Quote of the Day by Juliana Rotich

September 12, 2017 Melanie Hawken

“There is a link between increasing connectivity and GDP. If you increase broadband by 10%, it corresponds to 1,163% increase in GDP. Investment in connectivity is worthwhile. We've only got 15.6% penetration of the internet in Africa – there is so much more to do.”

- Juliana Rotich is co-founder and executive director of Ushahidi, a nonprofit tech company, born in Africa, that develops free and open-source software for information collection, interactive mapping and data curation. Juliana leads a team that is expanding its global footprint and making crowdsourcing tools available and useful, and catalyzing entrepreneurial initiatives like iHub in Kenya. She serves on the advisory council of Microsoft 4Afrika and Waabeh Ltd. She also co-founded Mobisoko, a mobile marketplace for language and location relevant apps in Africa. Juliana is a TED Senior Fellow and serves on the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Information Communications Technology. In 2011 The World Economic Forum named Juliana 'Social Entrepreneur of the Year'.

Quote of the Day by Juliana Rotich

June 16, 2017 Melanie Hawken

“There is a link between increasing connectivity and GDP. If you increase broadband by 10%, it corresponds to 1,163% increase in GDP. Investment in connectivity is worthwhile. We've only got 15.6% penetration of the internet in Africa – there is so much more to do.”

- Juliana Rotich is a technologist, strategic advisor, and entrepreneur. Juliana serves as an advisor to the councils of BASF, Risk Cooperative, Africa Technology Ventures (ATV) and the Lemelson Foundation. She is a trustee of Bankinter Foundation for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Spain, board member of Digital Impact Alliance and the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Board. She is Co-founder of BRCK Inc, a hardware and services technology company based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her personal mission is to make things, fix problems and help others and she is a champion for internet connectivity and works to support entrepreneurs to scale their work and impact.

Quote of the Day by Juliana Rotich

February 17, 2017 Melanie Hawken

Juliana Rotich, Venture Partner in Africa Technology Ventures (ATV) — **Juliana Rotich,** Venture Partner in Africa Technology Ventures (ATV)

“There is great opportunity in interconnecting the insides of Africa, continuing to connect Africans to Africans, South Africa to Kenya, South Africa to Egypt, South Africa to Addis”

- Juliana Rotich is is a technologist, strategic advisor, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker. She co-founded Ushahidi Inc., a non-profit tech company, which specializes in developing free and open source software for changing how information flows in the world. Her personal mission is to make things, fix problems and help others. Juliana serves as an advisor to the councils of BASF, Risk Cooperative, Africa Technology Ventures (ATV) and the Lemelson Foundation. She is also a trustee of Bankinter Foundation for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Spain and former trustee of the iHub in Kenya and is on the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Board.

Quote of the Day by Juliana Rotich

February 1, 2017 Melanie Hawken

Juliana Rotich, co-founder and executive director of Ushahidi — **Juliana Rotich,** co-founder and executive director of Ushahidi

"I am guided each day by these three questions: ‘What are you fixing?’ ‘What are you making?’ and ‘Who are you helping?'"

- Juliana Rotich is a technologist, strategic advisor, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker. She is Executive Director of BRCK.org, a not for profit affiliate of BRCK Inc. for deploying reliable technology for the edges of society, and advocating for internet access and literacy. Juliana co-founded Ushahidi Inc., a non-profit tech company, which specializes in developing free and open source software for changing how information flows in the world. She is passionate about driving partnerships for tackling social problems through connectivity and appropriate technology.

Quote of the Day by Juliana Rotich

February 11, 2016 Melanie Hawken

Juliana Rotich, technologist and social entrepreneur (Kenya) — **Juliana Rotich,** technologist and social entrepreneur (Kenya)

"Passion makes you approach a task with childlike pleasure and zeal - it ensures that you give it your all."

- Juliana Rotich is a Technologist, MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow, TED Senior Fellow and currently serves as Chair of World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Data Driven Development. She is co-founder of Ushahidi Inc, a non-profit tech company, born in Africa, which specializes in developing free and open source software for information collection, interactive mapping and data curation. Ushahidi builds tools for democratizing information, increasing transparency and lowering the barriers for individuals to share their stories. She leads a team that is expanding its global footprint and making crowdsourcing tools available and useful, and catalyzing entrepreneurial initiatives like iHub in Kenya. In 2011 The World Economic Forum named Juliana 'Social Entrepreneur of the Year'.

