Welcome to a very mobile 2012! Last year mobiles were at the forefront of protests, citizen journalism, disaster recovery and relief, environmental issues, and more – and brought up questions of security and privacy along the way. Check out our new page dedicated to MobileActive's 2011; the Year in Review pulls together our best content from the year in one easy location.
From the launch of The Mobile Media Toolkit (a great resource for reporters, citizen journalists, and media organizations that want to use mobile technology in their work) and our increased focus on security and privacy with the SaferMobile initiative, we've set the groundwork for big changes in 2012.
Keep in contact with MobileActive through Twitter, Facebook, our discuss list, or our newsletters at MobileActive.org and (for all of you reporters and citizen journalists) at the Mobile Media Toolkit. We hope that everyone has a safe and happy New Year, and we are excited for what 2012 holds. Thanks for being part of the MobileActive community!
In 2011, the world population crossed the seven billion mark and the number of mobile subscriptions surpassed six billion. As mobile phones have become part of everyday life around the world, MobileActive.org celebrates the New Year by looking at all the ways mobiles have been used in social change and development work.
MobileActive.org launched two new initiatives this year, TheMobile Media Toolkitand SaferMobile, which both focus on using mobile technology securely and safely. The revolutions in the Middle East showed that 2011 was a year of change. As demonstrations spread through more than a dozen countries, mobile phones were a key source of communication among activists and protesters. The wide-spread use of mobile technology, combined with the use of repressive surveillance tech, brought up more than ever issues of security and privacy for activists, journalists, and citizens who want to use mobile phones to safely capture and share information.
Beyond ICT4D: New Media Research in Uganda data sheet 677 Views
Author:
Balunywa , Ali, Guido van Diepen, Wouter Dijkstra, Kai Henriquez, Ben White
ISSN/ISBN Number:
9789081
Publication Date:
Jan 2011
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
This paper is a collection of five ethnographic reports examining the role of ICT in Uganda. The first is not particulalrly mobile focused and looks at how those who have access to internet in Uganda use it. The second report is about the ways ICT is changing print media. The third report focuses on the the opportunities ICT present for civil society and non-governmental groups. The next report outlines the way the ICT sector in Uganda was developed. The last report examines ways that ICT may be used in government accountability.
The Power of Social Media in Developing Nations data sheet 1236 Views
Author:
Amir Hatem Ali
Publication Date:
Jul 2011
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
On January 28, 2011, Egypt’s President, Hosni Mubarak, took the drastic and unprecedented step of shutting off the Internet for five days across an entire nation. His reason for doing so was simple: to halt the flow of communication and coordinated assembly taking place over social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter. That Mubarak took this desperate step — which cost Egypt an estimated $90 million and outraged the international community — demonstrates the incredible power of social media. Mubarak’s decision to shut off the Internet took place after three days of demonstrations by tens of thousands of Egyptians. Although the demonstrations were centered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square (or “Liberation Square”), there were also substantial demonstrations in Alexandria, Mansoura, and Suez. The protesters expressed outrage over several issues, including state corruption, police brutality, and economic oppression. Their demand was clear: President Hosni Mubarak must leave the country.
Various groups, including April 6 Youth Movement, We Are All Khaled Said, National Association for Change, and Kefaya led a coordinated effort using social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, to spread a revolutionary message. Prior to the first day of protest, 85,000 Egyptians pledged on Facebook to attend “Revolution Day.” Similarly, April 6 Movement had over 90,000 members during the protests, and We Are Khaled Said had over 40,000 Facebook fans. In the two weeks leading up to and including the first few days of the protest, Egyptians created 32,000 Facebook groups and 14,000 Facebook pages. It is likely that a substantial number of the five million Facebook users in Egypt were in some way encouraged to attend the protests.
The Role of Mobile-Enabled Social Media in Social Development data sheet 686 Views
Author:
Masatake Yamamichi
Publication Date:
Jul 2011
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
A number of countries recently experienced protests organized by citizens that were in pursuit of accountability and openness from government. It was witnessed that social media played a highly important role in those events; among others, continuously providing updated information, establishing human networks, forming opinions, mobilizing people, and taking concerted actions.
Of course, social media is not the sole reason that made the events happen. However, it can be at least said that the general public were encouraged to move into the actions for their enhanced well-being. From a broader perspective, those occurrences also showcase that Information & Communications Technologies (ICTs) can help enhance social development among people.
