MobileActive.org wants to hire you! If you are a cracker-jack researcher and writer, we want you for research and stories from around the world about mobiles for social impact. Some data entry on organizations and projects around the world using mobile phones to make the world a better place are also part of the job. Online and telephone research, interviews, writing reports and blog posts.
Must be a thorough researcher, and persuasive and clear writer. Living and working experience in developing country/ies a must. This is an ideal position for journalism graduate student with a great interest in mobile tech, or for a technologist interested in the social implications of the mobile revolution. Location in New York preferred but could be done from anywhere IF it's the right person. Fluency in Spanish or Arabic a great plus. Some travel will be supported.
Send a resume, cover letter explaining why we should hire you, and at least TWO published pieces pertaining to this or a related subject matter of at least 300-500 words. Send your materials to katrin [at] mobileactive [dot] org. Search is open until we find the perfect candidate(s), so hurry.
We are pleased to welcome Bart Lacroix to MobileActive.org. He will be writing an occasional blog on AfricaNews' Voices of Africa project, an experiment in mobile citizen reporting. AfricaNews currently has three citizen reporters covering stories in their using mobile countries, phones to produce video footage, written reports and photographs.
Using GPRS-enabled phones, on-the-ground citizens reporters don’t need an internet connection at all - only mobile coverage - to send video, voice, and text. The Voices of Africa is deploying reporters in Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya to date who are using Nokia E61i phones to send in their stories. These countries have, admittedly, better mobile coverage than others, so are good for this pilot project. Bart will tell us how it's going, what citizens are reporting on, and what they are learning about content and technical production before sacaling up the project.
A bit of background from AfricaNews' press release:
Gerry Jackson reports on Media Helping Media about the radio station SW Radio Africa outsisde of London that is sending sms headlines about news in Zimbabwe to it's subscriber base of about 2,000 mobile users. Jackson writes:
"We generate news headlines on a daily basis anyway - so this is just another way of using what already exists.
It’s nice and cost effective for any additional donor because there is only the one cost, actually sending the texts. In two months we’ve built up an address database of about 2,000 mobile phone numbers. Like many, Zimbabweans truly love their mobile phones and of course what we’re banking on is the virus effect.
We also get up to 100 requests a day to be added to the service so it’s growing rapidly. What becomes interesting is what business model to use?
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!
Beyond ICT4D: New Media Research in Uganda data sheet 674 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.
Editor's Note: This post is written by Ibrahim Mothana who is an Atlas Corps Fellow with MobileActive.org in 2011/2012. He is a Yemeni citizen from Sanaa.
In Yemen it’s difficult to know just how many wars are raging in the country at any one time. For centuries the country has been plagued by revenge killings and tribal conflict and the result is hundreds of deaths each year with many more injured. These localized wars can last for decades and are one of the most serious issues facing the country today.
In rural regions of Yemen, formal legal systems and a legal infrastructure do not exist, and tribal law has significant legitimacy as the only effective and efficient means of conflict resolution. Tribal laws are based on consensus, and conflicts are resolved through complex mediation processes and appeals procedures presided over by tribal elders and leaders (sheikhs). Due to the lack of many formal legal channels and the corruption in the legal infrastructure that exists, tribal law is faster, more efficient, and enjoys greater legitimacy.
Yet one of the biggest obstacles in using tribal law as a tool for conflict resolution is the lack of communication -- which is, in fact, often the root cause of many of the disputes between tribes. Creating dialogue between communities becomes an extraordinary challenge in a country with 24 million people dispersed over 150,000 human settlements.
FrontlineSMS is a software platform that enables structured communication via text messaging, using only a computer and a mobile phone or GSM (Global System for Mobile) modem. The platform enables two-way messaging between users and groups of people via mobile networks without the need for an Internet connection.
The purpose of this guide is to provide FrontlineSMS users designing, implementing, and monitoring programs with data integrity concerns in mind with a data integrity framework. The guide is intended to help users to understand, analyze, and address the vulnerabilities, risks and threats that can affect the integrity of the information communicated through the FrontlineSMS platform.
The competition asks for promising innovations to boost media access and participation around the world. Media helps connect people, gives voice to ideas, and equips inidviduals with knowledge to improve their lives and communities. Finalists were chosen from a pool of 426 entries from 75 countries.