Video: BRCK launches the Kio Kit to boost internet access and education in Africa's primary school classrooms

September 29, 2015 Melanie Hawken

BRCK Education was launched in Nairobi on 22 September with the aim of addressing many of the country’s education problems, which include a lack of access to the Internet and technology, unreliable electricity supply, high mobile data costs, and lack of technological literacy by both teachers and learners.

Video: Juliana Rotich - what is next for African entrepreneurs after the 6th Global Entrepreneurship Summit has drawn to a close?

July 27, 2015 Melanie Hawken

Juliana Rotich, co-founder and executive director of Ushahidi  & BRCK Inc. — **Juliana Rotich**, co-founder and executive director of **Ushahidi** & **BRCK Inc**.

Source: CNBC Africa | Monday, 27 July 2015 06:09:49 GMT

Kenya successfully hosted the 6th Global Entrepreneurship Summit over the weekend. This saw a number of entrepreneurs and investors meet and share. However, with the conclusion of the summit, what is next for African entrepreneurs? What lessons can they learn? Juliana Rotich, co-founder of Ushahidi and Chair of World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Data Driven Development joins CNBC Africa for more.

Quote of the Day

June 28, 2015 Melanie Hawken

“We need to open up to experiences and to visiting other African countries to learn about them, so that when we talk about intra-African trade – from the macro perspective and coming back to sector specific – it’s not just the thing that people talk about at the World Economic Forum Africa,”

- Juliana Rotich is a Technologist, MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow, TED Senior Fellow and currently serves as Chair of World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Data Driven Development. She is co-founder and Executive Director of Ushahidi Inc, a non-profit tech company, born in Africa, which specializes in developing free and open source software for information collection, interactive mapping and data curation. Ushahidi builds tools for democratizing information, increasing transparency and lowering the barriers for individuals to share their stories. She leads a team that is expanding its global footprint and making crowdsourcing tools available and useful, and catalyzing entrepreneurial initiatives like iHub in Kenya. She also serves on the advisory council of Microsoft 4Afrika and Waabeh Ltd. In 2011 The World Economic Forum named Juliana 'Social Entrepreneur of the Year'.

Juliana Rotich: "It’s a really fantastic time to be in Africa, to build in Africa"

June 4, 2015 Melanie Hawken

Source: Mail & Guardian | by Lee Mwiti | 3 June 2015

World Economic Forum Africa, Cape Town, 3 June 2015: Young people are key to increasing intra-African trade, which currently stands at a paltry 3%, some of the continent’s top entrepreneurs said Wednesday as the World Economic Forum on Africa got underway.

Juliana Rotich - The startup story of an innovative social techpreneur

December 1, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Juliana Rotich, co-founder of Ushahidi, Kenya — **Juliana Rotich**, co-founder of Ushahidi, Kenya

The world, and in particular Africa, needs more women social techpreneurs like Juliana Rotich who can identify a major challenge or need and develop effective, accessible technologies and software to provide a solution.

Ushahidi launches app to help users check in on loved ones

October 10, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Source: HumanIPO | October 10, 2014

Kenyan startup Ushahidi, co-founded by Juliana Rotich, has launched an app that lets users check in on their loved ones especially in times of disasters such as the one experienced at Westgate a year ago.

Read the full article here.

Entrepreneur Advice from Juliana Rotich: Stay lean when you start-up

October 6, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Act and stay lean for as long as possible when you start-up....

"Ushahidi ran a lean team of distributed members all over the world ... We often say as long as you are good and awesome, we don’t care where you live”

- Juliana Rotich is a Technologist, MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow, TED Senior Fellow and currently serves as Chair of World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Data Driven Development. She is co-founder and Executive Director of Ushahidi Inc, a non-profit tech company, born in Africa, which specializes in developing free and open source software for information collection, interactive mapping and data curation. Ushahidi builds tools for democratizing information, increasing transparency and lowering the barriers for individuals to share their stories. She leads a team that is expanding its global footprint and making crowdsourcing tools available and useful, and catalyzing entrepreneurial initiatives like iHub in Kenya. She also serves on the advisory council of Microsoft 4Afrika and Waabeh Ltd. In 2011 The World Economic Forum named Juliana 'Social Entrepreneur of the Year'.

