With the start of the new year, it is traditional to predict trends for the coming months. So I thought I’d take a look at our ICT work and identify what I see as trends for our work moving forward and for ICT for development in general. I don’t think any of these predictions are earth-shattering, but they should be helpful as guides for our work and areas for further discussion.
Generally, I see two strong trends and then one I’m not so confident about:
- Greater focus on using cell phones and text messaging to connect systems to users
- Broader acceptance of Open Source technologies in nonprofits and in the developing world
- Increased use of social networking tools to improve communications among people doing this work and people using our systems (this trend is “iffy” because I don’t know if this is something that will really take off in 2008, at least in our organization)
Cell phones and text messaging
It is clear that cell phones are the fastest growing and probably most accessible technology for two-way communication in the developing world. Text messaging, in particular, has become an efficient way to send and receive necessary information, more ubiquitous than email. People in the developing world are more likely to have access to a cell phone than to an Internet-connected computer, they are familiar with the technology, and it is generally cheaper for them. Some unique uses of the technology I’ve seen recently are texting locations of mobile HIV clinics in South Africa and tracking epidemics in Rwanda.
We will need to take advantage of this trend to make our Web-based systems, such as iHRIS, easier for our clients to use, particularly in areas where there is no Internet access. The cell phone may even be a solution for accessing just-in-time information from online repositories, such as the HRH Global Resource Center.
Open Source technologies
I see a promising trend for Open Source technologies becoming more widespread in both the sectors that we work in–nonprofit and public health–and the countries where we work. As Open Source becomes more familiar and thus more trustworthy, the advantages will become too clear to deny. The costs are significantly lower, and the potential for turning over systems to local developers to maintain and grow is much higher.
For our part, we’ll be using such technologies as the Asterisk telephony system and possibly Open Source software on cell phones in addition to the standard LAMP (Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP) set of development technologies, as well as releasing all of our software developed in-house under Open Source licenses and actively encouraging outside developers to improve them. I expect we will expect our partners to also leverage Open Source technologies. Most importantly, though, I am hearing from the country level that strategic technology plans are being made based on adopting Open Source software for everything from servers to desktops. .
What about social networking?
I think the surge of social networking tools, such as blogs, wikis, podcasts and more, is a very exciting development for those of us who live with always-on, high-speed Internet connectivity. But how does that translate to our work in low-resource settings? I’m not sure, but many nonprofits are exploring that question now and sharing their ideas.
Social networking tools are so powerful and so popular because they tap into our very basic human desire to connect and share with one another. Last year we dipped our toe in the water through this blog and virtual learning environments, which were essentially online communities for sharing information. Perhaps this year we can use them more thoughtfully as a way to better connect with dispersed employees, volunteers and even our clients who are using the technologies we develop. We can exchange ideas, get feedback and work collaboratively faster and more effeciently than we have before.
But for that to happen, the tools have to be accessible, easy to use and compelling. We should start with a few small, targeted projects and see what happens. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, we should harness those free tools that have already been developed for us, tools like Twitter and YouTube. Tapping into the power of these tools will require creative thinking and a willingness to experiment, as well as time to see what works best for us and our community.
Does anyone have any ideas or predictions for 2008? Please share them in the comments.
Posted by
Shannon Turlington on 1/21/2008 • Tags: Cellphones, FOSS, ICT4d, Mobile Technology, NPtech, Open Source, Public Health, Social Networking
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I admit it: I have a love-hate relationship with my cell phone.
I don’t like phones in general, but I consider my cell phone to be more necessary than other phones. It has helped me out in some sticky situations, like when I had a flat tire or needed advice on a difficult buying decision while at the mall. But I don’t like the thought of other people being able to find me no matter where I am, so I am stingy with giving out my cell phone number. And I am rather passive-agressive toward my cell phone, often leaving it uncharged until it starts that annoying “low battery” beeping, usually at 2 a.m.
Still, I must be alone in disliking my cell phone, because everywhere I look, people are talking on them. Cell phones aren’t just popular here in the U.S. They are becoming ubiquitous all over the world. Worldwide there are over 2.7 billion mobile phone users, far surpassing Internet users, TV watchers or even car drivers. In the developing world, especially, mobile phones are leapfrogging conventional wired technologies like landlines and Internet to become a primary communications and information resource.
Last week I was in a meeting with a co-worker who had just returned from a workshop the Capacity Project was hosting in Africa. He shared an interesting learning — that his African colleagues rarely read email as part of their daily work. (What a shock that is to those of us working in an email-addicted culture!) Rather, they would prefer to be notified via an SMS (text message) on their cell phones when an important email message was waiting for them because they were much more likely to check their cell phone messages than their email. Reading the text message would prompt them to go read their email. (Why not skip the middle man and send the email straight to their phone?)
In fact, the developing world is way ahead of us in finding creative ways to use text messaging and mobile phone applications. Here, we still largely use our cell phones to talk. In the developing world, cell phones are used to look for jobs, check daily prices for crops, and get timely health information and services, among many other applications.
In the U.S., we are so used to our daily routine of email and web surfing that we forget that the rest of the world is different. We put content or services on a website, point people to the URL and expect them to just go. We expect our audience to get updates via “pull” methods like RSS feeds and email lists that they subscribe to themselves. But everything comes back to the Web link.
Our audience and clients in the developing world don’t have reliable access to the Internet, and they aren’t in the habit of checking these resources daily or using them as primary sources of information. What they do have is a cell phone in their pocket. The technology already exists for converting email messages and website updates to text messages and vice versa. But those of us who are providing the content have to remember that it’s a mobile world and make our content available in multiple formats, including SMS.
This raises some questions and challenges, of course. Receiving text messages costs money, so any messages we send have to be timely and critical to have value. Text messages have to be short and to the point, which changes the way we write content as well as how we deliver it. Does that mean we should start delivering messages a la Twitter, but with meaning? How do we promote two-way conversation, and more importantly, interactivity — with web-based applications, like iHRIS, for instance — given the constraints of the cell phone? How do we reach people who may use multiple phones or change phones frequently?
MobileActive.org may be a resource that can help. Their mission is to help nonprofits use mobile technology more effectively in their development efforts. Their website provides useful news about mobile technology used in various initiatives, as well as international mobile usage statistics, including number of subscribers, cell phone costs and providers for each country. Another good resource is the Mobile Applications Database, a database of projects using mobile technology to make a difference.
Here we’re also planning to take our iHRIS software mobile and to build a mobile telecommunications-based community health information system as part of the Last Mile Initiative. Stay tuned for developments!
Looks like I’m going to have to learn how to love my cell phone…
Posted by
Shannon Turlington on 11/5/2007 • Tags: Cellphones, Development, ICT4d, Information Systems, Mobile Technology, NPtech, Resources, Telephony
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