‘Mobile’ is the buzz word in development: the key to smart entrepreneurship, citizen participation, and even revolution! Likewise, governments and aid agencies have put their faith in the contributions of mobile phones to global prosperity and freedom in the areas of health and commerce too. But what has five years of experimenting with mobile devices actually brought about? Which expectations have been met, which ones haven’t? And what are the future prospects? On Friday the 20th of April, the 9th edition of Fill the Gap! was entirely dedicated to this hype surrounding mobile devices. Do mobile devices really open doors for the individual, albeit an entrepreneur or consumer, and the public? And why can’t aid agencies and private sector upscale, develop and market affordable mobile services for the benefit of the common man in developing countries? Our key-note speakers for the day were Jon Gosier, designer, software developer, data freak and founder of Appfrika, Katrin Verclas, co-founder and editor of MobileActive.org, Jeroen Verplanke, ITC University of Twente and Daniële Puma, Director of Vodafone Foundation Nederland. A summary of the outcomes of the debate.
Is it really just a hype?
No, mobile technology has become an indispensable part of society, even in developing countries. The use of mobile devices has long been regarded as the preferred means to affect change. In particularly when it comes to strengthening entrepreneurs – access to market price information – and improving healthcare -health information campaigns. Mobile phones and internet enable us to collect and distribute data much more easily an on a large-scale. An example of the use of mobile technology to improve healthcare participation is the SEND foundation in Ghana who use mobile technology to collect data among the target group about their use of the National Health Insurance Scheme. An example of the use of mobile technology to literally put communities in need on the map is Map Kibera. Despite the clear advantages of using mobile technology all speakers agreed that its use is too much hyped.
Critical comments
Although the use of mobile technologies clearly has added value, some points of criticism were raised too. Jonathan Gosier for example mentioned the lack of involvement of local experts and entrepreneurs in mobile technology driven projects. They are the ones who experience the problem. His motto therefore was: local solutions serve local problems best. According to Gosier autonomy and local ownership should be key in mobile technology projects. A second critical aspect raised during the debate was the proliferation of pilots. Organizations and companies often want “something new” and the ability to manually select the development of certain tools and applications. Instead of building on existing applications, one tends to opt for piloting something new. This leads to a situation whereby a smart tool is the starting point for a new project, while the demand or need is unclear. The various speakers therefore stressed again: the demand should drive the range of possible solutions and out of these solutions only the technology most suited for solving the issue should be applied. It could be a mobile technology–based solution, but just as well another type of communication technology.
Beyond the hype
And what hype can we expect next? Large data, was the unambiguous answer from the panelists. We will no longer talk about how to run the collection of data, but will question what to do with it. ICT makes it possible to collect data in different areas. What can companies, NGOs and governments do with this wealth of information? What are the best applications? These and other related questions are most likely to come up in the near future.
For a more extensive report of the debate, read the blogs made during Fill the Gap!-9. You can also watch a video of Jonathan Gosier’s key-note.
