M4D

By means of a qualitative approach I bring insights on the relationship older people (60+) have with mobile communication in a low income district of Lima (Peru). The case study I conducted in September 2013 included interviews and one focus group with 20 inhabitants of San Juan de Miraflores district. The user / non-user dichotomous classification turned out to be too narrow in this context.
While some participants reported a common, bidirectional use of the device, restrictions and discontinuities played a role.
Some described an asymmetric use of the mobile phone, as they used it exclusively for receiving calls, while never making outgoing calls. Others described discontinuities in ownership, which was the case when their mobile was stolen and the y could not replace it immediately. My initial hypothesis is that such restrictions are related to income, skills and age.

A survey in Kigali, Rwanda, suggests that mobiles are allowing microentrepreneurs to develop new business contacts. The results detail the impact of mobile ownership on the social networks of microentrepreneurs in lowteledensity areas, focusing on the evolving mix of business and personal calls made by users. The study differentiates between the contacts amplified through mobile ownership (friends and family ties) and those enabled by mobile ownership (new business ties). The article discusses applicability of the results to settings beyond Rwanda.

Abstract The paper describes a collection of initiatives delivering support via mobile phones to small enterprises, small farms, and the self-employed. Using a review of 26 examples of such services currently operational in Africa, the analysis identifies five functions of mobile livelihood services: Mediated Agricultural Extension, Market Information, Virtual Marketplaces, Financial Services, and Direct Livelihood Support.

Despite a worldwide boom in mobile phone ownership, studies of the social and economic implications of mobile telephone use in the developing world are rare. Approaching mobile phone usage from the individual level, the study uses Q methodology to ask 31 owners of urban micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Kigali, Rwanda to articulate what using the mobile means to them. The exercise identified four distinct perspectives on mobile use among the participants. One perspective sees it as a device for the pursuit of instrumental business goals. A second perspective uses mobiles to satisfy emotional or intrinsic needs. Two other perspectives mix instrumental and intrinsic elements, seeing mobiles as productivity enhancers, or as simply indispensable. Taken together, these distinct perspectives illustrate a range of intended uses and gratifications among MSE owners, and suggest numerous paths for future research. Q methodology is discussed in some detail so that researchers can consider its utility as a way to understand users of information and communication technologies.

From the 1980s international organizations have devised strategies to develop national media systems to make them more diverse and inclusive, and preserve local cultures. In many countries, these strategies have been unsuccessful and information has become a commodity as the interests of private actors prevent many groups from full access to communication rights. This paper outlines a perspective on media development from a rights-based approach, derived from a critique to dominant perspectives from international organizations with a strong focus on technology provision. The paper argues for media development based on the right to communication as an alternative to commodification of information. Through examples from Brazil and Kenya the paper illustrates that viewing communication as a basic right can lead to the inclusion of more voices in the public discourse. In addition, a model for media development is proposed suggesting that the state and national civil society should play a significant role in promoting diverse national public spheres.

The paper offers a systematic review of 14 studies of the use of mobile telephony by micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the developing world, detailing findings about changes to enterprises' internal processes and external relationships, and findings about mobile use vs. traditional landline use. Results suggest that there is currently more evidence for the benefits of mobile use accruing mostly (but not exclusively) to existing MSEs rather than new MSEs, in ways that amplify existing material and informational flows rather than transform them. The review presents a more complete picture of mobile use by MSEs than was previously available, and identifies priorities for future research, including comparisons of the impact of mobile use across subsectors of MSEs and extensions beyond studies of existing enterprises.

"Around the globe, various initiatives use the mobile phone to provide financial services to those without access to traditional banks. Yet relatively little scholarly research explores the use
of these m-banking/m-payments systems. This paper calls attention to this gap in the research literature, emphasizing the need for research focusing on the context(s) of m-banking/mpayments use. Presenting illustrative data from exploratory work with small enterprises in urban India, it argues that contextual research is a critical input to effective “adoption” or “impact” research. Further, it suggests that the challenges of linking studies of use to those of adoption and impact reflect established dynamics within the Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) research community. The paper identifies three crosscutting themes from the broader literature—amplification vs. change, simultaneous causality, and a multidimensional definition of trust—each of which can offer increased theoretical clarity to future research on m-banking/m-payments systems."