Mobile Journalist on an SD Card
Our entry from the Mobile Media Toolkit is the Mobile Journalist on an SD Card. We think one of the most promising and innovative ways to boost media access and participation around the world is via mobile phones.
Most citizen journalists and reporters already use mobiles phones, but the sheer number of tools available makes it difficult to know the best way to use them. Mobile Journalist on an SD Card tests these tools with reporters working in the field, and then makes accessible the best of the tools for journalists and citizen journalists, downloadable and on micro SD cards ready to plug into any phone. Tools will be selected to work in varying situations, including low-resource reporting environments where Internet access is unreliable.
How can you share information across rural areas with limited or non-existent Internet connections? This is the question that Awaaz.De, an India-based organization that uses interactive-voice-response (IVR) systems to share information on mobile phones, is working to answer.
Co-created by Neil Patel and Tapan Parikh, both at the University of California at Berkeley, Awaaz.De is used by organizations to share information with voice as the primary channel. This could, for instance, take the form of a question and answer service, voice discussion forums, voice surveys, and automated calls.
Because of the open-ended structure of the Awaaz.De platform, the platform has been adapted by very different organizations. Labor Voices uses Awaaz.De to allow migrant workers to review jobs and employers in a voice database; the Development Support Centre uses the service to provide information to small-scale farmers as part of the Avaaj Otalo project (covered by MobileActive.org here), and Galli Galli Sim Sim (the Indian version of Sesame Street) uses the service to allow pre-school teachers to share teaching experiences and information about educational activities.
According to Patel in a post on the ICT 4 Community Health Worker discussion list, there are now eight organizations using Awaaz.De. These organizations have, together, produced more than 100,000 calls from about 10,000 unique callers.
The Internet has enabled people from all over the globe to communicate and share information. Yet over two-thirds of the world’s population remains disconnected from the Internet, and many of these people live in poor, remote areas in the developing world. Organizations struggle to cross the last mile to these communities that are difficult to reach geographically, are often only fluent in local languages, lack reading and writing proficiency, and have limited experience with information technology. Unidirectional broadcast media such as the radio, television, and written periodicals can be localized to a region or community, but they are not micro-local, demand-driven, and do not offer transparent space for feedback and community discussion. Local people may seek information from experts or others in their personal social networks, but misinformation abounds and advice is fragmented across multiple sources. There are few comprehensive, on-demand sources for relevant, high-quality knowledge. This is precisely what the Internet provides for those who have access.
Awaaz.De (“Give your voice”) is a software platform enabling organizations to engage with poor, remote, and marginal communities by providing on-demand, many-to-many information access through mobile phones. People access Awaaz.De applications by dialing regular phone numbers to create, browse, and share voice content through automated voice interfaces. Voice makes it easy to provide services in local languages, overcomes literacy constraints, and offers a low barrier to content creation: one only needs to know how to speak into a phone. Organizations use Awaaz.De to host voice-based information portals, discussion forums, Q&A services, classifieds, and more. For example, rural development organizations can offer demand-driven agricultural extension through a farmer Q&A service, broadcast market prices and weather reports targeted by crop and location, or perform real-time data collection on availability of farm inputs and outputs. In this way, Awaaz.De helps organizations reach previously disconnected people with on-demand, locally relevant information, in their language. Most importantly, Awaaz.De is a social platform that supports people to give their own voice and participate not just as passive consumers, but active producers of knowledge.
Currently Awaaz.De serves eight social development organizations and enterprises across six states in India working in agriculture, education, women’s empowerment, labor rights, and rural products. These organizations serve as content providers, and use Awaaz.De to disseminate their informational content in real time, as well as collect input from the community through interactive features. These organizations have proven the value of Awaaz.De through willingness to pay; partners pay a recurring monthly fee to host their customized voice information service with Awaaz.De
The other demonstration of Awaaz.De’s value comes through the response from the communities of users. To date, Awaaz.De has served over 100,000 calls from over 10,000 unique callers. People rate content highly whenever ratings are solicited; in one deployment, the average rating was 2.8/3 from 325 individual ratings. A bit more anecdotally, unsolicited messages of praise and gratitude come in regularly from people. In a study where an Awaaz.De partner sent agricultural information broadcasts to farmers and then prompted for a question or comment, 37% of the recordings posted were simply comments of praise for the service, compared to 41% posts asking technical agricultural questions. To us, these are small indicators of Awaaz.De's potential for not only building knowledge capital, but social capital. Here’s another good anecdotal example.
