Data Gathering in MobileActive08

Yesteday I volunteered to do mobile surveys using the application from Mobile Researcher. The whole experience was very positive  as the survey application was easy to use, intuitive and well designed (not to mention all the interesting people I met while conducting the survey).

In addition to Mobile Researcher there are actually a wide variety of data gathering software show cased in the conference. RapidSMS, FrontlineSMS, OpenROSA, Nokia Data Gathering Software to name of few. Check out also SMS Reception Center. Freeware, open source, propietary, SMS based, 3G, for all devices, for high end devices… Just pick your choice depending on your needs, capacity and resources.   

During several workshops there has been interesting discussions on how to actually use the acquired data/information/results in development and research projects. One the topics has been advocacy where e.g. visualisation of data (see e.g. Ushahidi or Hans Rosling in TED.com) can be very useful.

HIV / AIDS messaging, privacy and social impact

There is lots of excitement about HIV / AIDS related messaging during MobileActive08, especially from South Africa. Great prevention and support work has been started, but as SMS messages go out, researcher found also unexpected effects. When SMS arrive late at night it migth cause suspicion with partners, husbands and wives. Language use and culturally sensitive translation is causing concern as messages contain sensitive content on doctor’s appointment and safer sex. 
Some recipients complain about messages simply being boring. However, many others do recognize that these messages are helpful and appropriate. As with the field as a whole, the discussion on monitoring and evaluation, effect, outcome and impact assessment has only started. So this anecdotal evidence can not yet be supported by medium-term success demonstration or even hard evidence.

Realtime conference survey

Well, no surprise that at MobileActive mobile phones are used to survey participants to improve communication and documentation. The team around http://www.mobileresearcher.com/ has done a great job, presenting the results in the second day of the conference and asking the audience for additonal questions. It improves the documentation of the conference and creates a rich information base for participants and “remote participants” to follow up on. Mika has the chance to “test drive” mobile researcher as an interviewer and will follow up in this blog on the usability and usefulness.

Will the “Mobile Web” be a reality in Africa?

In one session we discussed long on the issue of Mobile Internet. But what exactly do we mean? In the medium term, the question is about access to information via any device. The border of so-called Mobile Internet to access to the Internet through mobile devices, and further differentiated by browser access and widgets. Some people say that any kind of database access is considered “web access”, so then even SMS access qualifies. While it is important to be precise, future projects will probably be based on a variety of access points (and user might not know anymore when they use mobile network, WLAN, LAN etc.

Impressive pilots and the need to combine efforts

After the first plenary, it becomes more clearer what are the main challenges of the field of mobile phones for social change (which has a cross section of ICT, development and business people interested in it).

Sustainability
Many pilots come up with interesting findings; however, they often go along with high upfront investment, which in replication often raises questions about sustainability.

Costs in general
With mobile operators often having a powerful position within their markets, many participants felt that the costs of having and using a mobile phone is an issue. Also note the different between cost of SMS and costs of GPRS connection in Africa, with GPRS getting cheaper and likely effecting the use of mobile phones.

Open source versus software / service business model
For many specific projects you find approaches using open source and others using software / service as business model. While the business option has its own set of advantages (for example further product development and potentially high quality of service, usability), it comes with a costs and some participant voiced concern on this.

Collaboration
In summary, many pilots demonstrate great ideas, good models, and some progress. However, the field remains scattered and would need collaboration to be able to show as a group of people (together with their organizations) the usefulness of mobile phones for social change.

Mobile Active started – mobile data connection

350 people at the conference and many more through digital streaming – discussing about the way mobile phones are used for social change and development. Plan’s delegation already has made important contacts, and the issue of mobile data collection gets quite some attention. Check out www.mobileresearcher.com  and www.digitalicslatino.org  

Find us at MobileActive08

If you are at MobileActive08, you can meet me here, as well as through out the conference:

Session: Mobile Helplines for Child Protection
Description: Protecting children through children helplines: helplines are increasingly offering first point of contact for children even in the most difficult circumstances. While in the European Asian and American context voice calls are complemented by online networking, this session deals with the current practice and challenges in Africa and will explore how the next generation helplines might look like. The Presenter currently works as a Senior Program Manager – ICT and Human Rights at Plan Finland.

http://mobileactive08.confabb.com/conferences/MobileActive08/sessions/18930/details

Got the pICTure?

As we are getting ready for Mobile Active 08 , it is time start our blog on development, social media and ICT from a Finnish point of view. So what justifies ‘just another blog’ among many thousands created today?

Even though Finland being very technology oriented and also very active on development issues, discussions on the two issues together has been somewhat limited. This blog will change that: it brings together issues, ideas, enthusiasts, and critics to continuously reflect on ICT, social media, and development. In doing this in a blog format, it will also shape and narrow down the content over time and elevate the ideas which are most interesting and exciting.

Who is we? Have a look