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While mobile HCI has encompassed a range of devices and systems, telephone calls on cellphones remain the most prevalent contemporary form of mobile technology use. In this paper we document ethnographic work studying a remote Mexican village’s use of cellphones alongside conventional phones, shared phones and the Internet. While few homes in the village we studied have running water, many children have iPods and the Internet cafe in the closest town is heavily used to access YouTube, Wikipedia, and MSN messenger. Alongside cost, the Internet fits into the communication patterns and daily routines in a way that cell phones do not. We document the variety of communication strategies that balance cost, availability and complexity. Instead of finding that new technologies replace old, we find that different technologies co-exist, with fixed telephones co-existing with instant message, cellphones and shared community phones. The paper concludes by discussing how we can study mobile technology and design for settings defined by cost and infrastructure availability.

Mobile technological tools are being used today to collect basic information in the health, world climate, geophysics, ecology, and other sectors to exchange information, and to access scientific computing among many services. The potentialities of this mobile technology need to be spread out on a larger scale in the academia in particular, and in the society as a whole so that its benefits can become widely accessible for further development. This is an issue that needs more attention and promotion, especially in less developed areas of the world.

We define in this book Mobile Science (or “m-Science” in short) as the term that comprises sensing, computing and dissemination of scientific knowledge by the use of mobile devices. This includes (i) data gathering, (ii) the analysis and process of data, and (iii) the access to on-line services and applications directed to nurture scientists and scholars (such as mobile access to ejournals, podcasts, web lectures, webinars, virtual conferences, mobile collaboration tools, m-Learning, etc).

Based on information extracted from the Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) database of scientific publications spanning from 1980 to 2009, the worldʼs scientific product ion has grown from about 400,000 to 1,200,000 publications in the last three decades. This increment of interest in science, together with the recent technological developments in mobile technologies, is making m-Science a completely new field of interest and research development. This book aims to engage the scientific community, engineers and scholars worldwide in the design, development and deployment of the newest mobile applications.

Objective: South Africa has one of the highest human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence rates in the world, but despite the well-established benefits of HIV counseling and testing (HCT), there is low uptake of HCT. The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of using short message services (SMSs) to encourage HCT while interrogating the impact of altering SMS content and dosage (the number of SMSs).

Materials and Methods: About 2,533 participants were recruited via an SMS sent to 24,000 mobiles randomly sampled from a pre-existing database. Recruits were randomly allocated to four intervention groups that received 3 or 10 informational (INFO) or motivational (MOTI) SMSs, and a control group. After the intervention, participants were prompted to go for HCT, and postintervention assessment was done after 3 weeks.

Results: In comparison with the control, receipt of 10 MOTI messages had the most impact on uptake of HCT with a 1.7-fold increased odds of testing (confidence interval 95%; p=0.0036). The lack of efficacy of three SMSs indicates a threshold effect, that is, a minimum number of MOTI SMSs is required. INFO SMSs, whether 3 or 10 were sent, did not have a statistically significant effect. The cost can be calculated for the marginal effect of the SMSs, that is, the cost to get people to test over and above those who were likely to test without the intervention. Use of 10 MOTI SMSs yielded a cost-per-tester of $2.41.

Conclusions: While there are methodological issues apparent in our study, the results demonstrate the potential of SMSs to influence the uptake of HCT, the importance of appropriate content, and the need to determine a threshold for SMS-based interventions. These results indicate a potential for SMSs to be used more generally for interventions encouraging people to take health-related actions, and the need for further research in this field. The reasonable cost-per-tester is promising for the scale-up of such an intervention.

Although HCI [human computer interaction] researchers and practitioners frequently work with groups of people that differ significantly from themselves, little attention has been paid to the effects these differences have on the evaluation of HCI systems. Via 450 interviews in Bangalore, India, we measure participant response bias due to interviewer demand characteristics and the role of social and demographic factors in influencing that bias. We find that respondents are about 2.5x more likely to prefer a technological artifact they believe to be developed by the interviewer, even when the alternative is identical.

When the interviewer is a foreign researcher requiring a translator, the bias towards the interviewer’s artifact increases to 5x. In fact, the interviewer’s artifact is preferred even when it is degraded to be obviously inferior to the alternative.

We conclude that participant response bias should receive more attention within the CHI community, especially when designing for underprivileged populations.

Mobile communications can help to meet the challenge of feeding an estimated 9.2 billion people by 2050. The 12 specific opportunities explored in this study could increase agricultural income by around US$138 billion across 26 of Vodafone’s markets in 2020.

