mobile applications
Posted by ccarlon on Sep 20, 2011
The Development of Mobile Money Systems data sheet 1445 Views
Author:
Flores-Roux, Ernesto and Judith Mariscal
Abstract:
In this paper we argue that mobile banking offers the opportunity to diminish the financial exclusion suffered by the poor by offering access to credit and to savings which are key tools capable of transforming the livelihoods of the poor as well as the efficiency of the market. However, mobile phones need a complete ecosystem that supports its application to a functioning mobile banking service.
The aim of this paper is to contribute to existing knowledge of mobile money across the value chain by providing insight into the mechanisms of m-money, the value propositions within the business of m-banking and what is preventing its swifter adoption and usage in the developed world. We develop a taxonomy of the key drivers of the business model which provides insights for assessing the replicability of these models in other countries. We focus on models developed in Kenya and the Philippines and explore what is lacking for a widespread adoption in Latin American countries, such as Mexico, in order to observe what is preventing the creation and usage of m-money models for the BoP.
Posted by rmlonline on Dec 13, 2010
India: The Impact of Mobile Phones (ICRIER Report) data sheet 2386 Views
Abstract:
Research carried out by International Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). The ICRIER researchers looked at three segments of the population – the agriculture sector, the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector and urban slum dwellers. The research demonstrates that access to telecommunications is an important catalyst to realizing productivity and efficiency improvements and thereby making it possible for the benefits of economic growth. The research in this report on the uses and impacts of mobiles in agriculture show that improving productivity and rural incomes requires an array of enablers in the production cycle, which runs from planting to the final sale of produce; access to information is an important enabler.
The lack of adequate infrastructure is particularly acute in rural areas, home to 70% of India’s population and the 52% of the work force that is primarily engaged in agriculture and related activities. Agriculture in India accounts for 18% of national income, implying extremely low agricultural productivity. Until now, the focus of mobile operators’ attention has been on the more lucrative urban markets. The high cost of infrastructure rollout in less dense rural areas and affordability barriers for the rural population are likely reasons. But there are signs that this is changing. Infrastructure rollout in rural areas is now eligible for subsidy and all major providers have reported future plans for expansion in rural India.
Small farmers often struggle to access high-quality inputs such as advanced seed varieties, or services such as soil testing or credit, fertilizers, availability of loan options and efficient distribution networks and weather forecast. Therefore a very uneven access to information is seen currently. A national survey of farmers found that only 40% of farmer households accessed information about modern agricultural techniques and inputs while a lot of them still depend on other progressive farmers.
Posted by MelissaUlbricht on Aug 09, 2010
AppMakr data sheet 929 Views
Organization that developed the Tool:
Problem or Need:
AppMakr strives to make app design easy for the user. It allows someone to enter a URL or search term, pick several images, and publish an app to the App Store, all in a few minutes.
Brief Description:
AppMakr is web-based and works with RSS-driven sites to convert content into standard iPhone interfaces. It strives for simplicity.
AppMakr uses RSS feeds and searches to build a feed from a user's website. It is updated automatically. A user can then push the app live for $199 or download th app to their own machine for $499.
Tool Category:
App resides and runs on a mobile phone
Key Features :
AppMakr has an integrated iPhone simulator, which allows a user to test the app throughout the development process. AppMakr strives for simplicity and breaks the app development process into seven steps:
- Art – name your app, upload a splash screen and a home screen icon.
- Tabs – import RSS feeds into individual tabs of content – feeds can formatted as video, text and photos and includes hooks into podcasts, Twitter, Youtube, Blogger and iTunes.
- Customise – add header images to the app’s interface as well as the enabling users to share content via email, Facebook or Twitter.
- Notifications – creators can manually send ‘push notifications’ from AppMakr to all downloaded instances of the app.
- App Info – describe how the app will appear in the iTunes App Store.
- Monetize – advertising from several third-party networks can be incorporated into your app.
- Publish – the final step, complies and builds your app ready for testing or distribution via the App Store.