Tool Category:
App resides and runs on a mobile phone
Key Features :
Awaaz.De’s technology platform consists of two components. First, the voice application lets end-users access content through regular phone numbers. After calling in, they navigate automated message boards with touchtone to create, browse, and respond to voice messages posted by others. A “personal inbox” option plays the caller’s own messages, identified by their phone number. Message boards are configured with a number of policy settings. A message board can be listen or post-only, moderated, and allow community response. It can also define sub-message boards based on hierarchical categories. Awaaz.De’s second component is a web interface that lets community managers moderate the voice forums, annotate and categorize content, route messages to specific experts for responding, conduct voice-based surveys, collect ratings, and broadcast the best content to wide (e.g. last 1,000 callers) or targeted (e.g. all callers who have posted messages related to wheat) audiences. Taken together, the two components of Awaaz.De provide an “Internet for the few, voice for the many” model, where the mostly Internet-less community members access content and communicate through mobile voice interfaces, and community managers with access to the Internet administer the system through the web interface.
Main Services:
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
Voting, Data Collection, Surveys, and Polling
Mobile Social Network/Peer-to-peer
Information Resources/Information Databases
Display tool in profile:
Yes
Tool Maturity:
Currently deployed
Release Date:
2010-09
Platforms:
All phones -- Voice
Program/Code Language:
Java
Python
Other
Organizations Using the Tool:
Awaaz.De is currently being used by eight organizations across six states in India. For their project descriptions, visit this page.
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.
For many, mobile devices are an indispensable tool for storing and sharing increasingly sensitive information. Contacts, emails, and mobile browsing history can easily be compromised without taking the proper measures to ensure that that information is safely in the right hands... and out of the wrong ones. Newly added to our mDirectory are the following how-to guides on securing mobile email, mobile anonymity, backups, and data deletion from our SaferMobile team:
Securing Your Mobile Email - This guide catalogs the different tactics you can take to keep mobile email safe. It covers email security basics, TLS/SSL enabling, and email encryption. The guide also provides customized tactics and suggestions for Android, Blackberry, iPhone, and Nokia/Symbian phones.
Mobile Tools for Backups, Data Deletion and Remote Wipe - Anyone who has ever had their phone stolen knows how frustrating and potentially dangerous that can be. Here we have a comprehensive review of some of the tools out there for data backup and restore, data deletion, and remote wipe.
For all other materials produced by the SaferMobile team, check out this complete list (and watch for a new SaferMobile site soon!)
Blacknoise: Low-fi Lightweight Steganography in Service of Free Speech data sheet 1063 Views
Author:
Paik, Michael
Publication Date:
Jan 2010
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
Censorship of communications is a widespread, current practice in various countries with repressive governments in order to prevent or restrict speech; political speech in particular. In many cases state-run telecommunications agencies including those providing internet and phone service, actively filter content or disconnect users in defense of incumbents in the face of widespread criticism by citizens.
In this paper I present Blacknoise, a system which uses commodity low-cost mobile telephones equipped with cameras, and takes advantage of their lowfidelity, noisy sensors in order to enable embedding of arbitrary text payloads into the images they produce. These images can then be disseminated via MMS, Bluetooth, or posting on the Internet, without requiring a separate digital camera or computer to perform processing.
Mobile Anonymity and Censorship Circumvention: How to Browse the Web Anonymously On Your Phone data sheet 3553 Views
Author:
MelissaLoudon
Abstract:
If you don’t want someone to know that you were accessing a particular web site (or that you were accessing it at a particular time, such as when inflammatory content was posted), you need to anonymize your mobile browsing. Depending on how your network is set up, the site you are accessing may be able to see and keep a record of your IP address. Your network administrator, Internet Service Provider and/or Mobile Network Operator can see and keep records of the IP addresses of both your Internet-connected mobile device and the sites you are accessing. IP addresses can nearly always be linked to a geographic location, whether a zip code or a city, and your ISP or mobile network provider can link your IP to your individual device.