Sen's Capability Approach (CA) has emerged as holistic lenses for theorising development within Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) discourses. There is ongoing research on operationalising CA for ICT, with a number of frameworks having been developed. However, there seems to be minimal usage of these frameworks. This paper explores how the ICT artefact has been conceptualised in these CA-based ICT4D frameworks. This paper gives an overview of CA and then makes a critical review of six CA-based ICT4D frameworks. Research gaps are identified from the review. The paper recommends the development of a framework that holistically conceptualises the ICT artefact in CA. This will be beneficial to ICT4D researchers, practitioners and policy-makers. It will help them to empirically analyse the contribution of existing ICT-enabled interventions towards development outcomes. The providers of the ICT artefacts will be able to consider how the ICT artefact plays out in the development journey of their customers. The framework could also be helpful in formulating policies that will ensure implementation of ICT4D interventions which will expand people's capabilities.

This paper reviews roughly 200 recent studies of mobile (cellular) phone use in the developing world, and identifies major concentrations of research. It categorizes studies along two dimensions. One dimension distinguishes studies of the determinants of mobile adoption from those that assess the impacts of mobile use, and from those focused on the interrelationships between mobile technologies and users. A secondary dimension identifies a subset of studies with a strong economic development perspective. The discussion considers the implications of the resulting review and typology for future research.

This study reports results of an ethnographic action research study, exploring mobile-centric internet use. Over the course of 13 weeks, eight women, each a member of a livelihoods collective in urban Cape Town, South Africa, received training to make use of the data (internet) features on the phones they already owned. None of the women had previous exposure to PCs or the internet. Activities focused on social networking, entertainment, information search, and, in particular, job searches. Results of the exercise reveal both the promise of, and barriers to, mobile internet use by a potentially large community of first-time, mobile-centric users. Discussion focuses on the importance of self-expression and identity management in the refinement of online and offline presences, and considers these forces relative to issues of gender and socioeconomic status.

The paper suggests that research on the role of mobile telephony for socioeconomic development (M4D) draws on two frames. One frame stresses the relative freedom of telephone users to do whatever they choose. The other stresses how technologies and technology-led interventions are embedded in recursive, context specific relationships with user communities. Together these frames support M4D’s “dual heritage”. After detailing current M4D archetypes representing each heritage, the paper introduces a conceptual and practical synthesis, that is, large-scale platforms for distributed, semi-constrained interaction. This paper considers two examples of such platforms—MXit, South Africa’s mobile social networking service and M-PESA, Kenya’s mobile money transfer system—including both anticipated and unanticipated consequences of operating “at scale” and beyond the confines of a controlled M4D intervention. Finally, this paper introduces implications of the dual heritage and of the rise of hybrid platforms for research and practice."

This paper will examine new applications of mobile and wireless technologies to the challenges of public health in the developing world, particularly the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). After a brief review of initiatives underway in Africa and India, the bulk
of the paper will describe a national HIV/AIDS information system currently under development in Rwanda. This system relies on a combination of internet technology and traditional telephony (both fixed and wireless) to connect even the most remote rural health
clinics. Potential merits of this system will be examined in light of Heeks’ (2002) review of information systems projects in developing nations. This analysis will suggest that certain
fundamental properties of wireless/mobile technologies are likely to increase the efficacy, scalability, and sustainability of public health information systems in low teledensity settings.
For the purposes of this workshop, the paper applies both to the “mobile technologies for disadvantaged persons” as well as to the “doctors communicating with doctors” tracks.
However, given the severity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and given its particular impact on the LDCs, it is important to consider these applications as critical tools in what can only be described as one of the biggest and most protracted “health care emergencies” the world has ever confronted.

We argue that clear and easy access to prepay data will be as essential to the widespread adoption and use of the mobile internet in developing countries as access to prepay airtime is/was to the adoption of the mobile telephone. In late 2009, we conducted a desk assessment of the availability of pre-pay (pay-as-you-go) data from major operators in 53 African countries. We identified at least one operator in 38 countries which offered pre-pay data, and in 3 cases we could determine that no prepay data was available. Information available from many operators was vague, incomplete, and hard to obtain, suggesting that a threshold of mainstream promotion of the service by operators may not yet have been crossed. We suggest topics for further research, both on the demand and supply sides of the prepaid data equation.

We characterize market traders at two rural fairs in Puno, Peru, based on
quantitative and qualitative data gathered in 2008, to gain insight into types
of traders and the information needs that influence the degree to which they
use mobile phones to make decisions regarding which weekly fairs to attend.
Using variables such as origin, type of goods sold, means of transportation to
the market, and reliance on networks, we identify traders as full-time traders,
part-time traders, or subsistence traders, that is, people trading solely to survive.
We find that when traders are already familiar with the technology, regularly
rely on endogenous networks to make decisions, and have more to lose
from failing to trade (e.g., those selling perishable goods), they are more likely
to use mobile phones to decide where to sell.

