Thérèse Izayi, a Congolese engineer, invented two very unusual traffic robots. This one is situated at an intersection on Triumphal boulevard, near parliament in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital. Credit: Taylor Toeka Kakala/IPS

By Taylor Toeka Kakala
GOMA, DR Congo, Apr 30 2014 (IPS)

“There are several robots in the world, but that one which regulates traffic is made in Congo,” Thérèse Izayi, a female engineer and the Congolese inventor of two very unusual traffic signals, tells IPS.

Situated at an intersection on Triumphal Boulevard, near the Democratic Republic of Congo’s parliament in the capital, Kinshasa, the 2.5-metre traffic signal looks like an actual robot — with arms, legs, a chest and a head.

The breastplate pivots as the lights on it change from green to red. Then, it raises its arm to stop the traffic on one road, allowing vehicles from another to pass. The talking robot — it speaks both French and the local Lingala language — instructs: “Drivers, you can leave the road to pedestrians.”

It is made from aluminium to withstand high temperatures and humidity, and the heavy rains of this equatorial climate. There are cameras by its eyes and on its shoulders, which continuously film the traffic. It is also solar-powered to ensure its independence from electricity.

This robot is now a part of everyday life here and there is a second one on Lumumba Boulevard — en route to the international airport. Both are locally patented by Women Technology, an NGO that Izayi founded to give women engineers a platform.

“The robot captures images, which it sends using the antenna on his head to the [Women Technology] centre that stores the data. It is also equipped with an automatic detection system that tells it that pedestrians want to cross,” Izayi explains.

Izayi says that the recorded film could be sent to the traffic police, to allow authorities to prosecute drivers who have committed traffic offences.

Thérèse Izayi’s robot is situated at an intersection on Triumphal boulevard, near parliament in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital. Credit: Taylor Toeka Kakala/IPS

Kinshasa is a city where traffic lights are almost non-existent and the Highway Code is constantly violated. The capital city, with a population of  10 million, is known for its chaotic traffic.

“The robot just solved the problem of corrupt policemen,” a taxi driver tells IPS.

Traffic police, who earn small salaries, are often accused of extorting money from divers. They allegedly do this by stopping cars in the middle of the road to demand bribes, which results in constant traffic jams.

“Traffic jams are often linked to police harassment more than traffic density,” Val Manga, president of the National Road Safety Commission, known by its French acronym, CNPR, tells IPS. The robots on Lumumba and Triumphal ensure quick stops and no policemen.

According to CNPR, there are around 400,000 vehicles on Kinshasa’s roads. But of the total number of vehicles in the country, only five percent are new.

Each month, around 40 people are killed in accidents in Kinshasa, and 90 percent of these accidents are attributed to drivers’ faults.

Izayi dreams of being able to sell more robots and create manufacturing jobs throughout the country. She hopes that she will be able to market her robot internationally but points out that she is restricted by the country’s lax enforcement of laws, corruption and a very slow administrative system.

Izayi has tried numerous times to convince the government to support her project and still has not had much luck.

Obtaining a patent is a difficult process here. The costs vary and it takes six to 12 months to get approval.

Zacharie Kambale is a local inventor who has not been able to register a patent for his idea because he does not have the money for bribes.

“I have to pay money informally to officials to get things done,” Kambale tells IPS.

In 2012, Kambale developed Kongo Connect, a social network that is based in Goma. It has been nicknamed the “African Facebook”, and Kambale says it has more than 100,000 users.  The site is currently down as Kambale adds more functions to it.

Congolese economist Batamba Balembu tells IPS that he estimates four out of five companies in DRC have had to “give gifts” to get a business licence. He says that 55 percent of government revenue is lost to corruption.

There is also no enforcement of legislation relating to copyright protection here, says Chrysostome Kwede, a patent lawyer in Kisangani in northeastern DRC.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), legislation concerning industrial property was enacted here in 1982. Four year later, laws were put in place with regard to literary and artistic works.

However, WIPO says while there is legislation “from 1982 to date [1982 for industrial property and 1986 for literary and artistic works], legislative action in the DRC concerning both areas has stopped.”

“The legal vacuum is the basis of corruption in the Ministry of Industry,” Kwede tells IPS.

But government spokesperson Lambert Mende has told the media “the government’s view is very positive. But the administrative procedures [to purchase the robots] are very heavy.”

However, Izayi says interest has been expressed by the governments of Angola and neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville.

