MobileActive's Blog

Strengthening ICT4D Research Capacity in Asia (SIRCA) Programme is announcing a call for grant proposals.

The SIRCA Programme seeks to identify research leaders, and to facilitate their development through the support of research grants. The awards are focused in the area of Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D or ICTD) in Asia.  There are three (3) categories of funding – 20,000 Singapore Dollars (SGD), 26,500 SGD and 33,000 SGD. Project proposals exceeding 33,000 SGD must specify the source of additional funds.

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A new study from the University of Manchester argues that conflict is benefitial to mobile infrastructure investments.  These investments have long thought to be dependent on 'pillars' like security and stability, finance and infrastructure, workers and labour markets, and the regulatory framework and tax. "Overarching all of these, the view is that good, stable governance forms the crucial basis for investment," write Agnieszka Konkel and Richard Heeks from the University of Manchester in the UK.

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Beauticians in Pakistan, sex-workers in Serbia, taxi drivers in Thailand. What do they have in common?  They're all being helped by mobile phones which make it cheaper to start up businesses, and reduce the cost of operating.  Besides sparking off "entrepreneurship," mobiles across the globe are giving a spurt to productivity, says a June 2008 World Bank report on The Role of Mobile Phones in Rural Poverty Reduction.

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In our exploration this week of the social impact of mobiles phones on livelihoods, the GSMA Development Fund has aggregated key research studies from the last few years on the social and economic impact of mobile telephony in developing countries.

We are very pleased that key practitioners and researchers from the field cited in the report will be leading sessions at MobileActive08 such as Jonathan Donner, Microsoft and Jesse Moore, GSMA Development Fund.

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Agriculture is what keeps economies in most developing countries alive. However, farmers in many countries face major challenges. In an age of global markets, they are forced to enhance production, improve the quality of their yield, and access markets within short timeframes.  Small-scale farmers especially have traditionally been deprived of weather and crop information, have been at the mercy of middlemen, and have lacked timely market price information to negotiate the best deal. This has chancged with the a connect people advent of widespread telephony that connects farmers wiith markets, weather, and other data. 

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The idea was clever:  Promise political supporters first dibs  of hard-hitting news delivered via SMS. Presidential candidate Barack Obama's must anticipated vice-presidential pick was supposed to be sent to his supporters via text message and email first - notifying people who had signed up with the campaign before the media, before anyone else.  The buzz was on, and even though numbers are not released by the campaign, it is estimated that the campaign has now a list of about 1 million mobiles numbers when more and more people signed up to be the first to know who the campaign had picked as VP. 

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We are very pleased to announce the agenda for MobileActive08.  Please take a look! 

We had an overwhelming number of submissons for sessions, talks, and SIMlab and SIMSpace spots and had to make very hard choices.  We appreciate the many superb session that were suggested by so many of you and thank you sincerely!  

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How can you encourage men to use condoms to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS, asks the BBC World Trust?  The organization - the charitable arm of the BBC -- has been running a public health campaign in four states in southern India and has now launched a campaign to make clear that "smart men use condoms."

Here is one scene, played out at a wedding: a mobile ringtone buzzes with a loud refrain "condom! condom!" 

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Civil society can play a large role in getting people digitally connected, say the co-editors of  the new book 'ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia: Policy and Regulatory Roadblocks'.

"However, in order to reap the full benefits from connectivity in a long-lasting manner, underlying issues of policy, affordability and technology need to be addressed," LIRNAsia's Executive Director Rohan Samarajiva and co-editor of the book with Ayesha Zainudeen, told Mobileactive.org in an email interview.

Currently Asia is the fastest growing region in the world in terms of connectivity.

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We welcome to our team two new occasional bloggers from India and Uganda: Frederick Noronha and Esther Nasikye.  You will see blog posts and stories from them starting today.  Both are experienced in ICT for Development and have a special interest in mobiles for social change.  We are looking forward to your contributions, Esther and Frederick, and welcome you to the MobileActive community!  

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