Friday, April 26

Apps

Apps, Trends

Here’s how tech is revolutionising transport for low-income communities in urban Africa

The transport and mobility sector have undergone significant change in recent years. Disruptive technology and the sharing economy have completely transformed the mobility space, creating new markets with a more on-demand, consumer-centric model. Taxi apps like Uber and Lyft have revolutionised notions of accessibility, convenience and predictability in public transport. But in South Africa, approximately 42.4 million people still rely on traditional modes of public transport. In the Western Cape province, 52 percent of households use minibus taxis (unscheduled privately-operated minibus services carrying passengers), while almost 22 percent of households use trains. Historically, the previous apartheid regime segregated South Africans by racial group and assigned specific race grou...
Meet the 21-year-old tech whiz who’s coded for Instagram and Snapchat
Africans in Tech, Apps, Social Networks

Meet the 21-year-old tech whiz who’s coded for Instagram and Snapchat

Iddris Sandu has done a lot in his 21 years.Besides creating algorithms for Instagram and Snapchat and consulting for Twitter, he's now working with Kanye West and Jaden Smith to create augmented-reality experiences around music and politics for the tech festival ComplexCon next year in Chicago. "With Jaden, we are getting more young people to vote and creating experiences around that," Sandu told CNN about his work with the musician and actor who is the son of Hollywood stars Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith.Born in Accra, Ghana, Sandu's parents came to the United States when he was 3. He learned to code when he was just 13, during a work experience at Google eight months after the tech giant moved into Frank Gehry's "Binoculars Building" in Venice, California.For Sandu, it was a l...