In this episode, I share the story of how Awala started as a research project, and why I chose to use North Korea as a reference for the kind of censorship that the technology would have to circumvent in theory. What I'm sharing is the upshot of my research at Oxford, before founding Relaycorp and securing funding to build Awala.

References

1. Awala: https://awala.network/
2. FireChat – the messaging app that’s powering the Hong Kong protests: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/29/firechat-messaging-app-powering-hong-kong-protests 
3. Internet over Avian Carriers: https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/pigeon-powered-internet-takes-flight/ 
4. North Korea’s Hidden Revolution by Jieun Baek: https://www.jieunbaek.com/north-koreas-hidden-revolution/ 
5. “Compromising Connectivity: Information Dynamics between the State & Society in a Digitizing North Korea” by Nat Kretchun, Catherine Lee and Seamus Tuohy: https://usakoreainstitute.org/research/special-reports/compromisingconnectivity/ 
6. Osama bin Laden’s Sneakernet Email System: https://techland.time.com/2011/05/13/osama-bin-ladens-sneakernet-email-system/
7. Chinese hackers breached US court wiretap systems, WSJ reports: https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/chinese-hackers-breached-us-court-wiretap-systems-wsj-reports-2024-10-06/
8. Got my mind set on you by George Harrison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpUPFnk1NAs
9. Telcos band together to re-connect Kaikoura: https://media.one.nz/article/telcos-band-together-re-connect-kaikoura
10. Memorabilia: https://imgur.com/a/AJrz4mk

Discussion

Questions? Feedback? Let's discuss this episode on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Awala/comments/1g2vhgz/inside_awala_podcast_s00e01_how_north_korea/