This short note seeks to develop analysis on the role of social media in social development, in the wake of the increasing diffusion of mobile phone Internet access.
PBS MediaShift is hosting a live chat on Twitter about the use of SMS technology by journalists, news organizations, radio shows and more around the world. In many developing nations Internet access is less prevalent, and the main means of interaction is with mobile phones and SMS. Many projects are using SMS to help connect communities to important news and information, and to create a feedback loop for programs.
The chat takes place on Nov. 2 at 10:30 am PT/1:30 pm ET/6:30 pm CET, hashtag #SMSChat.
MediaShift's executive editor Mark Glaser (@mediatwit) will be moderating the live Twitter chat on SMS use, with these special guests:
Melissa Ulbricht: MobileActive.org and the Mobile Media Toolkit (@MobileMediaKit)
Sean McDonald: FrontlineSMS (@McDapper)
Zach Peterson: Radio Free Europe/Radio Azadi (@zachprague)
How to follow the discussion:
To follow the discussion, please log on to Twitter and search for the #SMSchat hashtag. Glaser will be sending out questions to the guests and audience in the format of Q1, Q2, Q3, and if you want to answer them, please reply with the Q number as well as the hashtag #SMSchat. All participants will need to use the hashtag in every tweet so we can see that as part of the discussion stream.
The discussion will be archived on PBS Idea Lab on Thursday using Storify.
Help us spread the word! We'll make it easy:
If you'd like to tweet about the chat please use this language or something similar: Live Twitter chat about SMS and journalism, with @mediatwit, @MobileMediaKit, @McDapper, @zachprague, 11/2 at 10:30 am PT at #SMSchat
The Mobile Media Toolkit is a new resource site with lots of content about how mobile tech can be used for reporting, news broadcasting, and citizen media.
The Toolkit content is available in English, Spanish, Arabic, and we are translating into Russian as well. We've been adding lots of helpful new content since our launch a few months ago. Here is a sampling:
NEW How-To Guides: The latest is on how to use Bambuzer to live stream content and engage with audiences. Michelle Li of WECT tells us how her newsroom uses Bambuser to share live video and engage with viewers. (And lets us in on what news anchors talk about, off-camera.) Check out the complete guide here.
NEW Case studies, for instance on how to use SMS and radio to engage with listeners in Uganda. No Internet? No problem. Using a new tool called TRAC FM, stations are able to poll listeners via SMS and share the results over the radio. Read the full case study here.
TIPS for the Mobile Journalist, (aka MoJo) such as this video on how to shoot and transfer content from a mobile phone to a tablet using basic hardware and software. For more, check out the Toolkit section on Creating Content (and getting it off) your mobile phone.
Transforming Education: The Power of ICT Policies data sheet 876 Views
Author:
Alnoaimi, Tayseer, Mario Brun, J. Enrique Hinostroza, Shafi ka Issacs, Robert Kozma, and Philip Wong
ISSN/ISBN Number:
2147483647
Publication Date:
May 2011
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
The world is experiencing a major shift from an economy and society based on mass production to one based on knowledge creation. The book examines the range of educational experiences, practices, and issues and presents them in a way that can be used by decision makers crafting ICT policy in education. The book begins by considering the broader technological, economic, and social trends that have been sweeping the globe and moving toward an information economy and knowledge society. It examines the dramatic increase in capabilities and use of ICT and their related social and economic impact – positive and negative – in both developed and less developed nations.
The cases analysed in this publication are taken from different regions of the world – Africa, Arab region, Asia and Latin America – illustrating the global dimension of the changes that ICT bring to education systems and policies. The wide diversity offered by the selected countries - Jordan, Namibia, Rwanda, Singapore and Uruguay – in terms of economic and educational development, suggests that the issues at stake are not limited to a particular group of privileged countries. ICT can have a transformative effect on education regardless of the economic conditions, in very advanced school systems as well as in poorly resourced ones. The choice of the policy mix varies according to particular circumstances but the vision and the potential of ICT to transform education is universal. This is the key message that this publication attempts to articulate.
The dissemination and use of information and communications technologies (ICT) in schools has come to be seen by education policy-makers as a significant opportunity. They are attracted to the prospect that ICT can improve student achievement, improve access to schooling, increase efficiencies and reduce costs, enhance students’ ability to learn and promote their lifelong learning, and prepare them for a globally competitive workforce. As the power and capability of computers have increased, as they have become interconnected in a worldwide web of information and resources, as they provide a conduit for participation and interaction with other people, as they have become linked to other devices, and as their costs have come down, policy-makers, particularly those in developing countries, have come to see ICT as a viable, and even dramatic, way of responding to the multiple challenges that they face.