This report aims to stimulate the necessary engagement between mobile operators, governments, NGOs and businesses to realise these opportunities and explore others. The greatest potential benefits can be generated by enabling mobile financial payments and mobile information provision, each delivering almost 40% of the total estimated increase in agricultural income. The systems required to deliver these opportunities are both complex and fragmented and, as such, need the collective support of key stakeholders across the agricultural supply chain. Mobile network operators are well-positioned to act as a catalyst for action. They have the technology, the distribution channels and the customer relationships to drive these initiatives forward. However, NGOs, private enterprises and governments must agree to contribute their knowledge and expertise in order to ensure the delivery of the benefits to their full potential.

The purpose of this briefing note is to provide an overview of current applications of mobile technologies with relevance for child protection. This is an area of rapid innovation and new applications are being developed all the time. Telecommunications is one of the fastest growing sectors in Africa and the relevance and reach of mobile technologies for development and humanitarian work is only going to increase over the coming years. Many technical, legal and security aspects of these new technologies remain to be fully addressed and worked out. The dependence on technology, network coverage and electricity supply also mean that mobile technologies cannot be used everywhere.

The main part of this note presents three different types of mobile applications for: (a) gathering and transmitting data by child protection service providers; (b) self-protection and for complaints mechanisms; (c) social transfers.

In 2010, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in collaboration with USAID, launched the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI), an innovative program aimed at catalyzing the mobile money market in Haiti. As part of this program Dalberg was engaged to periodically conduct research into the evolution of the mobile money ecosystem. The purpose of this research is to support the development of the mobile money market in Haiti through: i) conducting new primary research; ii) codifying learnings and insights; iii) applying learnings and perspectives from other markets. It is envisaged that this research will support dialogue, learning and reflection in support of a growing, sustainable and financially inclusive mobile money market in Haiti.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly distributing money to individuals through cash-for-work schemes and grant programs. This often involves reaching individuals who are transient, dispersed, or isolated geographically. The NGOs’ challenge is to figure out how to deliver this money quickly and safely at the lowest possible cost. In Haiti, these “cash transfers” have been an essential part of the relief effort since the earthquake of January 2010. With the growth of Haiti’s mobile money (MM) industry, NGOs operating there are now delivering cash transfers to citizens both physically and electronically. NGOs have primarily used MM to support the implementation of livelihood programs focused on food security and housing; a smaller share have adopted it for cash-for-work programs. As Haiti moves from relief to ongoing reconstruction and development, donors are making more money available for long-term programs using cash grant transfers.

Our analysis of several NGO programs in Haiti finds that though MM is faster and safer than traditional physical cash delivery or voucher programs, it is not necessarily more cost-efficient. As NGOs refine program design, it is expected that speed, safety, and broader program outcomes such as financial inclusiveness will improve. Similarly, with time, we expect a drop in costs associated with ecosystem development, e.g. training beneficiaries and supporting agents. This will further improve the cost effectiveness of MM compared to alternatives.

Our goal is to provide a broad overview of some of the common education challenges facing the developing world and the range of different technologies that are available to help address them. We look closely at the different enabling conditions that frequently shape the success or failure of technology interventions in education and derive a set of seven basic principles for effective technology use. These principles can provide guidance to decision-makers designing, implementing or investing in education initiatives. In doing so, we look both at the primary and secondary, as well as at the higher levels, of education systems.

Using the World Bank classification of low-income and lower-middle-income countries we focus our attention on the world’s poorest countries from Sub-Saharan Africa to South and West Asia to the Caribbean. We conclude ultimately that, if smartly and strategically deployed, modern information and communications technology holds great promise in helping bring quality learning to some of the world’s poorest and hardest-to-reach communities. The strategy for doing so need not emulate the trajectory of educational technology use in wealthier developed nations. Indeed, in some of the most remote regions of the globe, mobile phones and other forms of technology are being used in ways barely envisioned in the United States or Europe. Necessity is truly the mother of invention in these contexts and often leads to creative and promising ends for teachers and learners.

This paper examines the current use of ICTs to advance family planning, reproductive health, and other health programs, and identifies the enabling conditions for further scale-up. The examples of ICTs at work are structured around specific elements of success that were captured in the 2008 USAID-funded report, Elements of Success in Family Planning Programming: (1) building a high-performing, welltrained staff; (2) providing strong leadership; (3) communicating effectively; (4) basing decisions on evidence; and (5) assuring contraceptive security with a strong logistics system.

