Tech Development in the EMEA Region
While open source collaboration can take place between people based all over the world, technological needs do differ from country to country, even though many of the main challenges remain the same on a global scale.
It would be very difficult to cover every single tech development in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in a single post, but to get some idea of what’s happening in the region, here is just a very brief summary of some of the trends and tech from each of the main development hubs.
Some of the main issues faced on the African continent include access to sustainable energy sources and reliable sanitation, in addition to a general lack of access to broadband in rural and isolated areas.
Nairobi, or Silicon Savannah, is considered the centre of tech in East Africa, famous for the many examples of mobile-focused platforms that have been developed in the region, such as M-PESA. With tech development expanding further outside of Nairobi, there is even more of a thriving industry in the area, which includes a range of innovative tech hubs, such as SwahiliBox, Lake Hub and Dlab Hub.
Kenya-based Pawame, which provides solar-power solutions to rural communities, and has also just been selected to pitch at the well-known SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event in Austin, Texas, this year.
In South Africa, a considerable amount of development is also taking place, especially when it comes to enabling business owners to market themselves online using automated advertising technology like Mynoot, or to build their own learning curriculum with educational tools like Clock, which are both especially built for mobile.
Besides addressing issues of logistics and socioeconomics, conserving natural resources has also become a focus, especially in places like Cape Town, which have a critical water shortage. Some of the most compelling technology being developed locally to avert this crisis are intelligent water management systems like Bridgiot, and I-Drop Water, which creates water purification solutions using nanotechnology.
As a busy, built-up city known for its highrises and upmarket shopping malls, Dubai is a city where people like to work hard and play hard, so it’s no wonder that the city’s own car ride/chauffeur service, Careem, has taken off as it has in the city.
Besides its most famous unicorn, Dubai is also known for building technology that supports eCommerce in the Arabic-speaking world, as well as a number of platforms that focus on reselling luxury branded items, such as The Luxury Closet.
With all of the controversy and confusion around Brexit, London is intent on retaining its status as an economic and innovation hub in Europe, especially considering the fact that the city is such a densely populated and cosmopolitan metropolis, with a need to manage thousands of businesses and properties, as well as millions of people.
Some of the most recent developments to come out of London include social apps like Mush, which connects new mothers with each other via a social platform, and which has been dubbed “Tinder for Mums”. As a banking capital, London is no stranger to innovative Fintech, which includes Monzo, which aims to simplify banking and provide tools for users to better analyse their spending.
Berlin is considered second only to London when it comes to tech development, and there are a number of well-known applications that have been built in the city, most famously Soundcloud, and other health apps like Clue.
In the current political climate, software with a social impact is also receiving more attention, for example Daheim, which links refugees up with native German speakers via Skype, in order to help them learn the language and adapt to living in a new country.
Other interesting tech to come out of Germany includes a variety of freight-forwarding applications, such as FreightHub and Instafreight, as well as a number of tools that support freelancers and small business development, like Kontist and Finiata.
As software development continues to evolve, and global political, environmental and social changes continue to influence us, trends will shift and change, and many of the same challenges will continue to affect us all.
So while there might still be barriers to entry in various places, it is clear that with so much being invested in technological development, that people in EMEA, and everywhere else in the world, have the ability to create tools that will help us not only to adapt, but also to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
