Press Room

April 10, 2008 | The Economist Special Report: Nomads at Last

A World of Witnesses: When everybody becomes a nomadic monitor

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April 3, 2008 | BOSTON
From The Boston Globe print edition

Ringtones with a conscience
Carolyn Y. Johnson

The mobile phone is the new call to action.

A Mexican wolf's eerie howl does double duty as a ringtone and a reminder of habitat destruction. Barack Obama's campaign offers text message updates, wallpaper, and ringtones with sound bites like "What I do oppose is a dumb war" over a hip-hop beat. A local community support group has turned volunteers with an hour or two between tasks into a network of translators.

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February 2008|Monday Developments: Mapping the Future of International Relief and Development

Can You Hear Me Now? New Uses for a Ubiquitous Device by Katrin Verclas

EXCERPT: In the past decade, non-govern-mental organizations (NGOs) have been making strides in adapting existing technologies and adopting new ones to deliver programs, engage with constituents and raise visibility. One technology finding new life among NGOs is the cellphone. Cellphones have become the most ubiquitous communication device in human hands, with an estimated 3.5 billion in use and coverage extending even to the remotest corners of the world. With each new generation, they are becoming more powerful multi-function devices, used for taking pictures, finding locations, handling complex data and payment services. Fishermen in India, using cellphones to transmit and negotiate prices directly from their boat, have increased profits by eight percent while cutting consumer prices by four percent. Elsewhere, day laborers receive job information through cellphones and rural farmers access weather and agricultural information. In microfinance organizations, trials are underway to transmit lending data via cellphones to conduct on-the-spot credit assessments and track payments.

Download the report here to read the complete article on pages 34 and 35.

December 11, 2007|BBC News

Digital activists expose abuse by Lauren Howey

Shaky digital camera footage posted online shows one man beating up another - but this is not an amateur fight sequence loaded on YouTube by film students.

It was filmed by Egyptian police, documenting the beating of a prisoner, and circulated within Egypt to intimidate dissenters.

The footage also made its way to international bloggers and caused a worldwide scandal. It eventually resulted in the arrest and conviction of two police officers.

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Dec. 9 2007|Radio Interview with Katrin Verclas, MobileActive.org

More People Hear Call of Mobile Activism

Listen to the radio broadcast here. The transcript is below.

Activists fight for different things. But one thing many activists around the world hold in common is their use of mobile phones as a tool for their work. In South Africa, for example, AIDS activists are using text messages to direct people to the nearest H.I.V. testing station. In Argentina, activists used their phones to get city officials in Buenos Aires to support a waste reduction campaign.

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The Economist, November 29, 2007 reports on the recent MobileActive.org event in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Nov 29th 2007 | SÃO PAULO
From The Economist print edition

Cats, Mice, and Handsets: Protesters and governments are mastering the tricks of the mobile trade

EXCERPT: At a recent conference in São Paulo on “mobile activism”—a term that embraces humanitarian work as well as protest—there was much talk about how to “go beyond text” when using mobile phones. And it became clear that exuberant practice was galloping ahead of theory.

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PRENSA
Massachussets, U.S. y Buenos Aires, Argentina (10 de octubre de 2007).

Se acaba de lanzar la guía de movilactivismo para América Latina desde el sitio internacional www.mobileactive.org, líder en el uso y promoción de teléfonos celulares en la sociedad civil para el cambio social. Los interesados pueden bajar la guía de forma gratuita click aqui.

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Welcome, Sao Paulo, Brazil! MobileActive.org was featured in the main Sao Paulo daily, Estadao today, describing the importance of mobile phones for social causes and the ways in which mobiles are used -- whether that is election monitoring, delivering aids drugs to patients, or saving the Argentinian rainforest and other environmental campaigns.

MobileActive.org will hosting a gathering at Mobilefest, an international festival that explores mobiles in society and culture. We are looking forward to welcoming the global MobileActive.org community to Sao Paulo and to meet with Brazilian NGOs/ONGs about their work using mobiles.