However, using HTTPS does not hide your identity. If you don’t want someone to know that you were accessing a particular web site (or that you were accessing it at a particular time, such as when inflammatory content was posted), you need to anonymize your mobile browsing. Depending on how your network is set up, the site you are accessing may be able to see and keep a record of your IP address. Your network administrator, Internet Service Provider and/or Mobile Network Operator can see and keep records of the IP addresses of both your Internet-connected mobile device and the site you are accessing. IP addresses can nearly always be linked to a geographic location, whether a zip code or a city, and your ISP or mobile network provider can link your IP to your individual device.
Organisations and countries that block websites can do so by blocking communication to and from specific IP addresses. For this reason, anonymizing your browsing is also the first step to circumventing Internet censorship.
This article describes two tactics for anonymous browsing and censorship circumvention - using a proxy, and using a mobile version of the circumvention tool Tor. Both are used on cpmputers as well as mobile devices. Specific tools for mobile phones are described in the second part of the article.
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.
Particularly for smartphones, there are many apps that promise improved privacy and security for your mobile communications. Like all apps, some are very good, but other are poorly written or overpriced, and may even be malicious. This article will help you evaluate whether you should trust their promises.
Before You Start
Security apps are most useful as part of a coherent security policy covering all your mobile communications. The Mobile Risk Assessment Primer will help you complete an inventory of mobile communications risks, and decide which are most important and most feasible to mitigate.
Once you’ve completed a risk assessment, it’s important to search broadly for security apps. MobileActive is in the process of reviewing many of these from our current list of security apps, but the mobile security landscape changes quickly. Ask friends and colleagues, read about your specific security need online, and search your device’s app marketplace. Once you’ve identified as many options as possible, it’s time to start evaluating your security apps.
Will It Work on Your Phone?
As with computer software, some mobile apps are built to work on one platform - Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Symbian, Java - and may not work on others. There may be other requirements too, such as particular phone models. Make sure the apps you have chosen are all going to work on your device.
Also consider how you will actually get the app - can it be downloaded from a web link that you open on your phone, or can you get it from an app marketplace? Some apps can also be downloaded to a PC and transferred via bluetooth or a data cable. This step sounds obvious, but it can be tricky when you don’t have stable Internet access on your phone or aren’t used to the app install process.
Bad Services? Holding Officials Accountable with SMS, Radio, and TRAC FM data sheet 2341 Views
A recent radio poll at Sanyu FM in Kampala, Uganda, asked listeners what area of service delivery should be a priority: healthcare, education, security, sanitation, or transport. Using a new tool, TRAC FM, the station was able to solicit comments via SMS from listeners, discuss the issue on the air, and create and post online visualizations of the responses. The station received 103 SMS responses which showed that healthcare was the major concern for listeners, which accounted for 65% of responses.
With help from Text to Change and in partnership with local media organizations, TRAC FM provides citizens in Uganda with a platform to monitor, scrutinize, and discuss public service issues via SMS, radio, and online data visualizations. It does this via the TRAC FM software, a tool for Ugandan radio stations that is partially built on RapidSMS, an open source platform originally developed by UNICEF.
TRAC works in countries affected by poverty and conflict. Its sole purpose is to improve the welfare of people by enabling them to make informed choices and to hold their leaders accountable. TRAC gathers data to enhance transparency and informs people by unleashing the power of mobile communications.
Mobile Media Services at Sub-Saharan African Newspapers data sheet 1446 Views
Author:
Kristina Bürén
Publication Date:
Aug 2011
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
Published by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the African Media Initiative (AMI), this guidebook aims to help African newspapers implement mobile platforms.
Billed as a guidebook, and not a one-size-fits-all rulebook, the guide aims to help Sub-Saharan African news publishers develop and implement mobile services. The report is based on a series of on-site interviews with newspapers in Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa, including The Observer and the Daily Monitor in Uganda, The Standard and the Daily Nation in Kenya, and Grocott's Mail, Mail & Guardian, Avusa Group, and News24.comin South Africa.
See also this blog post with more information on the guidebook.
