E-TIC/Mobile phones
From ICVWiki
Contents |
Overall Mapping of Solutions
Very interesting mapping by mindmeister: (http://www.mindmeister.com/23721332/m4d-mapping-by-domain)
FrontLine SMS
The possibility of using Frontline SMS as the provider for the mobile phone communications strategy. " So, what is FrontlineSMS ? Well, FrontlineSMS turns a laptop – or desktop – computer and a mobile phone or modem into a two-way group messaging hub. Since it works anywhere there’s a mobile signal, it doesn’t need the Internet, a major advantage for many grassroots NGOs. Once you have the software running on your computer, you can send messages to wide groups of people, and collect responses to any questions or surveys you might want to run, all via text message."
Projects in West Africa
RapidSMS
Although this project (http://www.rapidsms.org) is based on Python and therefore not usable by us, it appears to be a mature and widely-used and flexible system.
Manobi
A commercial solution (http://www.manobi.sn). Interview with Daniel Annerose: http://www.manobi.sn/sites/sn/?M=6&SM=25&IDCommunique=9
Jokko Initiative
The Jokko Initiative deals with teaching youth and women in Senegalese villages how to use cell phones to (un)subscribe to e-mail-like mailing lists for communicating with a user-defined network of cell-phone-owning friends. The Web site doesn't have technical details, but I plan to contact the Dakar-based partner NGO Tostan to ask for further info. This project was at least partially funded by UNICEF Innovation and uses the RapidSMS system, which is Python-based and therefore cannot be used together with Drupal or Joomla, but maybe it's possible (and more desirable) to have the entire SMS/Internet gateway running (transparently) on a different server, managed by someone else.
Trade at Hand
- http://www.intracen.org/trade-at-hand/
- http://www.tradeathand.info/mali/
- http://www.tradeathand.org/senegal/
Elsewhere in the World
Mobile Communications to Revolutionize African Weather Monitoring
Global Humanitarian Forum, Ericsson, WMO, and Zain and other mobile operators to deploy up to 5,000 automatic weather stations in mobile network sites across Africa, where less than 300 are reporting today:
- Partnership will increase dissemination of weather information via mobile phones to users and communities, including remote farmers and fishermen
- First 19 stations deployed more than double Lake Victoria region weather monitoring, where 5,000 people die every year due to storms and accidents
CellBazaar, Bangladesh
Buy, sell exchange over the mobile phones, as well as information on agriculture prices.
Center for Digital Inclusion, Brazil, including PC and IT in general
Reported in CNET news:
Kiwanja net
Mobile-enabled social change. One SMS at a time...
Cyber Tracker, South Africa
Louis Liebenberg, a South African scientist and tracking expert, believes that the only way to understand and deal with the impact of global warming is to establish an ecosystem’s status quo. "At present we have no idea how many species are really threatened, as we do not have enough observations," he says. "Many species could be going extinct without us even knowing it".. CyberTracker’s innovative and flexible software combines the indigenous knowledge of Africa’s traditional trackers with state-of-the-art computer and satellite technology to give highly detailed observations of natural systems. The CyberTracker software runs on smart phones and handheld computers.
Statistics
- Statistiques de l'UIT sur l'utilisation des téléphones portables
- Statistiques reprises par le projet E-TIC : http://www.e-tic.net/index.php?what=agriculture&id=120
