Introduction to AV

AFRICAN VIEWS Creation of the Framework

African Views Organization Presentation By: Wale Idris Ajibade Email: wale.ajibade@africanviews.org | Tel: 646-226-0262

This presentation gives a brief description of the African Views Framework It tells you: 

what African Views is.

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what is in it for you.

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how you can participate.

The presentation will take about 13-15 minutes.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction

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What are the principal products?

What is its competitive strength?

Comparative analysis

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What is African Views?

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Who manages African Views?

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What is the purpose?

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Who are the team members?

2. What can African Views offer you?

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What method is being implemented?

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Who benefits and how?

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What is the scope?

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Why should you contribute?

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What are the framework components?

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What is in it for you?

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Website snapshot

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Who can contribute?

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What kind of services are being offered?

3. How can you participate?

A brief introduction to African Views project.

WHAT IS AFRICAN VIEWS? ďƒ˜ African Views is a framework for information, communication and collaboration on issues that are specific to Africans and the African Diaspora in every country in the world.

The framework offers free and open access independent repository and clearing house for related information from scholars, professionals, institutions, governments, private sector and the general public worldwide.

WHO MANAGES THE AV FRAMEWORK? ďƒ˜ African Views Organization manages the framework. It assembles and integrates cutting-edge web content management applications to facilitate information collection, archiving and self publishing, ease of access, and promotes communication and collaboration for societal development purposes.

African Views is an independent (non-affiliated) US-registered non-profit entity. The organization’s membership is free to all.

WHAT PURPOSE DOES AFRICAN VIEWS SERVE? ďƒ˜ The purpose of African Views Organization is to attract, consolidate, and facilitate information, as well as to promote communication and collaboration on African and Diaspora affairs in every country.

Access to the framework is available to the general public, to institutions and to the academia. This project is for societal development and multilevel or interdisciplinary collaborative purposes.

AFRICAN VIEWS DEVELOPMENT TEAM  Framework developers

 Project management advisors Leong Yin., PhD Princeton Gamma Tech Instruments Andrew Smith, PhD Economist Intelligence Unit Olivier Dupriez, Development Data Group The World Bank

Alex Wan (Chief Engineer and developer) Femi Olubosi (GUI Design)

 Editor and quality control advisor

Karin Deutsch Karlekar, PhD Researcher and Managing Editor, Freedom House

 Professional standards advisor Seydina M. Falls, CFA

 Content editors

 Research and development advisors

Amanda Hines and Novisi Atadika

 Advisor and content editor Rob Harari and Joni Yecalsik

 Project advisor Cheryl Sterling, PhD, New York University

 Framework architect and Project manager 

Wale Idris Ajibade

Peili Kelly Li: Contributors database management Lup Ma, Sr. Programmer, Next Jump Tigist Bogale, PhD: Resource Economics Arthur Johnson: Market architecture Pascal Katumbay, PhD University of Kinshasa Charles Blass, Lovevolv, Inc. Jose Guilherme Lima, PhD Universidade Federal da Bahia

African Views is a new project and there are no official members in the organization yet. We plan to launch the framework for public access and membership subscription by June 2010.

METHODOLOGY ďƒ˜

The framework is designed to focus specifically on related issues through a host of vital statistics. The main objective in collecting these facts and figures is to allow experts and the audience to connect and interpret how those facts reflect Africans, the African Diaspora, and development conditions everywhere.

There 16 categories and 100 indicators used to classify all the information archived on the AVareframework opens up several opportunities for action.

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THE FRAMEWORK COMPONENTS  Country profiles: involves country pages and vital statistics for 236 countries and territories. This component provides African history in its widest scope and connects that history to the current state of affairs in relevant countries.  Participatory media: involves blogs and eyewitness news. This provides forums for information exchange.  Collaborative projects: involves due diligence, risk and cultural analyses, and programs for individuals and businesses of every size to expand their reach into global markets. Allows people from anywhere to post their projects and connect with others who can help or provide additional support necessary to achieve their goals.  Interviews and Profiles: involves audio visual and rich content archiving. This component provides a repository of cultural exchange activities such as notable interviews, shared experiences, on air & internet broadcasts, travel and tourism, etc.  Products and Services: involves publishing and organizing conferences. This component provides opportunities for anyone, especially scholars who want to get published, to get copyrights and have access to a global audience. Product dissemination includes a variety of conferences and interdisciplinary forum materials.

AV framework opens upis several opportunities for action.Country There are 16 African Views’ framework comprised of five components: Profiles, Participatory Media, Collaborative Projects, InterviewsYou and Profiles, categories and 100 indicators used to classify information. can see and Products details & Services. by clicking on the selective indicators link.

HOMEPAGE SCREEN SHOT

Note: that the African Views’ website is under construction. Screen shot above is conceptual – final content and graphic universal interface will change.

AFRICAN VIEWS SERVICES  Provides free and open access to country demographics, vital statistics and archived materials.  Helps individuals and organizations make informed decisions through collated intelligence delivered online, in print, in customized research as well as through conferences and peer interchange.  Facilitates self-publishing of news, essays, reviews, research reports, theses, journals, books and other African and Diaspora related literary material from all over the world through its framework online.  Promotes capacity building activities in African communities by providing relevant information, direct access and connection across boundaries.  Promotes economic growth opportunities by facilitating project bids and development projects.  Conducts opinion polls and surveys.

We advocate the relevance of African studies and promote the awareness for societal development needs.

