Aug 21, 2013 | Social Impact, Technology
Over the last decade or so the use of ICTs (information, communications, and technology – social media, internet, and mobile phones) have actively shaped conflicts, as witnessed in Tunisia and Egypt. Citizen engagement or just passive participation by the virtue of...
Aug 14, 2013 | Social Impact
As mHealth campaigns increase in number around the world the need for careful planning and reviewing results becomes ever emphasized. Although a campaign may work brilliantly in one region it may also flounder and fail in another. Local situations and cultures need to...
Aug 7, 2013 | Social Impact, Technology
Currently, there are as many mobile-cellular subscriptions in the world as there are people, with more than half of the users in the Asia-Pacific region – 3.5 billion of the 6.8 billion total subscriptions (ICT Facts and Figures by International...
Jul 31, 2013 | Social Impact, Technology
In July 2013 the Indian telegram service was ended. As surprising as it is to hear that telegrams have survived at all into the 21st century, in India, they were deeply woven into society. For 163 years Indians have used telegrams to announce births, deaths, and job...
Jul 24, 2013 | IVR (interactive Voice Response), SMS, Surveys, Technology
We have previously discussed the benefits of using SMS technology in mobile campaigns. Today we’re going to argue the case for voice broadcasting technology being incorporated in these campaigns. What is voice broadcasting? Voice broadcasting applications take...
Jul 17, 2013 | Social Impact, Technology
Three female entrepreneurs in 2010 got together to develop a mobile solution that would provide market price transparency for Kenyan farmers. Jamilla Abass co-founded M-Farm – an m-Agriculture program – with Susan Oguya and Linda Kwamnoka. The exploitation...
Jul 10, 2013 | Humanitarian Agencies, Social Impact
Considering the needs of different types of users is an integral part of any successful design process, regardless of who exactly your end user is: non-profits, for-profits, schools, government agencies, or community service programs. All products need a basic...
Jul 3, 2013 | Businesses, Humanitarian Agencies, Social Impact, Technology
Many of the articles on our blog focus on mHealth and mWomen interventions. Yet, such a large segment of the population in developing countries are smallholder or subsistence farmers (for example 65 percent in sub-Saharan Africa). This, along with the statistic that...
Jun 26, 2013 | Market Research, Social Impact, Surveys, Technology
I first became aware of the systemic problem of accessibility for those with visual impairments during a job supporting a visually impaired student. Many battles were fought with lecturers and publishers over obtaining electronic copies of texts and lecture slides so...
Jun 20, 2013 | Businesses, Humanitarian Agencies, Social Impact, Technology
Only a few rigorous evaluations of mobile phone-based behavior change initiatives have been completed. But they all suggest a similar conclusion: initiatives fail unless there is a meaningful intermediation process. That is, merely providing beneficiaries access to...
