who inhabit them.”5 North Korea is also among 10 countries to receive the worst possible rating in all categories in Freedom in the World, the oldest and most authoritative report of democracy and human rights.6 When free access to information is banned and harsh punishments are meted out against citizens who access foreign media, breaking free from government propaganda requires an innovative approach.

Radios are allowed in North Korea, but only those that are tuned to the government propaganda stations. It is illegal to own a tunable radio. The regime prioritizes its survival over all else, employing a brutally repressive system of control to deny the basic rights of free speech, free movement, and freedom of information. Extreme measures are employed to ensure compliance, including public executions, torture, political prison camps and collective punishment. But the people are breaking away from regime and transforming North Korea from the bottom up, using unofficial markets to obtain goods outside the government’s control and learning new perspectives and possibilities.7

A homemade North Korea radio - Photo by JH Ahn/NK News

A homemade North Korea radio – Photo by JH Ahn/NK News

For those who live away from the border regions, a homemade radio replaces smuggled Chinese models. Underground radio-makers are taking an enormous risk to break through the government ideology, as simply listening to foreign radio is a crime against the state.

NK News obtained a homemade radio smuggled into South Korea by North Korean defectors, who purchased it in 2009. While old-fashioned in appearance, the device is simple to turn on and operate. It does have its limitations: it must be connected to an external signal amplifier to catch a strong signal, and the lack of a display screen makes finding channels an exercise in patience and dexterity.8 However, it is capable of intercepting broadcasts from across Asia.

 

Foreign Influence

There are an increasing number of stations available, created by foreign governments and North Korean defectors, such as Voice of America, Daily NK, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Chosun, Open Radio for North Korea, and North Korea Reform Radio. The information broadcast by the stations varies from encouraging the development of independent opinion within the country to providing vital, up-to-date information on the economy, commodity prices, and international events and politics.

According to Sokeel Park, Director of Research and Strategy at Liberty in North Korea, not only does radio help the North Korean people to hear today’s news today and to understand the outside world, but the listeners then relay the information to those they trust, a significant act of shared disobedience. It is one of the mediums helping to change North Korean society at the grassroots level and combat the disempowering influence of government control.

If radio can be harnessed for social change in even the most oppressive of countries, then there is infinite potential for its innovative application in other situations. Radio is far from being an obsolete technology.

Join us in celebrating World Radio Day on February 13th.

  1. http://www.diamundialradio.org/?q=en ↩
  2. http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/radio/radio_birth.html ↩
  3. http://www.wired.com/2010/08/0831first-radio-news-broadcast/ ↩
  4. http://www.diamundialradio.org/?q=en ↩
  5. http://rsf.org/index2014/data/index2014_en.pdf ↩
  6. https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/01152015_FIW_2015_final.pdf ↩
  7. http://www.libertyinnorthkorea.org/ ↩
  8. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/28/north-korea-defector-radio ↩

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • Email
No Comments
Categories : Innovate Development
Tags : Communication, Liberty in North Korea, North Korea, Radio, UN

Subscribe to Rachel's website

Subscribe to my mailing list to get the latest updates straight to your inbox.

Recent Posts

  • Moving the dial on poverty and health
  • Donating time
  • A quarter century of inspired fundraising
  • Brief history of medical laboratories at St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Feed Your Unwanted, Tragic Clothes to Plastic-Eating Microbes and Help Revolutionise the Fashion Industry

Tag Cloud

Africa book review Canada climate change Design Disease Ebola electricity entrepreneurs greenhouses health IACC innovation Netherlands off-the-grid pollution solar St. Michael's hospital sustainability technology Transparency International UN Water Women women’s rights

Search

Rachel Pott · Copyright © 2018 All Rights Reserved
iThemes Builder by iThemes · Powered by WordPress
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.