User:Africantech

African Technology Forum (ATF)

African Technology Forum (ATF) is a unique publication focusing on the development of science and technology in Africa. Started by students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988, the organization published a quarterly magazine of the same name for several years, reaching an international circulation of over 11,000 with an estimated readership of about 50,000.

In recent years the organization has focused on book donations and occasional publication on its web site of articles on science and technology. However, the need for reliable information on developments in Africa remains, in spite of the explosion of internet and telecommunications services.

Background of ATF

African Technology Forum was founded in 1988 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was envisioned as a publication dedicated to the awareness and promotion of science and technology in Africa. The initiators, then students at MIT, were Mawuli Tse and Karanja Gakio.

ATF started out with some funding and support from its board of advisors, including Prof. Jemadari Kamara of the University of Massachusetts, Prof. Willard Johnson of MIT, and Robert Ferrara of MIT. After the first year of publication ATF was recognized as an official MIT student organization, and became eligible for some support from campus institutions.

ATF reached out to institutions and organizations in Africa with the mission to discover what scientific activities were taking place and publicize them for the wider international audience and marketplace.

In the days before the widespread use of the Internet, the best way to spread the word about technology was through the ATF magazine. By 1992 ATF had grown to include a team of 24 volunteers and writers from the MIT community as well as other universities in the greater Boston and New England areas. The magazine reached circulation of 11,000 in over 50 countries, and had regular subscriptions from libraries in over 20 universities worldwide. With the academic readership it is estimated that ATF reached an audience of at least 50,000.

ATF magazine was published quarterly on a regular basis until 1995, when many of the key staff dispersed due to job requirements and travels. Three of the ATF staff – Karanja Gakio, Amolo Ng’weno, and Ayisi Makatiani – went on to found the piopan-African Internet service provider (ISP) Africa Online. They were joined soon afterwards by Mawuli Tse, who started Africa Online’s Ghana operations. Other ATF members have gone on to play leading roles on their own or with major organizations in both Africa and the United States.

In addition to the publication, ATF was engaged in several consulting jobs while it was active. These included a management consulting contract with Ashanti Goldfields in Ghana, and a survey of photovoltaic systems in Cape Verde in 1993.

ATF has continued to play a role in linking talent and resources from Western institutions with organizations in Africa. This includes finding professional technical contacts for inquiries from African businesses, researchers, and institutions, to researching and recommending goods and services to African technical professionals looking for help on projects.