MedTech I.Q.

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Colleagues,

As reported by Voice of America ... Africa is bracing for an "explosion" of social-media use, as the cost of Internet access decreases ... after the launch of the SEACOM cable...

... “This (cable) represents a massive opportunity for Africa,” says Toby Shapshak, the editor of the South African edition of Stuff magazine, an international publication focusing on Internet developments ... when “competition kicks in,” African Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will pass the lower costs on to Internet cafes and private consumers, giving millions more Africans access to high speed Internet, and a “whole new world.”... the implications for trade in Africa are “amazing.”

... Africa is now on the cusp of an “explosion” with regard to use of social networking Internet sites and services such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and the immensely popular video sharing website, YouTube ... such sites are the “cheapest and most effective ways of reaching large groups of people.

... the SEACOM cable could make it possible for doctors in rural, isolated areas of Africa, in cooperation with doctors in other parts of the world, to diagnose illnesses using web cameras and other technology ... “Tele-medicine’s a really great concept…. There have been some very successful trials in South Africa. What the technician or the doctor in the rural area needs to do is take photographs, (body) temperatures, and whatever other diagnostic information that the remote specialist would need, and show them to the doctor (in another area)…in real time, via the Internet camera ...

... "The mobile web in Africa is the next big thing. That’s where all the great innovation is going to happen,” said Shapshak.

Read on at: http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-07-29-voa36.cfm

ENJOY!

CC

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