Tag Archives: internet

My thoughts on the internet closures by various African governments

By Niti Bhan | Published: July 4, 2019

There have been a lot of internet shutdowns of late in many countries in Africa. These range from as little as simply blocking access to popular social media apps like WhatsApp and Facebook, all the way to shutting down the entire internet. What concerns me is the conflation of access to the internet with access […]

Posted in Africa, Mobile platform, Perspective, Platforms, Technology | Also tagged africa, voice | 2 Responses

Absolute Numbers 2007-2017: The “Developing” World Now Dominates the Internet

By Niti Bhan | Published: October 17, 2017

Traditionally, the data on ICT usage across the world tends to be presented proportionally – per capita usage, or penetration in the form of percentage of population. This made sense 10 years ago, when the world had just begun to notice the rapid growth of mobile phone adoption in developing regions. The typical example shown […]

Posted in Africa, Airtime, Alternative currency, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Business Models, Cashless transactions, China, Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, global, India, Innovation Planning, Kenya, Marketing, Mobile platform, Nigeria, Perspective, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, South Asia, Strategy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology | Also tagged absolute numbers, developing country, disruption, next billion online | Leave a comment

Upward Mobility is Changing Base of the Pyramid Consumer Aspirations

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 5, 2015

I’d observed earlier that upward mobility wasn’t simply about increasing incomes, but also a change in mindset, world view and values. Aspirational consumer behaviour trickles downward faster, as strivers seek to emulate the status signals sent by those they perceive as “arrived”. The emerging middle class numbers may indeed be uncertain, as statisticians debate over […]

Posted in African Consumer Market, Assumption filter, Base of the Pyramid, Consumer Behaviour, Emerging Markets, global, Marketing, Mobile platform, Perspective, Technology | Also tagged Africa, aspirations, base of the pyramid, emerging middle class, LPG, shift, smartphones, Social Media, technology adoption curve, upward mobility | 1 Response

Smartphones and the internet across the developing and emerging world

By Niti Bhan | Published: March 22, 2015

The Pew Research Center has just released a report on my favourite topic – mobile phones in the emerging economies of the developing world – with some surprising results. And it demonstrates the so called leapfrogging of legacy infrastructure, in this case, the landline. These numbers demonstrate the emergence of globally connected consumers, regardless of […]

Posted in Business, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Emerging Markets, Mobile platform, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector | Also tagged global, pew research, smartphones | Leave a comment

Impact of mainstreaming and commodification of cyber cafe services

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 4, 2013

Around 2007, the urban cyber cafe industry began to display signs of maturing as the market saturated and the services specific to internet access underwent a process of commodification. As it came to be perceived as no different a business than setting up a corner kiosk or hot dog stand, there was a shift in […]

Posted in Africa, Base of the Pyramid, Business Models, Cyber cafe series, Informal & Flexible, Kenya, Mobile platform, Perspective, Projects and Reports, Research, Sub Saharan Africa, User research | Also tagged cyber cafe, innovation diffusion, internet cafe, kenya, mobile phones, transitions, village telco | Leave a comment

The role of the cyber cafe: Assisted entry ramp onto the information superhighway to use a cliche

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 4, 2013

Monica’s cyber in the small town of Maai Mahiu, a market for a primarily rural area, is now the only such facility available. There was another cyber on the other side of the main highway, she said, but it closed within its first year of operation. Internet access in this locale is available only through […]

Posted in Africa, Base of the Pyramid, Business Models, Cyber cafe series, Kenya, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Projects and Reports, Research, Sub Saharan Africa, User research | Also tagged cyber cafe, innovation diffusion, internet cafe, kenya, mobile phones, transitions, village telco | Leave a comment

Priorities for an internet on the mobile platform for Africa’s prepaid economy

By Niti Bhan | Published: December 4, 2012

Something that Gustav Praekelt said in the news about access to no-cost information being a basic human right at the Mobile Web Africa caught my attention. There is still a gaping void in services accessible to and customized for the needs of the mass majority of mobile phone owners in the world. The next billion […]

Posted in Africa, Airtime, Analysis, Base of the Pyramid, Business Models, Design, Mobile platform, Perspective, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Rural Economy, Sub Saharan Africa, Systems, Technology, UCSD | Also tagged ict4d, rural africa | Leave a comment

Design for the next billion 2012: What’s missing?

By Niti Bhan | Published: May 24, 2012

An upcoming project’s requirements led to the realization that there is a huge gap in design for the next billion (and more). The subsequent domino effect has left a lack in tools, methods, frameworks and thus, disciplines themselves, from the perspective of addressing the challenge of serving the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) population segment. […]

Posted in Analysis, Base of the Pyramid, Ecosystem, Frameworks, Informal & Flexible, Innovation Planning, Marketing, Perspective, Platforms, Process, Strategy, Systems, UCSD, User research | Also tagged African Consumer Market, consumer relationships, cyberspace, design methods, design strategy, design thinking, market analysis, next billion, ui, ux | Leave a comment

In conclusion: Lessons from The Village Telco project in Kenya

By Niti Bhan | Published: November 24, 2011

We’ve finally reached the point in our work for Village Telco where there’s been enough time for some reflection after the intense weeks of travel and observations across Kenya. I can cluster our learning into three broad areas: our approach, methodology and team work; Kenya’s people and the informal economy; and finally, the role of […]

Posted in Analysis, Business, Cyber cafe series, Design, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Kenya, Mobile platform, Platforms, Prepaid Economy & Informal Sector, Projects and Reports, Research, rural, Strategy, Technology, urban, User research | Also tagged Africa, assumptions, cyber cafe, data, design, design planning, email, facebook, human centered, informal economy, internet cafe, kenya, lessons, mobile phones, patterns, Social Media, sub sahara, user research, village telco | Leave a comment

The role of the cyber cafe

By Niti Bhan | Published: October 31, 2011

Monica’s cyber in the small town of Maai Mahiu, a market for a primarily rural area, is now the only such facility available. There was another cyber on the other side of the main highway, she said, but it closed within its first year of operation. Internet access in this locale is available only through […]

Posted in Analysis, Business, Cyber cafe series, Ecosystem, Emerging Markets, Kenya, Mobile platform, Platforms, Projects and Reports, Technology, User research | Also tagged Africa, cyber cafe, diffusion, intermediary, internet cafe, kenya, knowledge transfer, village telco | Leave a comment