AFRICAN VIEWS PRODUCTS 

Publications Research reports, queries, discussions and collaborative projects, risk analyses, etc. Conference proceedings and reports in rich content Surveys Reviews on country ratings and performance Academic and institutional reports, including individual essays, theses and journals, etc.

The African Views organization does not have nor does it promote specific opinions or political agendas. The organization is only responsible for running the activities of its framework, and is committed to expanding the exchange of information within the African communities as well the global public.

MAJOR COMPETITIVE STRENGTH ďƒ˜ The African Views organization has a very unique advantage because it is a place where voices are consolidated, while the content is unique and focused.

This means many of the web resources already in existence would be a resource for African Views rather than a threat, and vice versa.

Situation analysis reveals that experience and material information African views are robust and that the underlying needs on these kinds of subjects are underserved. This is not to suggest that there is none other, but simply that there is so much room for improvement.

COMPARISON WITH ALL OF THE FOLLOWING SERVICES ARE MUTUALLY COMPLEMENTARY:  Comparison with Wikipedia: Wikipedia and African Views are mutually complementary. However, whatever you publish on the AV framework is copyright protected and cannot be edited by another.  Comparison with YouTube: YouTube complements African Views audience immensely by serving as an extended source of audio visual expression. However, AV resources are selective and focused on the issue.  Comparison with Facebook: Facebook deals with generic interpersonal relationships whereby African Views is focused on specifics and is a utilitarian construct.  Comparison with CIA Factbook: African Views uses some of CIA Factbook data and is very grateful to this publication and several others which provide vital statistics and demographic data. Data collected are converted to percentile.  Comparison with Global Voices: Since Global Voices provides reports on blogs, it will help improve AV services and performance within the blogosphere.  Comparison with MySpace: African Views contributors can use MySpace to reference their curriculum vitae and showcase their works.

There are no threats on either side, because the services do not overlap. African Views will benefit directly from well-established social network platforms and vice versa.

WHO BENEFITS AND HOW?  There are no restrictions on who benefits and how. The framework offers opportunity for the following groups:          

Global Public Scholars And Faculty Members African Communities World Wide Communities And Societies Travel And Tourism Governments Institutions Private Sectors Public Sectors Registered Members And Unregistered Viewers (Audience And Contributors)

There is no limit on how you can benefit from participating.

WHY SHOULD YOU PARTICIPATE IN THE CREATION PROCESS?  Because people are more invested in a project when they have been consulted in its design.  Because people regarded as mere recipients rather than stake holders in the actual creative process of any development program are easily disenfranchised.  Because African issues are also a rather broad subject that brings collective expertise to bear on effectively illuminating contemporary world issues affecting Africa and Africans, including diaspora worldwide.  Because we need your support in creating a climate for new possibilities -encouraging a higher standard of competencies and performance in human developmental programs and services everywhere in the world.  Because individuals, communities, societies, institutions, academia, public and private sectors everywhere in the world can benefit from your value.

The value of your contribution is exponential.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?             

Opportunity to make a difference in cross cultural communication on multiple levels of humanity.

Get your voice heard on important issues or inform, inspire or educate others to find theirs.

Outlet for your creativity, talent and values.

Access to a wealth of useful and concentrated information.

Publish dissertations, discourses, or literatures on any African related issues or subjects.

Coordinate and collaborate on small and large-scale development and humanitarian projects.

A wider exposure of your work and value to a global audience Create forums, join conferences designed to reach consensus for action on important decisions or projects.

Conduct and participate in public opinion polls on important issues.

Observe progress in qualitative and quantitative values in real time.

Learn about the progress or needs of others.

Take advantage of the African Views economic empowerment program: sell your published materials on the framework; provide access to live forum or conferences for a fee; bid on projects; sign up for research consultation and ideagoras.

Advertise your book, publications, projects and learn about other’s.

Bring groups together to discover and create value. The continuous process of data gathering, evaluation effectiveness, and focusing research plans can help identify required intervention and emphasize knowledge developed in specific problem solving approaches, and duplicate efficiency and effectiveness of new initiatives.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE? ďƒ˜ Anyone interested, insightful, knowledgeable and respectful of African affairs can participate at this stage. We also invite those in any field of human development to contribute at any time and level of commitment. The ultimate goal is to combine intelligence and wisdom from various professional disciplines and scholastic departments in order to generate new ideas on how to meet the needs, create means and stimulate a great deal of innovation that people need to attain a higher level of perspectives and performance. ďƒ˜ African Views welcomes agents of change and talent that will continue to bring new ideas, concepts and innovation. We invite scholars, professionals, knowledge seekers, travelers, entrepreneurs, investors and marketers to contribute. Public and private organizations, individuals, social activists, and especially students can contribute according to their specialty or various fields of studies, abilities or interests. Our system of statistical inquiries covers an increasing scope of topics -- spanning through the subjective state or prospect of the infrastructure for education, health and wellness, economy, governance, human rights, mobility, leisure, tourism, liberal arts etc. Please see our list of indicators on page 8 for details.

Once the framework is open to the public, everyone can register and contribute. We use structure to provide equal airtime and agreements to promote respectful observation, and to keep the AV framework secure and safe for a diverse global audience. Broad communications, opinions, opposing views and honest dialogue are all encouraged.

HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE?  You have been specifically selected to receive this presentation because of your capability.  Our main challenges at present includes developing sustainable outreach and partnership programs with activists, grass root organizations, communities and schools.  We invite you to fill out our questionnaire to see how you can play a role.  Click on any icon to continue:

Thank you for your time!