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Showing posts from 2014

CitiFM wins #HackAgainstEbola competition

CitiFM beat competition from some media houses to win the 2014 Editors Lab organised by  Global Editors Network (GEN) and Penplusbytes.   The competition, under the theme 'Hack against Ebola' saw participants build new tools for covering and preventing the Ebola epidemic (at a local, national or regional level).   The CitiFM team which was represented by the New Media Manager, Mawuli Tsikata and Broadcast Journalist Betty Kankam Boadu, developed a Mobile Platform that enables people, both educated and uneducated to receive information and updates on the status of Ebola in the country in their preferred local language.   The  Citi FM  team will represent Ghana at the 2015 edition of the GEN Summit in Barcelona, Spain.   Graphic communications group were the 2nd runner for their 'Ebola Tracker' app whilst the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation were adjudged the 1st runner up for developing an Ebola game, 'Ebola Snipper'.Participating teams included Multimedia Group, R

Help African journalists to develop prototypes against the epidemic

Introduction Epidemics create panic, irrational information, dangerous rumours and uncertified facts, which can all generate chaos. Journalists must be prepared to fight all collateral damage associated with Ebola. Unfortunately journalists on the ground  don’t have the necessary resources and tools that match the responsibility they have to inform local communities. This is why the Global Editors Network has decided to gather local journalists to empower them with the expertise to develop new applications and online tools that can save lives. New technologies and social networks will be crucial for covering and preventing the epidemic from spreading. Please help us to develop new prototypes! Why Ghana?  Ghana's proximity to extremely infected areas makes it a high priority location to intervene. Media in Ghana need to be ready with the right tools to fight Ebola. Ghana’s media is one of the most liberal in Africa, ranking 27th in the  World Press Freedom Index  from

Penplusbytes and NRGI 5th Training Programme on Reporting on Oil, Gas and Mining Opens

In continual pursuance of good governance in the extractive sector, Penplusbytes together with Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) is undertaking the “Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors: REPORTING ON OIL, GAS AND MINING” Course B training workshop that aims at the building the capacity of journalists to positively influence the transparent and accountable management of mining, oil and gas in Ghana from 15th - 23rd of September 2014 at the Penplusbytes’ New Media Hub. The 10-day training programme is packed with carefully designed learning opportunities activity list including expert presentations by top industry players and practical field visits to Western region, Ghana’s key oil and gas production region, as well as meet with community members and leaders to discuss pertinent issues affecting the exploitation, utilization, benefits, and challenges of oil and gas from the affected population perspective. The workshop builds on an earlier programme for Ug

Penplusbytes and FAT-Africa Collaborate on Budget Tracking Project

The International Institute of ICT Journalism, Penplusbytes, in partnership with Financial Accountability and Transparency Africa (FAT-Africa) is undertaking a Budget Tracking Project to produce a simplified, easily comprehensible and reader-friendly citizens' budget. This is in recognition of the need to track government expenditure as well as efforts to measure how well policies are implemented and to what extent governments are fulfilling their commitments to citizens.   The joint project, with funding and technical support from STAR-Ghana, taps into the widely acclaimed core competence of Penplusbytes in applying and delivering cutting edge New digital technologies to enhance civil and government interaction as well as FAT-Africa's extensive expertise in promoting financial transparency and budget monitoring, not only to implement this project successfully, but also ensuring that the project's outcome are fully achieved.   The p

Penplusbytes and FAT-Africa Collaborate on Budget Tracking Project

The International Institute of ICT Journalism, Penplusbytes, in partnership with Financial Accountability and Transparency Africa (FAT-Africa) is undertaking a Budget Tracking Project to produce a simplified, easily comprehensible and reader-friendly citizens' budget. This is in recognition of the need to track government expenditure as well as efforts to measure how well policies are implemented and to what extent governments are fulfilling their commitments to citizens.   The joint project, with funding and technical support from STAR-Ghana, taps into the widely acclaimed core competence of Penplusbytes in applying and delivering cutting edge New digital technologies to enhance civil and government interaction as well as FAT-Africa's extensive expertise in promoting financial transparency and budget monitoring, not only to implement this project successfully, but also ensuring that the project's outcome are fully achieved.   The p