Once policy-makers consider making significant investments in ICT, a host of questions emerge: How many computers are needed in a school? Where should they be located? How should the network architecture be structured? How should the computers be distributed equitably? What additional resources are needed to support their use? What kind of training do teachers need to take advantage of these resources? How can they use them in their teaching? Are these uses effective? Are these even the right questions?
The position taken in this book is that while these questions represent important implementation issues, they are not the questions that should frame ICT policy. ICT can have a greater impact when the policies and programmes designed to implement them are crafted in the broader context of social and economic goals and when they are implemented in support of coordinated change of all the components of the education system, aligned to a vision of economic development and social progress – that is, when ICT policies and programmes support educational transformation.
According to the report, at the end of 2010, more than 4 billion people paid for mobile serivce. By the end of this year, about 5 billion mobile phones will be in service in a world with 7 billion people. The report suggests that the implications of so many people having access to phones are many: for politics, for education, for economies, for civil society, and for news and information.
While it offers several examples of mobile case studies in these various issue areas, the report focuses primarily on the growth of mobile Internet, and, hence, high-end smart phones over basic feature phones.
At MobileActive.org and on the Mobile Media Toolkit, we write often about the role of and potential for the basic feature phone. The CIMA report takes the stance that while 5 billion people will have access to mobile phones, by the end of this year “virtually every phone sold” will be a more high-end device.
Texting, Tweeting, Mobile Internet: New Platforms for Democratic Debate in Africa data sheet 1755 Views
Author:
Tom Sarrazin
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
New media platforms are changing how people communicate with each other around the world. However, there is great variation in both the kind of
communication platforms people make use of as well as in how they access these platforms. Computer ownership and internet access are still the prerogative of the wealthy few in wide swathes of the African continent. All the same, mobile internet access is on the rise and if current growth rates continue, African mobile phone penetration will reach 100 per cent by 2014. Mobile phone penetration rates, in particular, have resulted in a plethora of ideas for new media platforms aimed at bridging the information divide between the well-connected and the disconnected. Topic areas range from agriculture and conservation to health and human rights. In addition to mobile phone-based platforms, there is also a number of promising internet-based ones.
Butterfly Works co-designs for a better world. Our studio is based in Amsterdam and works globally with a core team of 10 designers and organisers. Butterfly Works was founded in 2003 with the wish to contribute to greater equality in the world through co-design.
We work in emerging economies because we believe in undiscovered potential. Through serious media, social branding and experiential learning we share knowledge, trigger creativity and build sustainable businesses.
Butterfly Works have developed numerous concepts which contribute to greater equality in the world, concepts which are currently used in 22 countries in 3 continents. We are honored to have received international awards. Examples of our work include founding father of Return to Sender, NairoBits Digital Design schools, !SYOU sneakers and a recently launched game called ‘Get H20′.
MobileActive.org recently launched the Mobile Media Toolkit, a resource for professional journalists and citizen reporters who want to use mobile phones to create and share news about the world around them. If you want to learn more about using your phone as a media tool, the Mobile Media Toolkit has guides, how-tos, and real-world case studies that can help you learn the best tips, tricks, and tools for mobile reporting.
One of the sections of the Mobile Media Toolkit focuses on creating content – using a mobile phone for photography, audio, and video recording. The section focuses on basic feature phones and smartphones, so the content is applicable to a large number of users.
Creating Audio:
Mobile phones, as an audio medium, are excellent tools for creating audio content. From radio broadcasts, to podcasts, to audio slideshows, anyone can use a mobile phone for audio reporting. In order to use a phone for audio reporting, users can do any of three things:
Use the calling function of the phone to leave an audio message on a service that records your call.
Record audio directly onto your phone through its microphone.
Use software or applications to record phone conversations.
While creating audio, it's important to have a good recording environment, which means minimal background noise and ambient sound (such as from air conditioners or fans in a room, or traffic in outdoor settings). Using an extrenal microphone (rather than the built-in mic on the phone) can help cut down on ambient noise as it picks up sound more directly. For recording phone calls, you should warn your interviewee first, as in many states and countries, it is legally required to tell someone before recording them.
