Thursday 2 May 2013

Mobile phone data redraws bus routes in Abidjan

Could records of our mobile phone calls provide a solution to transport gridlock around the world?  Researchers at IBM have used mobile phone data to redraw the bus routes of Ivory Coast's largest city, Abidjan, in an effort to help make people's journey's easier.  But just how bad is the traffic in Abidjan?  The BBC's Tamasin Ford sent this report while sheltering from a very heavy downpour.

To listen to this report along an interview with IBM by the BBC's World Business Report, please click on this link.

Ivory Coast's economy bounces back


Two years after the end of the conflict in Ivory Coast which left more than three thousand dead, the economy is bouncing back.  Months of violence erupted when former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down in the 2010 elections – but investors are now beginning to return and Ivory Coast’s economy is seeing a revival.  GDP grew by 9.8% last year.  

The BBC’s Tamasin Ford joins us live from Abidjan, the commercial capital.  To listen to this report, please click on this link (8 minutes 30 seconds in)