Sanjana Hattotuwa, on the ICT4Peace blog, mentions our recent article on the Reuters/Nokia collaboration in the context of his work in Sri Lanka. Hattotuwa writes:
We are using a Nokia N93i phone to capture content that is feeding into Sri Lanka’s first citizen journalism YouTube channel, the Vikalpa YouTube Video Channel. The channel will be formally launched in the near future with more content added online.
Reuters and Nokia Research Center have teamed up to advance the usage of mobile journalism with the release of a new mobile toolkit and reporting try-out. Although the initiative is currently aimed at professional reporters, the project has implications for citizen journalists around the world.
At the annual CTIA convention, CTIA CEO Largent announced that the industry association is reactivating Text2Help in response to the fires in Southern California in the United States. According to the CTIA, "The national Text 2HELP™ initiative is a partnership between The Wireless Foundation and the American Red Cross that enables customers of participating wireless carriers to send a text message donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to assist relief efforts during a major disaster. The donation will help provide food, shelter, counseling, and other assistance to the victims of the disaster."
I had the great pleasure to meet Krista Dong and Zinhle Thabethe from iTeach who are at the frontlines of treating and preventing AIDS in South Africa, the epicenter of this global crisis. These amazing, committed and inspired women talk about their daily experience working with people with HIV and AIDS in Kawazulu Natal and how they think mobile phones could exponentially scale their work. As Krista says, "To deal with the scope of this problem, to even begin to make a dent, we need new ideas, crazy ideas. And everyone, everyone has a cell phone." Watch if you want to hear from frontline workers how mobile phones can revolutionize their social change work.
HIV/AIDS is one of the most significant human, health, and development issues facing Africa today. NGOs and health care providers are increasingly turning to mobile phones to address the unique challenges of AIDS awareness, prevention and treatment. "HIV/AIDS is arguably the most pressing development problem facing South Africa – and Africa," asserts a report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF ) and Women'sNet, a South African network of people who use ICTs in gender-related advocacy and support. The report, titled "Rapid Assessment of Cell Phones for Development," is available here on the UNICEF website.
Mobile empowerment was the theme of the PopTech session with Nokia, Eprom, and MobileActive. Nathan Eagle, a researcher and passionate mobile advocacte for entrepreneurs in Africa, talked about the EPROM project that trains African computer science students in mobile application development and research on mobile applications and value-added services within in African context. Joe MacCarthy from Nokia's Research Lab in California described Nokia's support of mobile initiative in health and education, including MobiSus in Brazil, and Mapya in Kenya.
MobileActive's Katrin Verclas will be at PopTech in Maine for a special two-hour session on 'mobile empowerment." Together with Joe MacCarthy from Nokia and Nathan Eagle from MIT's EPROM project, we will explore how mobile phones are used in civil society, particularly in the developing world.
MobileActive will focus on civic empowerment and democratic participation, of course, and on economic empowerment. We will tell some of the stories of the mobile pioneers for social change around the world who are part of the MobileActive Community. Join us live!
The government of Togo has banned the use of SMS by the Rally of the Togolese People (RPT), the Togolese ruling political party, reports Highway Africa News Agency. The High Authority for Audiovisual Communications (HAAC), a press regulation body, has prohibited the messages because voters viewed the SMS as intimidation, calling them "unfair propaganda" and an "illicit practice."
According to the News Agency, voters had complained about unsolicited SMS messages received from the RPT in view of the upcoming legislative election on this Sunday, October 14. Supposedly, part of the message read, "To maintain the current dynamics of reconciliation and economic growth and social stability, vote RPT." The HAAC "has asked the country's political parties to follow the law or face the wrath of the law."
Hoy introduce MobileActive un recurso nuevo para los activistas movilistas. Esta guía de estrategia en español tiene información detallada sobre el uso de los teléfonos celulares en América Latina y estudios sobre los celulares usados por el activismo social en varios países latinoamericanos.
Today MobileActive introduces a new resource for mobile activists. Our first Spanish-language Strategy Guide provides detailed information about the use of mobile phones in Latin America and case studies of mobiles used for social activism in different Latin American countries.
