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TOR170 — Adding Value To Technology With Indigenous Knowledge with Muthoni Masinde

Muthoni Masinde

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When you think of innovation, you think about the future, right? At least, that’s what I think about. My mind is usually filled with flying cars, holographic displays and a moneyless world. But, I know, that’s just the super geek talking. Innovation is really about solving an old problem in a different way. But the reason I bring up the future is that, typically, when I speak to those interested in innovation they are focused on how we use new – sometimes yet-to-be-invented – technologies, processes and options to solve the issues at hand. Today’s guest for the 170th episode of the Terms of Reference Podcast, Muthoni Masinde, is also a future thinker. But she also remembers and knows how to honor the past. Her invention that we discuss on this episode – an innovation to detect drought – combines the latest in sensor and mobile technologies, with the indigenous knowledge of local farmers. I’m sure you’re going to love this episode where we talk about her invention (called ITIKI), but also about her path from Kenya to become an inventor and Head at the Department of Information Technology at the Central University of Technology in South Africa. You can connect with Muthoni here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-muthoni-masinde-6b1360a/ http://www.muthonimasinde.net/

IN TOR 170 YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT

  • The millennia-old problem of drought in the world, particularly Africa, and the ancestral knowledge developed to overcome it.
  • The importance of recognizing that ancestral knowledge, embrace it and incorporate it into A&D programming.
  • ITIKI, a mesh of indigenous knowledge and cutting-edge sensoring technology for agriculture.
  • How flowering, animal behavior, insect flight height and other patterns can be reliable indicators of rains to come in a matter of days.
  • How nature’s visual cues help understanding sensoring data.
  • The importance of solid structure to bridge doctorate research into business modeling.

OUR CONVERSATION FEATURES THE FOLLOWING

Names:

  • Information Technology and Indigenous Knowledge, with Intelligence (ITIKI)
  • Raspberry Pi
  • University of Cape Town, Department of Computer Science
  • Women in Science Awards (WISA), Research and Innovation category
  • Government of South Africa
  • Central University of Technology, Free State South Africa (CUT)
  • Square Kilometre Array South Africa (SKA SA)

Topics:

  • Drought, Rainfall
  • Farming, Smallholding
  • Sensors, Internet of Things (IoT)
  • Ancestral or Indigenous Knowledge
  • Natural patterns: Flowering, Animal movement, Insect flight height
  • Weather, indicators, Atmospheric Pressure, Temperature
  • Marketing, Commercialization, Viability, Business Modeling
  • Farmers’ perceptions on value, costs
  • Infrastructure, 3G, Rural coverage
  • Women in Science, CS and IT, in Africa
  • 3D Printing, Prosthetics

Places:

  • Free State, South Africa
  • KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
  • Nairobi, Kenya
  • Mozambique
  • The Netherlands

EPISODE CRIB NOTES

Download an automated transcript. Muthoni Masinde, PhD, Head of IT at CUT, Creator of ITIKI Unit for research in informatics for drought in Africa Solutions to solve Africa’s persistent drought Use of sensors, mobile phone Mixed with ancestral knowledge ITIKI: “Information Technology and Indigenous Knowledge, with Intelligence” A two-way bridge: Science and Ancestral Knowledge complement each other   Why drought? “I resonated with the problem” Grew up in a village, helping mother in the farm Mother had no information as to what were the best choices But the community had some cues that started to be built long ago “Indigenous knowledge” Flowering patterns Animal motions Insects. Dragonfly height was a good enough predictor of rain, days in advance Mother would make arrangements according to dragonflies   A digital take on Farmer’s Almanac app ITIKI: A Raspberry Pi with a bunch of sensors Collects data: pressure, temperature Rainfall is the most important one Families with ITIKI also get a mobile phone They log ancestral knowledge sights (“dragonflies”) Compare it with sensors Data is collected and processed, considering both data and family reports “Then we come up with a prediction. But it’s different.” “The amount of rainfall will not support your crop this year, you must change it” Comprehensive support Reports are generated, turned into voice advice for those who cannot read “We have what we call ‘champions'” Champions are asked to provide copious knowledge They meet, vet themselves   Next phase: Commercialization, Newer hiccups People are starting to pay for it Which means the vetting process will be different, as in there will be one “I’m taking on” the marketing After PhD, Muthoni’s currently completing an MBA And a business plan With the help of a consultant “I’m allowed to make mistakes with someone else’s money” The main challenge is always farmer perception They are used to get things for free To make them understand they pay for value Also institutional, infrastructural deficiencies Poor 3G coverage on the farms, slightly less so on rural heads “We find our way around it” First, ITIKI gives farmers phones “Might not be sustainable”   Muthoni’s team “I have a huge and supportive group of people” Also, students, 2 PhD, 1 Msc Commercialization teams for each country: South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique “We have very supportive structures” Spin-off coming soon Well set structure   Distinguished Women in Science 2017 Being a woman “is a huge challenge” in all Africa Raised to be wife and mother You need an extra motivation. “In my case it came from my father” “I keep comparing myself to my peers” For every woman in IT, there’s 6-8 men Muthoni is also mother of four. “I have to do double the work” South African government is recognizing, giving upper heads The Award, in the Research and Innovation category, meant a lot   Future challenges, in case we succeed “Believe” “Walk hard. Nothing comes in a plate” “At the end of the day, be yourself. Tell your story” “Your passion will take you very far” Without support from women, partners, family “you will not succeed”   Research notes Small plots at a time Focus on farmers KwaZulu-Natal, ZA “Our solution is bottom-up” Dozens of farmers at a time First, ITIKI must be accurate in a small place The sensor solution is geographically dense 4,000 farmers today “I don’t want to spread too thin” Franchise model under consideration   The CUT Ecosystem The model can be expanded to other fields: medicine, education Cloud has been a game changer Pilot with tablets at schools, work with Department of Education Internet of Things, project with a German University On budgeting stage People learning to program for IoT, sensors   Oh, and 3D-printing body parts Muthoni prints prosthetics It’s still expensive, but there are viable business models   Who inspires the inspiring “I admire people who have achieved a lot in technology” Jobs, Gates African countries have not reached there, “but we can” “I read a lot about technology to stay motivated” Square Kilometre Array South Africa http://www.ska.ac.za/ Satellital data from weather, crops  

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