Reviews/Evaluations:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/01/06/appmakr-make-your-own-iphone-apps-for-just-two-bills/
Is the Tool's Code Available?:
Is an API available to interface with your tool?:
Posted by MohiniBhavsar on Jul 27, 2010
The Innovative Use of Mobile Applications in East Africa data sheet 3641 Views
Author:
Johan, Hellstrom; Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
Abstract:
The Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (Sida) recently published a report that gives an overview of the current state of mobile phone applications for social and economic developments in East Africa. Drawing on successful adoption of mobile applications in the Philippines, this Sida report seeks to answer “what hinders the take off of m-applications for development in East Africa and what role donors play in the process.” While mobile phones is the one of the most widely accessible gateways for information in East Africa, with mobile penetration covering over 40% of the population, sustainable, scalable mobile services for social and economic development are limited. The report is supported by secondary data, statistics, and field work carried out in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, along with numerous interviews, meetings and discussions with key stakeholders in East Africa. Major trends in mobile usage, barriers for increased use of m-applications, as well as opportunities for scaling are discussed.
Posted by SteveWolak on Nov 05, 2009
Betavine Social Exchange data sheet 4969 Views
Organization that developed the Tool:
Problem or Need:
Betavine Social Exchange meets the needs of NGOs with ICT requirements.
Brief Description:
Betavine Social Exchange brings together NGOs and other community organisations with mobile phone developers and support partners.
Tool Category:
Is a web-based application/web service
Key Features :
- Challenges posted by NGOs and community organisations.
- Solutions developed by mobile developers.
- Support provided by support partners.
Organizations Using the Tool:
Number of Current End Users:
Number of current beneficiaries:
Support Forums:
http://crowdtalk.ning.com
Is the Tool's Code Available?:
Is an API available to interface with your tool?:
Posted by KatrinVerclas on May 07, 2009
Ken Banks has a theory: The long tail theory of mobile applications for social development. It goes something like this, paraphrasing him from his incendiary blog post:
Mobiles are the most rapidly adopted technology in history. But if mobiles truly are as revolutionary and empowering, then don't we have a moral duty in the ICT for Development (ICT4D) community to see that they fulfill that potential?
Banks says that indeed, we do have that moral duty, and I agree with him wholeheartedly there.
Posted by KatrinVerclas on May 04, 2009
Imagine you are an NGO (a non-governmental organization) in a developing country, working on a critical development issue -- say, developing an educational infrastructure for women and girls. You know that mobile technology can help you in this regard and you have a project in mind that you want to try out, involving the use of SMS content and mobile information services for rural teachers. You think that there are tools and content out there for your particular needs - but you may have no idea how to access relevant expertise, mobile tools, or content.
Enter Vodafone, one of the largest mobile telecommunications network companies in the world, operating in 25 countries with partner networks in another 42 countries.
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Mar 03, 2009
We are looking for your mobile application! MobileActive.org is collecting detailed information about mobile applications used for health, social development, advocacy, education, civic media, human rights, and other civil society areas.
If you have or are developing a mobile application used in social development, please complete this survey! There is currently no comprehensive database of mobile applications for social development available and we want to change that.
So, we need your help in building as-close-to-complete Mobile Applications Database, and learn more about your mobile apps used for social development. Here is the survey!
We will share all applications widely on this site with organizations, press, and interested donors.
P.S. Feel free to forward to relevant organizations, lists, and individuals!
Photo: Mobile application at MobileActive08
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Feb 02, 2009
The Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley is announcing the Human Rights Center Mobile Challenge. The deadline for submission of applications is March 13, 2009. Winners will receive cash awards of $15,000 (first place), $10,000 (second place), and $5,000 (third place) to implement their ideas.
While there have been few implementations of mobile technoogy so far in human rights work, recent innovations have the potential to be used to expose war crimes and other serious violations of human rights, and disseminate this information in real time throughout the world. Mobile phones, combined with GPS, cameras, video, audio, and SMS are transforming the way the world understands and responds to emerging crises. Handheld data collection devices, such as PDAs, provide researchers with new ways of documenting mass violence and attitudes toward peace, justice, and social reconstruction in conflict zones.