Mobile Phone Appropriation in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro data sheet 1863 Views
Author:
Silva, Adriana de Souza e, Daniel M. Sutko, Fernando A. Salis, Claudio de Souza e Silva
Publication Date:
Mar 2011
Publication Type:
Report/White paper
Abstract:
This qualitative case study describes the social appropriation of mobile phones among low-income communities in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) by asking how favela (slum) residents appropriate cell phones. Findings highlight the difficulty these populations encounter in acquiring and using cell phones due to social and economic factors, and the consequent subversive or illegal tactics used to gain access to such technology.
Moreover, these tactics are embedded in and exemplars of the cyclic power relationships between high- and low-income populations that constitute the unique use of mobile technologies in these Brazilian slums. The article concludes by suggesting that future research on technology in low-income communities focus instead on the relationship of people to technology rather than a dichotomization of their access or lack thereof.
Somalia is suffering through its worst drought in 60 years, and people are fleeing the famine and conflict. A large number of Somalians already live in diasporas across Africa, Europe, and North America. A new service from Voice of America’s Somalia Service and AudioNow makes it easier for Somalians in the United Kingdom to listen to coverage of the drought and other audio news updates, via a basic mobile phone.
“You have a well-educated, motivated, and mobile population that is willing to dial up and listen to radio broadcasts on their mobile phones,” said Steven Ferri, Web Managing Editor of VOA in Africa.
uReport: Citizen Feedback via SMS in Uganda data sheet 3481 Views
For aid organizations, knowing what local communities and beneficiaries want and need is the key to running successful, sustainable programs. In Uganda, UNICEF is using mobile phones and broadcast media to get direct feedback from Ugandans on everything from medication access to water sanitation. The project, called uReport, allows users to sign up via a toll-free shortcode for regular SMS-based polls and messages. Citizen responses are used both in weekly radio talk shows to create discussion on community issues, and shared among UNICEF and other aid organizations to provide a better picture of how services work across Uganda.
Sean Blaschke, a Technology for Development specialist at UNICEF Uganda, explains that uReport gathers information from participants and informs citizens of their rights and available services. Recent polls have included questions about school dropouts, water point availability, mosquito net usage, and youth employment, all collected via SMS polls.
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′.
A just-published guide from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is all about making media mobile, specifically at newspapers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The full report is available for download here.
Billed as a guidebook, and not a one-size-fits-all rulebook, the guide aims to help Sub-Saharan African news publishers develop and implement mobile services. The report is based on a series of on-site interviews with newspapers in Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa, including The Observer and the Daily Monitor in Uganda, The Standard and the Daily Nation in Kenya, and Grocott's Mail, Mail & Guardian, Avusa Group, and News24.com in South Africa.
Though the primary audience of the guidebook is media managers, there are lessons and tips for anyone interested in the current state of and potential future for mobile print media in Sub-Saharan Africa.
We would have wished that there was a greater focus on online media as the guide is almost entirely focused on print. Given the fast growth of online media outlets in a number of African media markets, this is an unfortunate limitation.
At the same time, the guide provides a detailed landscape of mobile telephony in Africa, including usage and infrastructure and access points (including SMS, mobile Internet and data, Sim Tool Kit, USSD, voice and interactive voice response). See explanations and examples of these access points in the Mobile Media Toolkit Glossary, here.
end-users access content through regular phone numbers. After calling in, they navigate automated message boards with touchtone to create, browse, and respond to voice messages posted by others. A “personal inbox” option plays the caller’s own messages, identified by their phone number. Message boards are configured with a number of policy settings. A message board can be listen or post-only, moderated, and allow community response. It can also define sub-message boards based on hierarchical categories. Awaaz.De’s second component is a web interface that lets community managers moderate the voice forums, annotate and categorize content, route messages to specific experts for responding, conduct voice-based surveys, collect ratings, and broadcast the best content to wide (e.g. last 1,000 callers) or targeted (e.g. all callers who have posted messages related to wheat) audiences. Taken together, the two components of Awaaz.De provide an “Internet for the few, voice for the many” model, where the mostly Internet-less community members access content and communicate through mobile voice interfaces, and community managers with access to the Internet administer the system through the web interface.
