Android and IntraHealth?

Shannon recently wrote about mobile technologies and the possibilities that are open to us with the influx of mobile usage in the countries in which we work. What’s equally exciting is what has happened since in the development of open mobile technologies.

Here in the United States we have the worst situation in the world when it comes to openness in our mobile technologies. Our phones are “locked” to particular carriers so that we cannot use them on another provider. This is mostly an historical problem as the carriers originally thought the money would be in selling the devices. While there is some money to make there, the real money comes in selling the service. Nonetheless, we are left with the old model. In the rest of the world the two are separated. One buys a phone then decides which network to go use it on. While most US phones can be unlocked to work with other networks, its not something easy enough for everyone to be able to take advantage of. The disturbing trend set in place by Apple’s iPhone takes the locking another step further to the point where Apple is trying all they can to keep its users from using anything but AT&T.

Enter Google. Google has launched the Open Handset Alliance which has the weight of many companies behind it with the goal of developing an open platform for mobile devices called Android. While they were not the first to start such a task (beaten to it by the OpenMoko folks, they have the name recognition to make a very big splash.

So what does all this news mean for us and our work? I suppose to answer this I go back to IntraHealth’s mission which is to “mobilize local talent to create sustainable and accessible health care.” With an open platform we can more easily introduce the people we are working with in-country to the technologies in which we have developed applications and processes to deliver health care. In this case, applications that can take advantage of the enormous use of mobile technologies in the countries in which we work.

With proper funding the ideas for these application are endless. Imagine a district health care facility with a system that can send a text-message to a patient to let them know a follow-up appointment is needed. Texting is cheaper and easier for most folks in developing countries. Imagine a member of the Nomadic Somali people in North-Eastern Kenya using a mobile phone to schedule an appointment with the health care facility they happen to be closest to on a given day - and then using that same phone to let the provider access their medical history. Imagine a district health office in a very rural area accessing their Ministry of Health’s system via a mobile device when their power goes out. What once was a break in access to communication is now just a switch to another technology. The possibilities are endless, and with an open source platform, they are cheaper to implement and easier to develop on.

Half the fun of accessing these new technologies is coming up with new ways of applying them to old problems. How would you use it?

Posted by David Mason on 11/13/2007 • Tags: Cellphones, Development, Digital Divide, FOSS, Mobile Technology, Open Source, Technology