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Dec 22, 2008
There is a fascinating discussion about the fuure of mobile apps going on over at Change.org. Nathanial Whittemore started it all with a hopeful and visionary blog post on how mobiles will be changing the world. The discussion thread turned into a thoughtful discussion on mobile appplications and how this emerging eco-system of tools scales and interoperates to maximize resources.
Isaac Holeman, working on (and twittering about) MobilizeMRS, points out that "interoperability is a very important point..where it's not necessary for any one installation of anything to scale completely because data can move into or out of any system. Mobile health stuff is so new that interoperability of medical data has hardly been considered, to my knowledge. With MobilizeMRS, one of the primary reasons we want to interface with medical records systems is that a huge amount of work has already been done to promote medical record interoperability with standards such as HL7."
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Nov 12, 2008
We are pleased to release the newest MobileActive.org resource, A Mobile Voice: The Use of Mobile Phones in Citizen Media.
In this report we explore the dynamics of the role of mobile phones in enhancing access to and creating information and citizen-produced media. We explore trends in the use of mobile telephony with a focus on software and platforms that make content creation and broadcasting easier. We also present an inventory of current and potential uses of
mobile phones to promote citizen media and freedom of information, and present short case studies of examples--all from the MobileActive.org community.
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Nov 10, 2008
The Open Mobile Consortium, a working group of developers and organizations engaged in open source mobile applications for social change, is meeting in New York at UNICEF today and tomorrow. The Open Mobile Consortium was founded at MobileActive08 to build an open source community for collaboration and shared development between relevant organisations engaged in mobile development for social good.
The goal of the meeting is to assess the landscape of tools, and begin to develop a technical roadmap.
The Open Mobile Consortium believes that it is critical to overcome frthe current agmentation in this field, and to align existing projects that are developing and implementing mobile tools. A longer-term vision is to work as an open source consortium, with funding for coordination and project management, as well as code integration, refactoring and producing documentation for training and support.
MobileActive.org will participate in tomorrow's portion of the event, and report back on key discussions.
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Sep 24, 2008
Forum Nokia has announced a new global contest: "Calling All Innovators" for developers to create mobile applications that will help to better society. Nokia will award up to USD 150,000 in cash and prizes, in addition to helping the winning developers distribute their mobile applications.
In its announcement of the contest, Nokia notes that
Posted by CorinneRamey on Nov 30, 2007
A new mobile application, mobGAS, can be used to track individual emissions of greenhouse gases. The application, developed by scientists in the European Union, tracks the emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane based on information on daily activities entered by the user. Users can enter the information on a website and then compare their emissions with national and international averages.
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Nov 12, 2007
MobileActives, start coding! We called for an "Android for Good" last week and here it is. Google and the Open Handset Alliance's open platform released its software developer kit (SDK) today and issues a mobile application challenge that includes a call for applications for humanitarian benefit and economic development. The challenge will issue a total of $10 million USD, initially in a first phase that will award $25,000 each to 50 applications received by March 3rd, 2008. The second part of the challenge, launched after the first handsets built on the Android platform become available in the second half of 2008, will then award ten $275,000 and ten $100,000 prizes for the most promising apps that warrant further development.
According to the FAQ, the Alliance is "looking to reward innovative, useful apps that make use of Android's capabilities to deliver a better mobile experience." These include applications in these areas:
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Nov 05, 2007
Google announced today Android and of the Open Handset Alliance, throwing wide open the field of mobile applications for commercial and social and civic causes and potentially much cheaper handsets that are especially important in developing countries. We here at MobileActive.org think that this will spur developments for the social sector that are faster and cheaper -- an "Android for Good."
The Open Handset Alliance is a consortium of more than 30 tech and mobile companies and Android is its open platform. Google's support of the project and development of the new mobile app software stack that includes an operating system, moddleware and open applications development is significant and seen as a major competitor to other mobile platform providers such as Microsoft, RIM, and Symbian.