“But I am not ready to provide them with prototypes like those in Kinshasa because it is expensive,” Izayi adds.

The robots are expensive — around 15,000 dollars  — and they cost about 2,000 dollars a month to maintain.

In a surprise move this week, the United States says it is pushing for limitations to international copyright norms currently under negotiation surrounding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the massive free trade agreement that could go into effect by the end of the year.

Observers have expressed cautious optimism at the move, but much will still come down to the exact wording of any eventual agreement. For this reason, some are suggesting that long-criticised secrecy surrounding the talks could lead to a weakening of any progressive new stance on copyright.

“We are concerned that, depending on the actual text and its scope and interpretation, the provision in the TPP will restrict fair use and other copyright exceptions and limitations crucial for the progress and access of culture, science, education, and innovation,” five U.S. groups focused on intellectual property rights warned in a release on Tuesday.

In a blog post on its website on Tuesday, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced, “For the first time in any U.S. trade agreement, the United States in proposing a new provision … that will obligate Parties to seek to achieve an appropriate balance in their copyright systems in providing copyright exemptions and limitations.”

Such limits, long urged by scholars and activists, would allow for the “fair use” of copyrighted material for a variety of critical, scholarly or journalistic purposes.

While the USTR describes these principles as “critical aspects of the U.S. copyright system”, watchdogs have noted that such ideals often tend not to be exported via international agreements.

Having been discussed for the past three years, though pushed primarily by the United States, the TPP is being discussed by the nine member states (in addition to three new entrants) during a secretive 13th round of negotiations held this week in San Diego, California. The talks will run through Jul. 10.

With the TPP’s ultimate size being left open, some observers are suggesting that the setup could bring about a new paradigm in the global economy. For many, such stakes only heighten the need for an open, transparent process of negotiations.

In this light, the USTR’s brief blog post, which only contained a single substantive paragraph on the new copyright decision, highlights how little is really known about the copyright discussions – or anything else in the San Diego talks.

Even parts of the U.S. government have been decrying this lack of transparency, including a significant contingent of President Barack Obama’s own party. Last week, four U.S. senators and 132 representatives sent a letter to the USTR, complaining that the U.S. Congress was being left out of the TPP discussions.

Warning against “needless secrecy and over-classification of documents”, the members complain that they have not even received summaries of the U.S. proposals. The letter notes that that “over 600 business interests” have had access to the negotiating text but that “small business, civil society, and other interests … have little meaningful input.”

According to Lori Wallach, with Public Citizen, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group, “The message to President Obama from his own party is clear: Neither the public nor members of Congress will tolerate more of these NAFTA-style trade agreements” – referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Obama campaigned against in 2008 – “and the text of this deal must be released because there are major concerns about where it is heading.”

Over-privileging investors

The letter from Congress also notes troubling rumours that the TPP draft is currently “providing extraordinary investor-state privileges, and restricting access to lifesaving medicines in developing nations”.

These two issues have been of particular interest to observers, both in and out of the United States, in the run-up to the San Diego talks.

“Most of us would agree that the investor-state relations chapter is one of the most egregious parts of the TPP,” Kristin Smith, with the Stop TPP Coalition, told IPS from San Diego, where negotiators have been met daily by hundreds of protesters.

“This gives foreign corporations the right to sue governments when they feel their profits are being hindered by U.S. laws and regulations for things like public health, food safety, worker safety and environmental sustainability. These trade agreements are basically another corporate power tool to prioritise profits over people’s needs.”

Such concerns are being echoed by groups throughout the Asia-Pacific region currently involved in TPP negotiations.

For instance, under these provisions, “tobacco companies could challenge Malaysia’s regulations,” warned the Consumers’ Association of Penang on Thursday. “(E)ven just the prospect of such suits would have a ‘chilling effect’ on regulations.”

Meanwhile, the new U.S. move on copyright limitations would have no impact on the longstanding push to ensure that developing countries are able to maintain access to generic medicines, as this issue is covered under another chapter, on intellectual property.

“The United States … is demanding strict provisions that will reduce access to these affordable medicines,” six Malaysian medical organisations stated on Thursday. “(W)e categorically oppose US demands for longer and stronger patents on medicines and medical technologies that are essential to save Malaysian lives.”

Returning to the primary issue underpinning all such frustrations, the groups continue: “Since the negotiations and texts are secret, Malaysians have no way of knowing what has been agreed to and whether there have been overt and arbitrary breaches of the right to health.”