The method of selecting representatives for presenting the view of a constituency was deployed at the time when internet and mobile technologies were not available and there was no method of making a collective decision on policies to government the society.
In today's times , most of the population have mobile phones that can be used by the citizens to communicate their opinion on important policy issues. Should not we therefore relook at the ways of people representation and amend the democratic processes accordingly?
The comments from readers are welcome to suggest innovative ways of making democracy more vibrant using mobile technologies where citizens can be continuously involved in policy decisions rather than voting once in five years.
Vikas Kanungo
http://www.mgovworld.org
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Technology that has been taken for granted by people in wealthy countries is making life easier and safer for many poor in developing countries.
The rapid spread of cellular telephones in many African countries has been a remarkable and unexpected phenomenon particularly when one considers the high levels of poverty and social turmoil that occurs in many of these countries. Last year the Enterprise Africa! team visited Botswana in order to document the poverty alleviating aspects of the cellular telephone. Technology that has long been taken for granted by people in wealthy countries is making life easier, safer, and more prosperous for many, including the poor in developing countries. A result of the rapid diffusion of this technology is the creation of a vast number of jobs and enterprises, enabling many Africans to escape the poverty trap.
The most obvious benefit of cellular telephones is that they provide access to communication where none existed before. Families in remote areas, and farmers and businesses that could not afford or even obtain fixed lines, are now able to talk with loved ones, receive orders, schedule deliveries, and make appointments. Mobile phones were an immediate success, even in areas that already had access to landlines, because in addition to connectivity they offered services like itemised billing, prepaid or contract options, and other value-added services.
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Sexual education is entering the mobile age. In Singapore, famous "Dr Love" offer answers to sex-related questions to the predominatly Muslim population via mobile phone. Half-way around the world, SexInfo doles out sexual health info to teens in 160 characters on the Unites States West Coast, and similar services operate in London and in Australia.
In Singapore, according to the Age:
Indonesians are invited to send a text message with any sex-related question to a panel of volunteer local doctors who will either send them a message back or use their question to help compile information on a website.
The brains behind the idea, Wei Siang Yu, who is nicknamed "Dr. Love" for his flamboyant methods of teaching Singaporeans about sex, told a press briefing his scheme would turn conventional sex education on its head.
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LiveEarth, the global music event taking place today, is launching one of the most ambitious mobile campaigns in its effort to organize people worldwide on climate change.
Live Earth is broadcast to more than two billion people with concerts in New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, and Hamburg.
Concert goers and those watching online and on television in four countries will be able to 'answer the call' via sms by texting in a key word in one of six issue areas, pledging to change their behavior to save the earth from climate destruction. Keywords such as home, job, shop, ride, share, and lead can be texted in to short code 82004 in the Unites States and UK, to 70707 in Germany, and 199 66 777 in Australia.
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Nokia and Vodafone have launched a new wiki, Share Ideas, designed to help share ideas about how to use mobile phones for civil society. Please check it out!
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Protest campaigns in recent weeks in China and Pakistan are pointing to a quickening pace of social activism primarily enabled by mobile phones.
On May 31, 2007, authorities in Xiamen halted construction of a large petro-chemical plant, following a furious Internet, street, and text campaign. The story began on a few local blogs, spread wide on the Internet with sites like antipx.com, and street graffiti.
On March 25, according to news reports in the Asia Sentinel, Sydney Morning Herald and others, a text message began circulating:
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So, you want to make a ringtone to make the world a better place?
You've heard them, the people next to you in the cafe that have some hit song as their ringtones - but try on an endangered species, a presidential candidate riffing to a beat, or an issue message to be the life of the party.
You're envious, I know. I am too. So, how did they do it? Every cell phone provider, of course, provides you a way to pay to download a ringtone. But why spend the money, when with just a bit of work, you can do it for free? Besides, the cell phone companies aren't likely to have a ringtone that sends the kind of message you might like to send.
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We are pleased that there is a growing body of academic research on the use of mobile phones in civil society. While primarily focused on mobiles as a tool for economic development (references), we are learning of a few that are explicitly focused on mobiles in activism.
Redante Asuncion-Reed just published his Master's on the use of cell phones in activism focusing on a Fahamu, an African-based organization active in the MobileActive Network. You can download it here.
He writes:
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In the United States, the political season is heating up and candidates are jumping on the mobile bandwagon. Hillary Clinton, Democratic presidential candidate, announced "Connect with Hillary" whereby supporters can get regular updates from the campaign via cell phone. Meanwhile, another competitor for the Democratic seat, Senator John Edwards, is raising money for an ad campaign in the Washington Post, showing the support he garnered for ending the war in Iraq. The ad is here -- and noteworthy is the short code at the bottom of the ad - text "Iraq" to 30644 to show your support to end the war. (Thanks, TechPresident, for the pointer)
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