The ICT Update website re-launched in 2016 with a new look, to make information more accessible on mobile and tablet devices, as well as on desktop computers.
ICT Update has an elegant new interface that allows a reader to navigate the website with ease. It is published in print in English and French every 2 months. The content is also delivered through a web magazine and an email newsletter.
Each issue of ICT Update focuses on a theme relevant to information and communication technologies (ICTs) for agricultural and rural development in ACP countries. The latest issue focuses on businesses led by young entrepreneurs, who usually face different challenges to, and greater difficulties than, more seasoned entrepreneurs. E-agriculture entrepreneurship in ACP countries probably began in 2004 with the market information services offered by TradeNet in Ghana (rebranded later as Esoko). Today, entrepreneurship is becoming common in this field, even if e-agriculture is still nascent in most ACP countries.
“Young innovators in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific have recognised the need for creative solutions to raise agricultural productivity and the huge prospective market for their ICT-enabled services in agriculture. Although they still face many challenges, their products have the potential to transform agricultural value chains in developing countries,” writes Heike Baumüller, who co-authored the lead article together with Ken Lohento, CTA Programme Coordinator of ICT4Ag.
The latest issue features several commissioned articles, including ‘Building a healthy ecosystem for ICT entrepreneurs’ by Barni Qaasim, a partner at US-based Devlabs Venture Capital, and ‘Farms could become the offices of the future’, by Michael Oluwagbemi, co-founder and executive partner at LoftyInc Allied Partners. In addition, readers will find a Guest Editor contribution, Tech Talk, Resources and Dispatches features, and a Question and Answer section.
The ICT Update site also features downloadable PDF versions of the previous issue in Kiswahili and Spanish, together with an archive of all issues over the last 16 years.