The outcome was worse than predicted! My comments on this issue are covered here. How many more years…
Having built a Shariah-compliant global finance industry now worth US$3 trillion, Islamic legal experts are now grappling with…
An interesting article from the World Bank that covers how Somali students are kept connected with the help…
Burning Man is not a festival! It’s a city wherein almost everything that happens is created entirely by…
It was a very busy week, locally and globally. Election issues in Somalia.. what will happen? will not…
Somalia: One person one vote, miyaa? It is that time of the Somali political season. That is what…
Interesting article about African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)…
Thinking is the hardest job….that is apparently why only a few are doing it. So what is the Nomad thinking about? Here are just some of the crazy stuff that keeps the Nomad awake some nights…. content getting reformatted for public consumption. Your patience appreciated.
It is 2019… OMG! Ayuub was busy elsewhere in the world, contributing to the global discussion on a variety of topics. Some of the discussion papers will be loaded here soon, and the book section will get a new life as well.
I cover many topics from technology, business processes and when bored transgress to politics.
Here is a sample of Ayuub’s output and your comments, ideas are welcome. Join me on LinkedIn..https://www.linkedin.com/in/mi2000/
Read these if Somalia piqued your interest… Briefing Note1 and Briefing Note2
The story behind this photo created a lot of excitement when first published in 2009. Having been to Somalia since then, the Nomad now knows better.
the discussion was about religion and technology and the need for
tolerance in all areas; I covered the synchronization of the Azan ‘the call for prayer’ in some Arab countries. The use of simple technologies such as powerpoint presentation during the Friday Prayer Khutba, delivering the Khutba in a language other than Arabic… to allow all (including non-Arabic speakers) to get the message and few other ideas that some considered (then) controversial.
Nevertheless, we have moved now on and some of those ideas are now more or less accepted.
Richard Feynman
Nobel Prize-winning physicist, Cornell University Cafeteria, Ithaca, New Yo
“I was in the cafeteria and some guy, fooling around, throws a plate in the air. As the plate went up in the air I saw it wobble, and I noticed the red medallion of Cornell on the plate going around. I went to work out equations of wobbles… Then I thought about how electron orbits start to move in relativity. Then there’s the Dirac Equation in electrodynamics. And then quantum electrodynamics. It was effortless … It was like uncorking a bottle: Everything flowed out effortlessly. I almost tried to resist it! There was no importance to what I was doing, but ultimately there was. The diagrams and the whole business that I got the Nobel Prize for came from that piddling around with the wobbling plate.”
Colombia… Beautiful country, beautiful mujeras – I was in Colombia for the ICANN conference at Cartagena 5-10 of Dec 2010. I’m a member of the ccNSO and I also project manage the .so initiative.
Colombia… Beautiful country, beautiful mujeras – I was in Colombia for the ICANN conference at Cartagena 5-10 of Dec 2010. I’m a member of the ccNSO, the GAC and other ICANN committees and I also project manage the .so initiative.
During the conference, every morning I used to go for a run along the beach and among all the early morning Colombian beach goers I used to see someone (see the photo on the right) who looked liked the famous Malawi singer (see the photo below right).
She would say… I can run faster than you, etc.
Anyway my last day in Colombia… as I was running past this lady, she stood up and a picked up a rock . I was not sure what she was going to do… I was thinking that she might want come for a run too. Then I noticed she was putting on some something, on her leg or where her leg used to be.
I waved, continued my run and started reflecting on life…. Allah Karim.
Malia , the singer from Malawi whose debut album Yellow Daffodils…blah blah… go google it if you’re interested.
Colombia…. Beautiful people and beautiful beaches. Or is it? Yes, Colombia is beautiful place and with fast developing economy. Less than 10% of the population own more than 80% of the resources… what is new?
My favorite writer Gabriel Garcia
Marquez is from Colombia. I visited his house in Cartagena…
Connecting Somalia to the digital world is a positive step forward that will fast track the rebuilding of the country’s ICT sector. Launching the Top Level Domain Name .so is the first step to manage this process. The Somali ccTLD (country code top level domain name) has been launched on 1st of Nov 2010. For more information, please visit
The history of the Somali ccTLD (country top level domain name) is quite complex. To appreciate one needs to read the background IANA Report on the redelegation of the .SO Top-Level Domain which provides detailed information. Of course this is the official record and based on facts. However, for extended version of the story, one should also consult the African IT community, such as the AfriNIC and IGF regional fora who will provide far more historical details. In summary many have tried to use the Somali ccTLD for private and in some cases even for nefarious purposes, however, at the end the TFG representative managed to gain control of the Somali ccTLD for the benefit of the Somali community. The plan is to form the Somali Domain Authority which will have members from the civil society, internet service provers association, universities and the ministry of telecommunication; this entity will ultimately manage the .so ccTLD.
The Somali authority has managed to ensure that this Somali asset stays within the supervision of the Somali government. ccTLDs in general are managed by the countries who own them with the help of ICANN and IANA. There are strict rules and regulations that govern their delegation and re-delegations. There is nothing complicated about how ICANN works and anyone can attend their public meetings which are held three times a year. There are also many well respected African ICT professionals who are doing serious work in the African Internet space. Some of the innovations and creative work in this field give hope to many African economies; the google initiatives, the internet exchange points, the internet society chapters, the national and regional Internet Governance Fora, etc. etc. Somalia has the potential to join the digital world and gain from recent developments in this sector, i.e. jumping ahead into the wireless world, mobile telephony and broadband networks without wasting a lot of resources maintaining the old copper based telephone system. However, the first step is to get the Somali Telecommunication Sector well organised and regulated.
Ways to expand this USAID funded project to the whole of Somalia and beyond.
Self funded comprehensive study of the strategic policies impacting Somali’s Foreign Affairs from global perspective. This report will be launched in June 2011.
How to fast track the rebuilding of the Somalli higher education sector? This project focuses on ways to get the Somali Hi-ed sector produce what Somali needs as it recovers from 20 years of confusion. This purpose of this project is seek answers to what should a country that did not have formal, structured education system for two decades fast track into a world where knowledge based economy is the norm!
Getting Visa to visit Somalia is not straightforward process. This project aims to produce an online visa application process that will streamline this process by introducing a ‘one stop shop’ that will provide information about Somalia and ways to get a visa via online application.
SOMcard Project
An ID card for all Somalis. Just Imagine one day when all Somalis will carry an ID card that identifies them. No more confusion regarding who-is-who and even if necessary who is from where… and even if we have to go to that depth- tribal identification!! No, I don’t believe in tribalism and the whole 4.5 nonsense, BUT if it will help us move forward towards having a system that will enable us get organised; then so be it. A weak system is better than no system… to paraphrase the often used oxymoron; weak government is better than no government.
Mobil Money is taking the African business scene by storm and Somalia is leading in this field. Just like many other positive initiatives from Somalia, this is a well kept secret. Many in this sector know about mpesa and other solutions, however, the mobile money industry in Somalia is in many ways ahead of other solution in the continent.