Examples of ICT are being applied to support or advance family planning and reproductive health programs in many African countries. Examples from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Malawi and Uganda are examined here, complemented by a review of efforts in Bangladesh and India as well as several virtual global programs. The paper also takes a look at how digital platforms and mobile technology are being integrated into the overall health systems strengthening approach. The collective review of these programs illustrates the myriad ways in which technology is adapted to respond to local needs as well as to support national health programs and global health initiatives.

Over 1.4 billion people lack access to electricity. In many emerging markets mobile network operators have become adept at generating their own off-grid power as mobile penetration has outpaced the growth of the electricity grid. Community Power from Mobile (CPM) works to leverage the scale of mobile technology and infrastructure to improve the case for off-grid telecoms and provide millions of underserved communities access to vital energy services.

Through sharing knowledge gained from our work we hope to provide insights to our members and increase the conversations and collaborations we are having with organisations interested in how the advancement of the mobile sector can be best leveraged to develop the off-grid energy market. As we look to the future, we hope to build on the foundations of the programme to develop increasingly impactful workstreams and interventions.

It follows that our analysis is organised into three sections:

■ Lessons from our first year of operations

■ Recommendations to increase the likelihood of CPM

■ Engagement model to move the CPM concept forward.

The paper ends with three in-depth case studies of community power from mobile in Bangladesh, India, and Kenya.

Technology is increasingly relevant to Americans’ monetary contributions to the causes and
organizations they support. Previous research from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has found that one in five US adults (20%) have made a charitable contribution online, and that one in ten (9%) have made a charitable contribution using the text messaging feature on their mobile phone. Mobile giving played an especially prominent role during the aftermath of the January 2010 Haiti earthquake, as individual donors contributed an estimated $43 million to the assistance and reconstruction efforts using the text messaging feature on their cell phones.

This new mode of engagement offers opportunities to philanthropies and charitable groups for reaching new donors under new circumstances as messages spread virally through friend networks. At the same time, it poses new challenges, including the uncertainty in fund-raising groups about whether these new donors will remain engaged once they make their donation. In an effort to more fully understand the world of mobile giving, the Pew Internet Project, in partnership with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the mGive Foundation, and supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, conducted the first in-depth study of mobile donors. This report on those who gave to the “Text for Haiti” campaign is based on telephone surveys with 863 individuals who contributed money to the Haiti earthquake efforts using the text messaging feature on their cell phones, and who consented to further communications at the telephone number they used to make their donation.

M-money services have flourished in some countries, both developed and developing, but not in others. Why? What are the drivers for success and the barriers that block success? How can one recognize whether a new market will blossom if given a strategic push or whether a situation is too challenging?

This study was undertaken to increase our understanding of how m-money systems develop and to address key issues in scaling up m-money adoption. It first reports on a survey of user and nonuser perceptions and the types of demand expressed for m-money. Then it looks at several parameters that could spur or block m-money development, such as national regulatory environments, current access to financial services, and the requirements of potential service providers to run m-money services as viable businesses.

Four countries—Brazil, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and Thailand—each of which represents a different world region, socioeconomic situation, and financial context, were visited and analyzed in terms of m-money business models, major money flows and demand, user and nonuser perceptions and behavior, regulations, and agent networks. We also studied the two most successful m-money countries—Kenya in the developing world and Japan in the developed world—to compare them with the four countries in our study. The United States was included as a reference point and as an advanced country in terms of electronic payment (e-payment) cards (e.g., debit and credit).

Based on our findings, we propose the best possibilities for investment in m-money in the four countries studied and can identify areas that hold little promise under current conditions. We have also developed a theoretical framework and methodology that is a powerful tool for assessing any country’s m-money development potential. It provides insight into the type of business model most appropriate in a specific country context, the sort of partnerships needed, the type of regulatory environment required to enable m-money development, and—finally—the developmental paths that m-money might take.

Mobile network operators in Africa identify rural customer’s problems with charging phones as a major challenge in expanding their businesses. Recent studies suggest that the need to recharge phones is a significant driver of demand for rural electrification services.

This study looks closely at a series of phone charging businesses in Uganda and Tanzania, in order to better understand the market dynamics and the potential for growth and possibly diversification into sales of solar lanterns and lighting systems. The study also seeks to understand the impact that the GVEP’s programme has had on the development of these businesses.