

How we are using Android to increase government transparency in Rwanda - enewcomer
http://blog.nyaruka.com/bringing-minister-mondays-to-the-general-publ

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OoTheNigerian
Wow. This is really impressive.

I am surprised that RapidSMS (the python framework it was built upon) is not
given as much props as it deserves. We used it for collecting election info
this last April.

I wonder how the tech scene is in Kigali.

~~~
enewcomer
Using an Android SMS relayer opens up the door for some pretty interesting
projects that can be easily launched in any country without having to fight
with telcos.

Add to that RapidSMS and the django smartmin project and you've got an
extremely agile framework for building services like this very quickly. (I
should also mention that if ever there was an argument to use a vanilla
twitter bootstrap style, projects like this are definitely it).

The tech scene is definitely growing in Kigali. We recognize we've got a long
way to go, but there is a strong desire to raise that profile. We've been
taking steps to create a real tech community here.

~~~
adunar
It looks like nyaruka's Android SMS relayer app isn't yet publicly available
or open source, but in the meantime people can also check out EnvayaSMS
(<http://sms.envaya.org/>). Notably, EnvayaSMS also relays incoming MMS and
allows you to exceed Android's limit of 100 outgoing SMS messages per hour.

~~~
nir
[Sorry for the self plug, but this is too cool to pass up] 435 days ago I
first publicly "launched" KalSMS in an HN thread -
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1759871> \- the codebase was later picked
up by Envaya, greatly improved and morphed into EnvayaSMS. Cool to see people
recommending it :)