The study of mobile phones has boomed over the past ten years. Today it is doubtless one of the more vibrant research areas across the whole of media and communication studies. But this is also an undertheorised field, as a number of authors have pointed out. In this paper I heed the call for further theoretical work by addressing a blind spot in our field of vision, namely the elusive relationship between mobiles and sociocultural change. I suggest that we think about change not in the present continuous as we usually do (how things are chang-ing at present) but in the recent past, revisiting the empirical examples we have to date on actual changes that have already taken place, and then try and work out what part, if any, mobile phones played in those changes. I explore this approach through examples drawn from three strands of the bourgeoning mobile telephony literature, including some of my own primary research, namely political mobilisation, mobiles and markets, and everyday mobile sociality.

We present a system for the exploration and analysis of massive mobile phone data that enables users to gain insight. First we identify user tasks and develop a system following a visual analytics approach by tightly integrating visualization, interaction and algorithmic support. The system is then evaluated by exploring a massive mobile phone data set containing 2.5 billion calls and SMS exchange between around 5 million users located in Ivory Coast over a period of 5 months. From the use cases a number of findings are gathered, such as localized increase and decrease of calls due to major events.

In developing countries, many would-be mobile internet users perceive downloadable video content as too expensive. Aggressively degrading this video could reduce its file size and therefore its cost. The studies presented here explore extreme cases of this quality/cost trade-off for mobile phone users in urban India. A series of online studies tested the effects of manipulating a video’s content, bit rate, frame rate, and audio quality on quality ratings and enjoyment. Results show that video quality and thus file
size can be greatly reduced with relatively little decrease in these outcomes. A field experiment with low-income users in urban India explored consumers’ choices when presented with a trade-off between video quantity and quality and found that nearly one-third selected a lower quality video for the benefit of more video content. Results suggest that offering lower-quality videos to bandwidth-constrained users could provide monetary savings with only minimal reduction in consumer satisfaction.

This study further explores the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in small and informal businesses in the developing world by focusing on the role of ICTs in customer acquisition and retention. Data is drawn from a survey of 317 sole proprietors and operators of small businesses with five or fewer employees in and around urban Hyderabad in Southern India. Respondents describe how various customers were acquired—via walk-in, referral, family connections, landline telephone, mobile phone, internet/email, etc. Results suggest that face-to-face interactions dominate customer interactions, even among those with access to ICTs. Four tests explore whether telephony enables more specialized, hands-off, numerous or distant relationships with customers; a significant relationship between landline ownership and total number of customers is found.

The overarching aim of this research was to study how mobile technology can catalyze informal learning and bridge the gap between informal and non-formal learning. In this study 30 Kenyan elite runners were equipped with a simple Android smartphone and free Internet for one year. The original research project focused on studying how a smartphone in the hands of impoverished Kenyans could assist and enhance informal learning. This project used log data, workshops and interviews to track the users’ progress. During the course of the study a huge desire for more formalized learning developed. Thus, a non-formal course on Human Rights was developed and made available for all Kenyans via any Internet connected device. In this way the intersection of these two projects provided an opportunity to satiate interests gained from unguided informal learning with structured non-formal learning. Key findings were that the smartphone empowered marginalized groups, augmented informal learning opportunities, and provided a means to bridge informal and non-formal learning to deliver educational opportunities to any device in the form of a non-formal MOOC. This research made a significant impact in the participants’ lives and the most common statement from the interviews was the statement “it helps us a lot”.

I’m all for discussion and debate, and I’ve taken part in my fair share over the last decade. But I’m now beginning to wonder if, after all this time, everything the ICT for Development (ICT4D) community could have said has been said. The fact that it is still talking about the same handful of challenges and issues implies that very little, if anything, has changed. Have we really made so little progress?

The title of this workshop, ‘beyond voice’, is illustrative of one of the central questions currently surrounding mobile communication in the developing world. Put simply, there is a great deal of enthusiasm around the notion that a large group of users will access the internet for the first time via data enabled mobile handsets. Recent estimates from India, for example
(Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, 2007), suggest there may be more mobile Internet connections than traditional PC Internet connections operational in the country. Concurrently,
high-end smart phones promise browsing experiences which are steadily closing the gaps in speed and ease of use which have hampered earlier incarnations of the mobile internet, such as
WAP.
But the raw enthusiasm, the aggregate statistics, and the glossy marketing images from the top-end of handset markets fail to capture the reality of mobile internet use in the developing
world. The crux of this paper’s argument is that the research community knows comparatively little about this supposed community of users who access and use the Internet exclusively via mobile phones. We know little about who they are, how they discover and access the mobile internet, and how the mobile internet fits into their lives.
This paper reports on ongoing qualitative/exploratory research in low income communities in urban South Africa. Through convenience and snowball sampling, the researchers have sought out ‘early adopters’ among mobile-only internet users. The analysis of the interviews will delineate and describe distinctive new “paths” to Internet use that largely bypass PCs. We draw on a domestication approach (Haddon, 2003; Hahn & Kibora, 2008;
Silverstone & Hirsch, 1992) to move beyond an ‘adoption’ or ‘diffusion’ paradigm and to complement aggregate statistical perspectives.
As exploratory research, this project cannot definitively identify all the new paths to the internet, nor the relative frequency with which individuals choose these paths. However, early
findings will illustrate current and emerging practices in mobile-only internet use, as well as opportunities and constraints for policymakers interested in promoting or leveraging internet use
among a much broader community of the world’s inhabitants

