Technology & Innovation

Duncan Onyango, a game design developer at Planet Rackus works on MA3Racer, a 2D mobile game inside his studio in Kenya's capital Nairobi, July 15, 2014. Industry analysts have long hailed the explosive growth of mobile telecoms in sub-Saharan Africa - 635 million subscribers by the end of 2014 climbing to 930 million by the end of 2019 according to a report by Ericsson. But size isn't everything. It is the quality of those mobile phone connections, subscriptions and surrounding infrastructure that is holding up Africa's nascent games development industry, not the quantity of handsets. The number of expensive smartphones that can run sophisticated games and applications is low, accounting for only 14 percent of African mobile connections by the end of 2014, says research group Ovum. Planet Rackus's first edition of MA3Racer, a 2D mobile game, had more than a million downloads on Nokia's Ovi platform, reflecting strong demand. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya (KENYA - Tags: SOCIETY SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS TELECOMS) - GM1EA7F1HRG01

Figures of the week: The future of work in Africa

Thursday, May 3, 2018

T-Mobile CEO John Legere (L) speaks as Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure looks on at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, NY, U.S., April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid - RC1205FAB610

Sprint and T-Mobile: There is a better 5G solution than reducing competition

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

A self driving Volvo vehicle, purchased by Uber, moves through an intersection in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S., December 1, 2017. Photo taken on December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Natalie Behring - RC1E3A697300

The state of self-driving car laws across the U.S.

Jack Karsten and Darrell M. West

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

University of New England biomedical research lab manager Brittany Roy works in Ian Meng's laboratory in Biddeford

Assessing the challenges, opportunities, and investment options in global health R&D

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Pharmaceutical tablets and capsules in foil strips are arranged on a table in this picture illustration taken in Ljubljana September 18, 2013. Picture taken September 18. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic (SLOVENIA - Tags: HEALTH) - RTX15K29

Who’s investing in health care R&D?

Monday, April 23, 2018

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai (L) and country manager for Nigeria Juliet Ehimuan speak during a conference tagged 'Google for Nigeria' in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, July 27, 2017. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye - RC193A6B3190

Africa in the news: Google Go launch, DRC humanitarian conference, and WB/IMF Spring Meetings

Friday, April 20, 2018

Will robots and AI take your job? The economic and political consequences of automation

Darrell M. West

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Blockchain and U.S. state governments: An initial assessment

Kevin C. Desouza, Chen Ye, and Kiran Kabtta Somvanshi

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Ruth Munyao, a pharmacist, dispenses anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs at the Mater Hospital in Kenya's capital Nairobi, September 10, 2015. Most of the 3,000 patients at Mater Hospital's Comprehensive Care Clinic, dedicated to HIV/AIDS treatment, come from nearby shanty towns. In Kenya, HIV prevalence among adults has almost halved since the mid-1990s to 5.3 percent in 2014, according to UNAIDS. Yet HIV/AIDS remains the leading cause of death in Kenya, responsible for nearly three in 10 deaths in the east African country, where 1.6 million Kenyans are infected, government data in 2014 shows. Picture taken September 10, 2015. To match Special Series DEVELOPMENT-GOALS/KENYA-HEALTH REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya - GF10000201330

How profitable are HIV drugs?

Jake Schneider and Darrell M. West

Monday, April 16, 2018

A man talks on the phone as he surfs the internet on his laptop at a local coffee shop in downtown Shanghai November 28, 2013. China's campaign against online rumours, which critics say is crushing free speech, has been highly successful in "cleaning" the Internet, a top official of the country's internet regulator said on Thursday. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS TELECOMS) - GM1E9BS1GKP01

Automation could create a more inclusive economy through high-skilled side work

Gregory Ferenstein

Friday, April 6, 2018