Africa & Social Media: Blogging; Activism; and the Future

Africa & Social Media: Blogging; Activism; and the Future If someone were to be documenting Ghana's young history of its adventure into Social Media, one might refer to the 1 July demonstration, which triggered the hashtag #Occupyflagstaff, as one of the examples of Ghana's foray into activism. Activism, because many months after the so-called "Arab Spring", many have questioned when sub-Saharan Africa would have its own Spring. But long before there was even any talk of a " printemps africaine ", Ghana had begun making moves around Social Media. First it was Penplusbytes, or the ICT Institute of Journalism, in 2001. Seven years later came BloggingGhana – considered the largest association of bloggers writing about Ghana. With the advent of New Media have come opportunities for training and education on New Media, which the latter two organizations have been involved in. That said, one could be forgiven for

One Little Step Into the World of Oil

Imagine this: A biochemical process forms hydrocarbons, in reserves that are proven or unproven, and in types that are sweet and light or heavy and sour. Then find out the commercial viability of such reserves and measure the output in barrels per day. Now imagine gas floating on oil. Someone tells you that the transformation of these resources into industrial and consumable products takes place through upstream, midstream or downstream activities. The above makes little sense to some outside "the business," including many citizens in countries where oil, gas and minerals have recently been discovered. But the complex and nuanced issues surrounding the oil and gas sector—from the geology to exploration, extraction and, the most crucial stage of all, commercial development—become clearer with a little help. The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) offered to decode for us this complicated industry, and so I took my first little baby st

Train the youth in new technlogies to take advantage of oil and gas sector – Lecturer

A lecturer has called on the Government to help train young people in new technologies so they could use the acquired technological know-how to accelerate the pace of development. Dr Stephen Kudom Donyinah, a Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemical/Petroleum Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Ghana, said the Government could invest in such new technologies by providing scholarships for young people to train abroad. He said they could then come back and compete with foreign expatriates, working especially in the oil and gas sector, and take over from them in future. Speaking on the topic: "Engineering and Technological Challenges of the Oil and Gas industry in Ghana," Dr Donyinah, who is also the College of Engineering Coordinator, Petroleum Engineering Programme, KNUST, said just as done in countries like Japan, government could also partner with training institutions in Ghana to help identify and select t

'Journalists Must Expose Corruption in Oil Sector'

An Accra-based oil and gas Consultant, Prof. Kwaku Appiah-Adu, has charged journalists in Ghana to carry in-depth investigative stories on the oil and gas sector. According to him, if journalists are involved and showed more interest in uncovering the unreported stories in the sector, the issues of perceived corruption, lack of transparency, and accountability on the part of key players in the oil sector would be minimised. Prof. Appiah-Adu, who is also a Vice Dean of the Central Business School at Central University College, was addressing some selected senior journalists at the ongoing one-week capacity building workshop being organised in Accra by PENPLUSBYTES. The training seeks to equip the journalists to be able to educate the populace, play their watchdog role, and be able to ask the right questions from duty bearers, as well as ensuring transparency and accountability in the sector. The workshop, which is being sponsored by Star Ghana, is one of

Penplusbytes Provides Capacity Training for Multi TV s News Generation In Social Media

International Institute for ICT Journalism - Penplusbytes has successfully implemented its maiden social media training and policy project for the News Generation team at Multi TV with support from Free Press Unlimited . The key objective of the capacity building initiative is to improve upon the quality of programme content as well as viewership of the channel by actively engaging the target audience through interaction on all social media platforms. As part of this project, Penplusbytes - a leading pan-African organisation in using ICTs to improve the cause of journalism - undertook social media policy development for the newsroom, Team Focus Group Discussion with audience participation, Training of Trainers and Training Workshops aimed at ensuring effective utilisation of social media in the news generation process. The 2-day interactive training workshop took participants through: Introduction to Social Media in the newsroom, Legal & Ethical Issues, Social Media Tools

Paper: "Using Technology to Promote Good Governance and Economic Transparency in West Africa," by Kwami Ahiabenu, II