Using mobile phones to record audio is simple and sharable, and should be a skill in the repetoire of any mobile journalist. The Mobile Media Toolkit has much more information on recording on audio, including how to edit audio, how to publish and share it, and case studies on how different organizations around the world are using mobile audio reports.
Creating Video:
Videos are a great way to document the world around you, and the ubiquity of mobile phones with video capabilities means that the opportunity for journalists and citizen reporters to capture great video is always growing.
Creating good videos off a mobile phone can add a dynamic boost to news reports, or present a stand-alone story. When recording video, try to some of the Mobile Media Toolkit's advice for creating videos:
Hold the phone in landscape mode (held horizontally rather than vertically) while recording; most online video players are designed for landscape videos, so filming in this format means you'll get the most from the scene.
Keep the camera stable; stability is key for smooth video. Use a tripod if you have one, if not, then steady your arms on something solid or film in a sitting or kneeling position.
Use an external microphone for better sound quality.
Check the lighting. If you're filming outside, keep the sun behind your subject; if filming inside, then make sure your subject is lit from multiple angles to avoid shadows.
Film on the highest resolution you have available – if you are not directly uploading/live-streaming the video from your mobile phone, you can always compress the video later on a computer when editing if you need a smaller file size.
There are several options for editing mobile videos; some phones (like the iPhone and the Nokia N series) have built-in editing packages, and smartphone users with iPhones or Windows phones can download third party editing applications. Users can also upload the videos to a computer for richer editing options.
Taking Photos:
Much of the advice for taking pictures is similar to the advice for taking good videos:
Make sure you have lots of light on your subject to compensate for the small phone lens.
Keep your phone stable in order to reduce blur.
Keep the lens clean. The lens on camera phones can get dirty quickly as it is often less protected then the lens on a traditional camera. Remove dirt and debris so that your pictures aren't marred.
Try not to use the zoom on the camera; photos will be in a higher resolution if you move in to take the picture or later crop the photo in photo editing software.
The section also has information for reporting from smartphones, covering everything from how smartphones can be used for live and semi-live reporting, social media applications, personal management (such as taking notes, recording calls, or scheduling interviews), and a summary of applications for a variety of handsets (Symbian, RIM, Android, iPhone, and Windows).
To learn more, check out the Mobile Media Toolkit for more information on creating, editing, and sharing content with your mobile phone.
The Mobile Media Toolkit helps you make sense of the growing role of mobile tech in media. The Toolkit provides how-to guides, mobile tools, and case studies on how mobile phones can (and are) being used for reporting, news broadcasting, and citizen media. We cover it all, from basic feature phones to the latest smartphone applications.
It's an exciting day for us here at MobileActive.org as we launch the Mobile Media Toolkit. For the last year we have been interviewing people, researching projects, and testing tools, to bring you this free resource. It is designed to help you evaluate and effectively deploy the right tools for reporting and sharing content on and to mobile devices.
Please visit the Toolkit. Share it with others. Add to it! It's available in English, Spanish, and Arabic. So, please join us and say Welcome, Bienvenidos, and مرحبا to the Mobile Media Toolkit!
With the growing use of mobile phones for citizen media comes new risks, challenges and opportunities. This online dialogue is a space to discuss stories, tactics, and resources for using mobile phones for citizen media, as well as a space to discuss mobile risk assessment and security. Jin the discussion on July 27 to share your stories, ideas and resources!
You can find more information on how to participate here.
We spoke with Prairie Summer and Graham Gardner of Equal Access to learn more about that organization’s work integrating educational radio broadcasts with mobile-based tools such as SMS and IVR. As they explain, this combination has enabled them to better tailor their message to their their audience and has allowed for a unique form of interactive communication.
Equal Access creates communications strategies and outreach that address the most critical challenges affecting people in the developing world. Their work has focused on communications around issues such as women and girls' rights, democracy and governance, and education.
Designing with Mobile Digital Storytelling in Rural Africa data sheet 1439 Views
Author:
Nicola J Bidwell, Thomas Reitmaier, Gary Marsden, Susan Hansen
Publication Date:
Apr 2010
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
We reflect on activities to design a mobile application to enable rural people in South Africa’s Eastern Cape to record and share their stories, which have implications for ‘cross-cultural design,’ and the wider use of stories in design. We based our initial concept for generating stories with audio and photos on cell-phones on a scenario informed by abstracting from digital storytelling projects globally and our personal experience. But insights from ethnography, and technology experiments involving storytelling, in a rural village led us to query our grounding assumptions and usability criteria.
