txteagle

SMS Uprising:Mobile Phone Activism in Africa

Posted by VivianOnano on Jun 27, 2011

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SMS Uprising:Mobile Phone Activism in Africa data sheet 1001 Views
Author: 
Ekine,Sokari, Nathan Eagle, Christian Kreutz, Ken Banks, Tanya Notley, Becky Faith, Redante Asuncion-Reed, Anil Naidoo, Amanda Atwood, Berna Ngolobe, Christiana Charles-Iyoha Joshua Goldstein, Juliana Rotich, Bukeni Waruzi.
ISSN/ISBN Number: 
2147483647
Publication Type: 
Report/White paper
Publication Date: 
Jan 2010
Abstract: 

This compendium of articles (available at a cost) attempts to critically investigate the use and utility of mobile phones in Africa. Contributors include Nathan Eagle who writes about ‘Economics and power within the African telecommunication industry’,  Amanda Atwood’s report on Kubatana’s experiences in Zimbabwe setting up mobiles as a means of sharing news outside of government propaganda, to Bukeni Waruzi’s essay on collecting data on children’s rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004.  SMS Uprising is published by Fahamu, a British-based organization with a focus on information services for Africa. For a critique of the book see our aticle here.

 

Paper URL: 
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/ca... 


 




  
Txteagle in Flight: Mobile Data Collection for Disaster Preparedness


Posted by MelissaUlbricht on Feb 07, 2011





 

        
      
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Txteagle in Flight: Mobile Data Collection for Disaster Preparedness data sheet 4372 Views

	
Txteagle is a data collection and engagement platform that leverages mobile  airtime compensation for data collection and customer engagement. It is currently used by one nonprofit organization to survey constituents about disaster preparedness. We looked into the company and one of its customers. 
 
 Txteagle widely advertises its ability to reach 2.1 billion  mobile subscribers currently. MobileActive.org spoke with Nathan Eagle, co-founder  of the service, to learn more about how it works, how many active participants there are and where some of the large numbers come from. We also spoke with  Terry Gibson, project manager for the Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction, who is currently using txteagle to collect mobile data on 40,000 respondents in 48 countries.

      
Website URL: 

    

            

                    http://txteagle.com/        

        





      
Organization involved in the project?: 

    

            

                    Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction        

        





      
Project goals: 

    

            

                    
The Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (www.globalnetwork-dr.org) is using txtegale to collect mobile data to see if on-the-ground progress is being made by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

        

        





      
Brief description of the project: 

    

            

                    
Txteagle is a data collection and engagement platform that leverages  mobile airtime compensation. It is currently being used by the Global Network of Civil  Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction to collect multi-country  data on disaster preparedness as part of a community-level survey  called Views from the Frontline.

        

        





      
Target audience: 

    

            

                    
The global network is using SMS to target individuals in 48 countries.

        

        







      
Status: 

    

            

                    Ongoing        

        





      
What worked well? : 

    

            

                    
Airtime compensation incentivizes members to complete surveys. The txteagle platform additionally offers a revenue model for mobile operators. Mobile data collection may be less costly and time-consuming than paper-based, face-to-face interviews.

        

        





      
What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

    

            

                    
The txteagle platform is a hard technology to build, and there will be updates. Working with operators has been a challenge, as networks go down periodically.



 
        

        







      
Global Regions: 

    

            

                    Asia        

              

                    Australia and Oceania        

              

                    Central America and the Caribbean        

              

                    Europe        

              

                    Middle East and North Africa        

              

                    North America        

              

                    South America        

              

                    Sub-Saharan Africa        

        





      
Last Name: 

    

            

                    Eagle        

        





      
First Name: 

    

            

                    Nathan        

        





      
City: 

    

            

                    Boston        

        





      
State/Province: 

    

            

                    MA        

        





      
Country: 

    

            

                    U.S.A.        

        





      
Phone: 

    

            

                    terry.gibson@globalnetwork-dr.org        

        





      
Email: 

    

            

                    nathan@txteagle.com         

        










 




  
Crowdsourcing Critical Success Factor Model


Posted by MohiniBhavsar on Jul 09, 2010





 

        
      
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Crowdsourcing Critical Success Factor Model data sheet 2459 Views

	

      
Author: 

    

            

                    Ankit Sharma        

        





      
Publication Type: 

    

            

                    Report/White paper        

        





      
Publication Date: 

    

            

                    Jan 2010        

        





      
Abstract: 

    

            

                    
Crowdsourcing, simply referring to the act of outsourcing a task to the crowd, is one of the most important trends revolutionizing the internet and the mobile market at present. This paper is an attempt to understand the dynamic and innovative discipline of crowdsourcing by developing a critical success factor model for it. The critical success factor model is based on the case study analysis of the mobile phone based crowdsourcing initiatives in Africa and the available literature on outsourcing, crowdsourcing and technology adoption. The model is used to analyze and hint at some of the critical attributes of a successful crowdsourcing initiative focused on socio-economic development of societies. The broader aim of the paper is to provide academicians, social entrepreneurs, policy makers and other practitioners with a set of recommended actions and an overview of the important considerations to be kept in mind while implementing a crowdsourcing initiative.

        

        





      
Paper URL: 

    

            

                    http://irevolution.files.wordp...        

        










 




  
Mobile Operators, Price Gouging, Innovation, and Txteagle  -- A Critique by Steve Song


Posted by KatrinVerclas on Mar 23, 2009


Steve Song has done it again. A fellow at the Shuttleworth Foundation, he critiques Nathan Eagle's new txteagle venture to tap into the 'cognitive resources' of millions of mobile-phone users in developing countries.  Nathan recently gave a talk at eTech, presenting texteagle. Here is the video of Nathan's presentation. 


In short, txteagle, in the words of the BBC, is "a new scheme that distributes simple tasks via text messages is being used to target a potential untapped work force in developing countries. Txteagle is making it possible for many people in countries like Kenya to earn small amounts of money by completing simple tasks like translations or transcriptions." 



    

            

                            

        







 

        
      
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