Edition 113: A major filth monster is born
On blockchain districts, deadbeats in proximity and Libra not really being about freedom
Hello, everyone! đ
First things first - Iâve moved this newsletter to Substack, so youâll probably notice it looks different. Second, if youâd like to share this newsletter, you can now do it by sharing othervalleys.substack.com - please update your bookmarks (because of course you have those!). Finally, the BIG news - if youâve been a regular reader for the past few years and youâd like to support Other Valleys, you can now get a paid subscription! Iâd really appreciate it - youâll get the chance to leave comments and discuss, and Iâll be planning special subscriber-only benefits soon. Youâll also get my eternal gratitude (but you knew that!). If youâre new, welcome to these parts - and I hope you enjoy what you read!
Whatâs Up
Many of you know that I worked on producing Identities of the World earlier this year, which began with a series of stories about financial inclusion and identity set in India. Weâre currently looking for freelance writers to work on an extension of this series. If you are or know of writers in Brazil or Colombia who might fit this brief, please let them know!
Image from the WeChat story also linked to below
Links
Indiaâs state of Telangana wants to be a hub for blockchain startups, setting up a âBlockchain Districtâ. Itâs not just a name though - planned benefits include ârelief from the stateâs component of Indiaâs Goods and Services Tax (GST) for a period of three years, a 75% subsidy in travel expenses when project founders attend global conferences and a 25% reimbursement of internet costs. In addition, projects can expect to receive a one-time grant of âč10 lakh ($14,400).â Not bad.
A first-person account of what it is like for a foreigner to live in China and use the super app WeChat: âIt isnât clear yet how the social credit system will play out for foreigners in China. My sesame-credit score is a paltry 570 and China Rapid Finance hasnât made its social scores available to view yet. There is, however, already a feature on WeChat that has been rolled out in Hebei province. It shows you the deadbeats in your vicinityâa literal map, dotted with clickable icons of anyone within 500 meters of you who has failed to pay back a loan recently.â Iâve just come off reading The Charmed Life of Alex Moore by Molly Flatt, which is a sci-fi novel that is set in contemporary UK, and the similarity in sentiment between what is non-fiction and what is fiction is a bit eerie. Related: a guide to what to do if youâre arrested in China (Google doc link via Jason Li).
Suhani Mohan is the CEO of Saral Designs, a mechanical engineering company in India that makes menstrual pads. Her team has a lot of men, but sheâs developed a system for screening out sexists - which is a good thing to do in general, but even more important given the nature of her work.
The story of a Vietnamese cellphone company that tried to smuggle cruise missile parts from the US. It was foiled by âTeam Telecomâ, which is composed of employees of the US governmentâs Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice , and Department of Defense.
Renault and Nissan are exploring what the future of self-driving cars might look in France and Japan, through a partnership with Alphabetâs Waymo. Theyâll start with looking at legal, regulatory, market research and commercial opportunities.
Sony has launched a taxi-hailing app in Japan, but it looks like it will stay in Japan for now, as there are no plans to expand. In a departure from the usual Uber model though, hailing civilian cars isnât allowed in Japan so Sonyâs S.Ride app will connect licensed taxis with passengers.
Facebook has launched Libra, a cryptocurrency which is meant to benefit the unbanked, but there are more criticisms and skeptics than fans at this point. Which would be about right. Hereâs FT Alphaville (thanks to Matt Locke for the share), MIT Technology Review and Columbia Law School professor Katharina Pistor in Project Syndicate.
Female entrepreneurs working in agriculture-related fields in Africa have a new networking platform in Value4HerConnect.
Trump and Premier Xi Jinping are locked in a trade stand-off and you can see this playing out in numerous ways: Huawei is suing the US government for taking more than two years to decide whether some of their telecoms equipment needs a license to be moved back to China or not. China plans to list a science and technology innovation board on the Shanghai stock exchange to drive up their reputation as a research powerhouse. And Chinese tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent are quietly going ahead with multi-million dollar investments in startups in India and South-East Asia.
Opportunities
Founders Factory Africa are looking for a Full-Stack Tech Lead to work on Optimus, a trucking startup, based in Johannesburg.
Hala Systems is an exciting startup that develops solutions using AI, natural language processing and sensing to protect people and assets in times of war. They are looking for a Firmware Engineer and Finance & Grants Manager in Boston and an Executive Administrator in Lisbon.
Brink are looking for a Ventures Community Lead helping humanitarian innovators, based in London. Deadline to apply is Monday 24th June.
The Engine Room are looking for a Regional Support Lead for Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, Technical Project Manager, Project Assistant, and Technologist who are interested in creating social change. Deadline to apply is 8th July for all roles, which are based remotely.
Hivos are looking for individuals living or working in Africa and interested in exploring cutting-edge trends in art, technology, design, and entrepreneurship coming out of the continent to apply to African Crossroads, a three-day event that will take place in Mombasa, Kenya from 20th-23rd November 2019. The deadline for applications is Sunday 23rd June.
The Middle Eastâs Bank ABC has become the first bank in the region to deploy biometric-based digital KYC technology via Jumio, an AI-powered identity service based in Palo Alto.
The title of this newsletterâŠ
âŠis from this story about the Chronicles of Klinu, a location-based game from Ghana that teaches people the impact of waste in their surroundings. Someone develop one of these for the Western world please!
Endnote
Thatâs it! New beginnings for this newsletter - thanks for subscribing. If youâre working on anything that fits the general subject areas of this newsletter, drop me a line and tell me about it. Do ask like-minded friends and family to subscribe too. Thank you!
Till next time,