developing countries

Call for Papers -- Mobile Web in the Developing World

January 10, 2007 | KatrinVerclas

file under:
call for papers, developing countries, economic development, MobEA, mobile, mobileactive, www2007

MobEA V - Mobile Web in the Developing World in Banff, Canada on May 8th 2007, co-located with WWW2007 conference is accepting papers.

Here is the official scoop; note the civil society applications!

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Aim and Scope

We are in the midst of a mobile revolution. Mobile Web Initiative spearheaded by W3C is making a strong stand on how to realize the vision of pervasive mobile computing. Services provided have to be adapted to the users’ wants and needs. To do this, we need to go beyond technology, and understand the human-centric aspects of mobile computing. The objective of this workshop is to provide a single forum for researchers and technologists to discuss the state-of-the-art, present their contributions, and set future directions in emerging innovative applications for mobile users in the developing world. W3C has started a number of initiatives along the direction of Mobile Web Best Practices, Device Description Working Group, Device Independence Working Group and others.

KatrinVerclas's blog

The Meek Shall Inherit the Web -- via their mobiles, no less

September 8, 2008 | KatrinVerclas

file under:
developing countries, economist, mobile web

MobileActive is a member of a new working group on the 'mobile web' for social development. (Discloure: we underwrote a recent event in Brazil of the group). Now the Economist has written a piece on the working group. Here are some excerpts and some thoughts and critiques of this effort.

The Economist states the case:

KatrinVerclas's blog

Research on Economic and Social Impact of Mobile Communications: GSMA Development Fund

August 25, 2008 | KatrinVerclas

file under:
developing countries, GSMA Development FUnd, mobile, mobile communications, mobileactive08, social impact

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.

KatrinVerclas's blog

From Favelas to Townships: Mobile Use in Low-Income Populations

July 15, 2008 | CorinneRamey

file under:
base of the pyramid, Brazil, developing countries, favelas, mobile use, poor, South Africa, townships, vodafone

Mobile phone use is booming. There are close to 3.5 billion mobile phones in use, and mobile penetration rates are increasing quickly, especially in developing countries. This rise of mobile phone use by low-income and so-called 'base-of-the-pyramid' users raises a number of questions. Are low-income people using mobile technology in different ways than their higher-income counterparts? How can mobile phones be desiged and used in ways that are useful to these populations? Two new studies--one of favelas in Brazil and the other of a low-income township in South Africa--seek to answer these questions.

The Mobile Web is NOT helping the Developing World... and what we can do about it. By Nathan Eagle

December 5, 2007 | KatrinVerclas

file under:
developing countries, emerging markets, eprom, mobile, mobile web, mobileactive, nathan eagle

I attend an increasing number of keynotes where CEOs and EVPs of both major mobile handset manufacturers and mobile operators trumpet their role in bringing the internet to the bottom of the pyramid in the developing world. It's a total fallacy.

Mobile Phones and Social Activism - An Ethan Zuckerman White Paper

May 9, 2007 | KatrinVerclas

file under:
developing countries, mobile activism, mobile advocacy, mobile campaigns, mobile phones, mobileactive, sms activism

Ethan Zuckerman has written a solid overview of mobile phones in international activism. It is re-posted here under its Creative Commons license. For additional resources, see also the mobileactive.org Strategy Guides on using mobile phones in elections, advoacy, and fundraising.

KatrinVerclas's blog

Solar charging mobile phones

January 31, 2007 | Graham

file under:
developing countries, pv solar

If you visit http://biodesign.webeden.co.uk/ you will learn about a technique that allows anyone to make a low cost pv panel that will charge their phone. It can also be used in many other ways! It is being used in some African countries and Haiti but few know about it as yet. How can the message be spread? Graham

Graham's blog

The Mobile Web in Developing Countries: "Keeping it relevant"

November 28, 2006 | kiwanja

file under:
developing countries, kiwanja, mobile, web

Position Paper kiwanja.net will be presenting a paper on Day Two of the W3C Workshop on the Mobile Web in Developing Countries, due to take place in Bangalore, India, on 5th/6th December. Ken Banks will also be Chairing a meeting on the first day discussing Network Technologies.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has invited 100 participants to Bangalore where they will discuss the challenges, requirements and use cases for mobile Web access in developing countries. The Workshop brings together experts in mobile web technologies and specialists on emerging countries and the digital divide.