So, we implemented a method using cell-phones to localise storytelling, involve rural users and probe ways to incorporate visual and audio media. Products from this method helped us to generate design ideas for our current prototype which offers great flexibility. Thus we present a new way to depict stories digitally and a process for improving such software.
We've heard much recently about information that is being tracked by mobile phone companies (see our recent post) and app developers. However, there are more overt security threats that are potentially more dangerous.
One of these threats is referred to as either a “roving bug” or a “remote listening” application. It is essentially the same concept as a conventional audio bug, except that it requires no hardware other than a smartphone. Once installed, remote listening software enables a 3rd party to call a phone, activate its speakerphone capabilities, and secretly transmit any sounds picked by its microphone to another phone number, where it can be monitored and recorded.
Reports from the Frontline: How Small World News Trains Citizen Journalists and Captures Footage from Libya data sheet 3345 Views
Armed with a few Kodak Zi8 cameras, 6 HTC Wildfire mobile phones, energy, expertise in training citizen journalists, Small World News is working to share stories from Libya with the larger world.
Small World News is on the ground in Benghazi training Libyans to capture and tell video stories of events in this volatile region. Along the way, the team has also captured footage that no other main stream media outlet has been able to get. MobileActive.org chatted late last night with Brian Conley, founder of Small World News, to hear how things were going. What we learned is that capturing and sharing stories from Libya is as much about technology as it is about establishing trust and connections with the journalists on the ground.
Small World News and Alive.in
Small World News is a documentary and new media company that provides tools to journalists and citizens around the world to tell stories about their lives. We wrote about Small World News last when it helped an independent Afghan news agency integrate mobile phones and SMS into news reporting.
As part of its work in Libya, Small World News captures audio reports from individuals on the ground to broadcast to a larger international audience. It does this via Speak2Tweet, a collaborative project from Google, Twitter, and SayNow, which allows a caller to Tweet by calling a phone number and leaving a voicemail.
Talking About Killing: Cell Phones, Collective Action, and Insurgent Violence in Iraq data sheet 1489 Views
Author:
Shapiro, N. Jacob and Nils B. Weidmann
Publication Date:
May 2011
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
Cell phones are assumed to enhance communication among insurgents, thus making it possible for them to coordinate more effectively. On the other hand, mobile communications can also hamper insurgent activity, by allowing the population to share information with counterinsurgents.
This paper makes a first attempt to provide a systematic test of the effect of cell phone communication on conflict. Using data on Iraq’s cell phone network as well as event data on violence, we assess this effect at two levels. First, we analyze how violence at the district level changes as a result of the introduction of new cell phone towers. Second, using a novel identification strategy, we examine how insurgent operation in the tower’s vicinity is affected by the introduction of coverage.
Taken together, our results show that mobile communication seems to increase the information flow from the population to the military, thus reducing insurgent effectiveness and ultimately, violence.
In Tanzania Media, Speak Up and Be Heard data sheet 2233 Views
For the largest civil society media platform in Tanzania, back talk is good.
In fact, talking back is the objective of a new service at Femina HIP called Speak Up! The service aims to increase access of marginalized youth and rural communities and promote a participatory, user-driven media scene in Tanzania.
Femina HIP is the largest civil society media platform in the country, outside of commercial mainstream media. Products include print magazines, television shows, a radio program, and an interactive web site. Fema magazine, for example, has a print run of over 170,000 copies and is distributed to every rural region in the country.
Today's Mobile Minute brings you coverage on African technology use, an interview with txteagle's Nathen Eagle, the 155 millions tweets that are posted on Twitter each day, a look at why technology isn't a panacea, and the future of near-field communication applications for smartphones.
Our latest case study features Small World News, reporting live from Benghazi with citizen media efforts in Libya. About a dozen young Libyan citizen journalists are capturing and sharing video content of life on the ground in Benghazi, right now. And they are scooping many major media outlets in the process -- check out their footage captured yesterday from the eastern gate of Ajdabiyah, a city east of Benghazi where heavy artillery is moving in.
Small World News is a documentary and new media company dedicated to providing tools to journalists and citizens around the world to tell stories about their lives.
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Armed with a few Kodak Zi8 cameras, 6 HTC Wildfire mobile phones, energy, expertise in training citizen journalists, 
For the largest civil society media platform in Tanzania, back talk is good.
