Russell Southwood, the Chief Executive of Balancing Act, a consultancy and research company specialising in telecoms, Internet and broadcasting in Africa will be at the hub on Wednesday 4th July, 2012 at 5pm to speak to the community about Browser and Social Media Wars.
Africa’s mobile market used to be talk, talk, talk and with the exception of SMS, data was almost invisible. With the arrival of new handsets and the upsurge in the use of new browsers and social network platforms, data is now highly visible and the challenge for developers is how to develop software and applications that will allow those who own mobile phones to do more things. Russell will look at:
- The pattern in service and application development in other emerging markets.
- The battle for attention between local and international browser and social media software and what makes for successful applications.
- The structure of the market (smart phones, feature phones and basic phones) and what this means for those developing for it.
- Social behaviour and mobile software use.
- Gaps and future developments.
Russell Southwood’s consultancy work has included: an assessment of two different sectors in the TV market in Africa; an assessment of the transition to digital broadcasting in over 20 African countries; an appraisal of an investment in a wireless broadband operator; and a study on Open Access models for infoDev.
He is the author of Balancing Act’s Briefing Paper The Digital Transition – Changing how broadcast functions. He is about to start a study for the Open Society Institute with a research team looking at cost-effective ways of digital migration in Africa and identifying what the “public interest” issues are to be addressed in making the transition.
