Transformative

The cell phone is the single most transformative technology for development
- Jeffrey Sachs

Moca - Medical Diagnostics in Android

Mobile health care platform on Android.

http://www.mocamobile.org/index.html

2 Minute Demo Video from Elliot Higger on Vimeo.

Rapid Android: Turning an Android Phone into a Data Collection and Supply Management Server

UNICEF-sponsored project to allow Android phones to act as SMS gateways for data collection, etc.

http://mobileactive.org/rapid-android-turning-android-phone-data-collection-and-supply-management-server

Mobile Phones for Data Collection

Overview of mobile tools for data collection.

http://mobileactive.org/howtos/mobile-phones-data-collection

Open Data Kit

Android platform for data entry.

http://code.google.com/p/open-data-kit/

Extending Frontline SMS

Mobile Phones in Sustainable Rural Poverty Reduction

World Bank - Asheeta Bhavnani, Rowena Won-Wai Chiu, Subramaniam Janakiram, Peter Silarszky (TTL), Deepak Bhatia

Abstract:

Many developing country governments and developing agencies are focusing on extending telecommunications services into rural areas, as they seek to alleviate poverty, encourage economic and social growth, and overcome a perceived ‘digital divide’. However, relatively little is known about how rural communities benefit from modern telecommunications services and what impact it is having on their lives and livelihoods. This paper endeavors to redress the balance, by examining the role of mobile telephones in sustainable poverty reduction among the rural poor. In the first section, we ask three questions: (a) Why are the rural poor important?; (b) What is information and why is it important?; and (c) Is the mobile telephone the most appropriate delivery mechanism for that information? In the second section, we look at the current status of the mobile industry in both the developed and developing world: (a) we consider the ‘explosive’ growth in availability and affordability of mobile phone services, which has been high in the developed world, but is gaining speed in the developing world; and (b) we examine the role of the private sector in this impressive growth. In the third section, we drill down into the impact of mobile telephony. We begin by examining the perceived correlation between GDP per capita and mobile penetration. Then we turn our attention to the examination of channels through which mobile phones benefit the rural poor: (a) direct benefits; (b) indirect benefits; and (c) intangible benefits, which contains an overview of hard-to-measure, rarely discussed but relevant, benefits of mobile telephony: namely, disaster relief, dissemination of locally-generated and locally- relevant educational and health information, and social capital or social cohesion. In the fourth section, we review several emerging global trends that may change the use and impact of mobile telephony in rural areas. Finally, the fifth section summarizes and interprets the main conclusions.

Adoption of Mobile Phones in Emerging Markets

Kas Kalba - International Journal of Communication (2008)

Abstract:

This paper offers an assessment of the drivers of mobile phone diffusion in emerging markets. It addresses both demand- and supply-side factors and provides an outlook on the diffusion process going forward, as two or three billion more mobile users are accommodated by mobile networks in addition to today’s 3.5 billion subscribers and users. The paper focuses on several specific issues, namely the relationship of mobile phone adoption to income levels and to fixed legacy phone service, as well as the key role of prepaid phones and asymmetrical interconnection fees in hastening mobile diffusion in emerging markets. Unlike the growing view that mobile adoption occurs where fixed connectivity is lowest, this paper shows that the two forms of adoption may be closely related. It also analyzes the impact of different levels of competition on mobile phone adoption, indicating that the diffusion benefits may recede as the number of operators increases. Finally, it provides explanations of several seeming anomalies, such as why mobile penetration has been higher in Eastern Europe (with an aged population) than in youthful Latin America, and why China continues to lead India in mobile penetration despite the strong surge in mobile phone usage in the latter market in recent years.

Looking forward, the paper addresses the major challenges the mobile industry faces in extending mobile networks to rural regions in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere. The paper questions whether the market will be able to serve the last one or two billion potential subscribers, or whether subsidies will be required. It also notes the emerging use of infrastructure sharing and output-based subsidy schemes to foster rural network deployment and calls for research for mobile phone awareness and ability-to-pay levels among the world’s non- users and non-subscribers to help determine whether the recent 25% annual growth in worldwide mobile phone diffusion is sustainable. Inputs to the paper include a literature review, comparative databases, the author’s studies of mobile adoption in individual countries, and the comments of reviewers of earlier drafts.

Purpose

This site is to be a repository of research I find regarding mobile phones and economic development. The aim is mostly to keep track of it myself (rather than throw it all into my gmail archives).