Entrepreneur Advice from Juliana Rotich: Smart advice on scaling a tech product

October 6, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Scaling your business is often a burning question for technologists. Just how can you expand your technology and products to more countries around the world?....

“For us the biggest lesson in scaling was translation ... It was important to make sure the product was available in a language that people could connect to.”

Entrepreneur Advice from Juliana Rotich: Developers need to prioritise function over form

September 22, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Budding developers and entrepreneurs need to focus on utility over appearance....

“It’s not just about what looks pretty .... Software needs to work for each situation and solve a problem.”

Quote of the Day

September 22, 2014 Melanie Hawken

"You can be in the non-profit space but think like an entrepreneur, and you can mix that with for-profit partners."

This Is Juliana Rotich & She Might Just Change the World Through Tech!

April 16, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Source: Konnect Africa, April 16, 2014 by Jennifer Nkem-Eneanya

This article covers Juliana Rotich's business background and the many companies and projects that this energetic and multi-talented social and tech-preneur is engaged with.

Read the full article here.

Juliana Rotich features on Fortune's list of 'World's 50 Greatest Leaders'

March 20, 2014 Melanie Hawken

Source: Fortune Magazine, March 20, 2014

In an era that feels starved for leadership, Fortune Magazine has developed a list of men and women who will inspire you — some famous, others little known, all of them energizing their followers and making the world better place. Juliana Rotich is included on the list.

Read the full Fortune 'World's 50 Greatest Leaders List' here.

Juliana Rotich talks about the importance of Social Entrepreneurs

June 25, 2013 Melanie Hawken

Published on Jun 25, 2013

ABN's Alishia Seckam caught up with Juliana Rotich, Executive Director of Ushahidi, discussing the role that social entrepreneurs can contribute to this year's theme at the Davos World Economic Forum.

Meet Juliana Rotich - Kenya's tech crusader

May 8, 2013 Melanie Hawken

Source: TechCentral, by Craig Wilson on 8 May 2013

Juliana Rotich co-founded Ushahidi, a Kenyan-based nonprofit tech company, in 2008 with the aim of using technology to map reports of violence in the wake of Kenya’s closely contested December 2007 general election.

Today, Ushahidi continues to create open-source software for the collection, curation and mapping of information, but has also branched out into mobile applications and now even hardware with the BRCK communications device, which is drawing huge interest on Kickstarter ....

Read the full article here.

Juliana Rotich talks about Ushahidi's Crisis Mapping at the World Economic Forum

January 11, 2012 Melanie Hawken

Japan's earthquake and the revolutions in Libya, Egypt and elsewhere make the Open Source Mapping Platform more useful than ever.

99Faces.tv met Juliana at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in January 2011 not knowing how soon Ushahidis software will help millions of people again.

“There is a link between increasing connectivity and GDP. If you increase broadband by 10%, it corresponds to 1,163% increase in GDP. Investment in connectivity is worthwhile. We've only got 15.6% penetration of the internet in Africa – there is so much more to do.”

“There is a link between increasing connectivity and GDP. If you increase broadband by 10%, it corresponds to 1,163% increase in GDP. Investment in connectivity is worthwhile. We've only got 15.6% penetration of the internet in Africa – there is so much more to do.”

“There is great opportunity in interconnecting the insides of Africa, continuing to connect Africans to Africans, South Africa to Kenya, South Africa to Egypt, South Africa to Addis”

"I am guided each day by these three questions: ‘What are you fixing?’ ‘What are you making?’ and ‘Who are you helping?'"

"Passion makes you approach a task with childlike pleasure and zeal - it ensures that you give it your all."

"Ushahidi ran a lean team of distributed members all over the world ... We often say as long as you are good and awesome, we don’t care where you live”

“For us the biggest lesson in scaling was translation ... It was important to make sure the product was available in a language that people could connect to.”

“It’s not just about what looks pretty .... Software needs to work for each situation and solve a problem.”

"You can be in the non-profit space but think like an entrepreneur, and you can mix that with for-profit partners."

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