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Orange presents Emerginov, an open-ended solution for the co-development of mobile micro-services by innovation players in Africa, at the InnovAfrica forum in Dakar
[November 27, 2012]

Orange presents Emerginov, an open-ended solution for the co-development of mobile micro-services by innovation players in Africa, at the InnovAfrica forum in Dakar


DAKAR, Nov 27, 2012 /African Press Organization via COMTEX/ -- - Orange is present at the 4th InnovAfrica forum in Dakar, held from 26 to 29 November, and is contributing to the development of innovative online services in Africa - Orange is providing the source code for Emerginov to African organizations - institutions, academic organisations, NGOs, etc. - and assisting them in their mobile services development projects - Emerginov is an open environment developed under an open source license An innovative solution for mobile services development in Africa.



Emerginov is a software solution produced by Orange Labs (http://www.orange.com). It incorporates multiple open source software components and enables the development of applications based on SMS or on vocal interfaces. Together with mobile-embedded technologies, the solution can provide simple services, giving the mobile user access to expertise or to content in different fields such as health, agriculture and trade. The partners also benefit from an open-ended solution combining conventional telephone resources with access to IT services (web hosting, content storage, access to third-party APIs) from a simple web browser.

Logo Orange: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/orange-logo.jpg Orange's Emerginov platform is already used for competitive programming as well as research contracts with African universities (University of Dakar, ESMT and Université Gaston Berger in Senegal, University of Technology and University of Mauritius, and the University of Botswana). Emerginov is also used extensively in connection with cooperative projects with NGOs and local and international institutional players, including: - A remote training initiative for Madagascan teachers. Equipped with a mobile phone and a solar recharger, teachers can access educational content embedded in their phones and may leave questions on a voice server; they receive an SMS when the answers are available. A secure payment system via Orange Money was also set up, and tutors as well as teachers may now go to Orange boutiques to collect their compensation. The operation is led by the French remote teacher training initiative (IFADEM, Initiative française pour la formation à distance des maîtres) in partnership with Orange and the French Development Agency (AFD, Agence française de développement).


- Experiments with m-health in Senegal and m-agriculture in Mali using features of Emerginov are in progress as part of the VOICES project (VOIce-based Community cEntric mobile Services for social development) funded by the European Commission. The objective is to broaden access to the Internet in West Africa via the mobile telephone.

Orange publishes the Emerginov source code and promotes co-innovation.

By opening up the code, Orange is following through on its commitment to providing innovation players in Africa with a set of customized open tools enabling rapid prototyping of services over telecom networks.

Throughout the forum, Orange is holding workshops to present the solution and help local players use it to develop and deploy their own mobile services tailored to the needs of the local population.

The program is hosted by the OW2 consortium, an open source forge devoted to middleware of which Orange is a founding member. With Emerginov, Orange's ambition is to co-build a library of license-free micro-services in order to nurture the dissemination of ideas originating in the field to mobile users.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Orange.

Press contact: Tom Wright, [email protected] Mylène Blin, [email protected] Tel :+33 1 44 44 93 93 More info on: http://emerginov.ow2.org, code: http://forge.ow2.org/projects/emerginov/ About Orange France Telecom-Orange is one of the world's leading telecommunications operators with sales of 45.3 billion euros for 2011 and has 170,000 employees worldwide at 30 September 2012, including 105,000 employees in France. Present in 33 countries, the Group has a total customer base of 227 million customers at 30 September 2012, including 169 million mobile customers and 15 million broadband internet (ADSL, fibre) customers worldwide. Orange is one of the main European operators for mobile and broadband internet services and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies.

With its industrial project, "conquests 2015", Orange is simultaneously addressing its employees, customers and shareholders, as well as the society in which the company operates, through a concrete set of action plans. These commitments are expressed through a new vision of human resources for employees; through the deployment of a network infrastructure upon which the Group will build its future growth; through the Group's ambition to offer a superior customer experience thanks in particular to improved quality of service; and through the acceleration of international development.

France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on the New York Stock Exchange.

For more information (on the internet and on your mobile): http://www.orange.com, http://www orange-business.com, http://www.orange-innovation.tv Follow us on Twitter: @presseorange Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange Brand Services Limited, Orange France or France Telecom.

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