This article explores the practice of "beeping" or "missed calling" between mobile phone users, or calling a number and hanging up before the mobile's owner can pick up the call. Most beeps are requests to call back immediately, but they can also send a pre-negotiated instrumental message such as "pick me up now" or a relational sign, such as "I'm thinking of you." The practice itself is old, with roots in landline behaviors, but it has grown tremendously, particularly in the developing world. Based on interviews with small business owners and university students in Rwanda, the article identifies three kinds of beeps (callback, pre-negotiated instrumental, and relational) and the norms governing their use. It then assesses the significance of the practice using adaptive structuration theory. In concluding, the article contrasts beeping with SMS/text messaging, discusses its implications for increasing access to telecommunications services, and suggests paths for future research.

This paper describes an ongoing research project exploring the business practices of mobile entrepreneurs, specifically mobile food vendors, and the potential use of location aware and mobile phone-based application to support their information needs. Mobile food vendors are a ubiquitous phenomenon in the developing world and can be seen hawking their wares in carts, bicycles, or motorcycles. In this paper we report findings from 28 interviews around business practices, challenges, personal histories, and economic wellbeing among mobile food vendors and 10 of their customers from five major Indonesian cities. Based on these findings, we point to characteristics and features of a mobile phone-based application that will enable these vendors to advertise their current location, accept orders from customers, enable customers’ recommendation of vendors, and inform fellow vendors of various special events.

Using an ethnographic action research approach, the study explores the challenges, practices, and emergent framings of mobile-only Internet use in a resource-constrained setting. We trained eight women in a nongovernmental organization’s collective in South Africa, none of whom had used a personal computer, how to access the Internet on mobile handsets they already owned. Six months after training, most continued to use the mobile Internet for a combination of utility, entertainment, and connection, but they had encountered barriers, including affordability and difficulty of use. Participants’ assessments mingled aspirational and actual utility of the channel with and against a background of socioeconomic constraints. Discussion links the digital literacy perspective to the broader theoretical frameworks of domestication, adaptive structuration, and appropriation.

Desa atau gampong, dalam bahasa Aceh, merupakan kesatuan masyarakat hukum yang berwenang dalam batasan wilayah dan sistem tata kelola tersendiri. Dari hasil contextual design atas kebutuhan sistem informasi pada desa-desa di Aceh, salah satunya, terungkap perlunya proses diseminasi informasi yang lebih eisien dan efektif dalam tingkatan desa. Saat ini proses diseminasi informasi masih bersifat konvensional dengan cara: mendatangi satu-persatu rumah warga, mengumandangkan melalui pengeras suara mesjid/meunasah, atau menyebarkan kertas-kertas peng-umuman. Dengan proses diseminasi informasi yang masih konvensional ini banyak warga yang telat menerima informasi desa atau bahkan tidak menerimanya sama sekali. Oleh karena itu dirasakan Teknologi Informasi dan Komunikasi (TIK) dapat lebih mengeisienkan proses diseminasi informasi tersebut, dimana aplikasi eGampong merupakan prototipe yang dibangun untuk lebih mengeisienkan proses tersebut. Tulisan ini akan memaparkan rancang bangun aplikasi eGampong yang bersifat low-maintenance serta yang berbasis teknologi SMS dan layanan Google.

By means of a qualitative approach I bring insights on the relationship older people (60+) have with mobile communication in a low income district of Lima (Peru). The case study I conducted in September 2013 included interviews and one focus group with 20 inhabitants of San Juan de Miraflores district. The user / non-user dichotomous classification turned out to be too narrow in this context.
While some participants reported a common, bidirectional use of the device, restrictions and discontinuities played a role.
Some described an asymmetric use of the mobile phone, as they used it exclusively for receiving calls, while never making outgoing calls. Others described discontinuities in ownership, which was the case when their mobile was stolen and the y could not replace it immediately. My initial hypothesis is that such restrictions are related to income, skills and age.

The study of mobile phones has boomed over the past ten years. Today it is doubtless one of the more vibrant research areas across the whole of media and communication studies. But this is also an undertheorised field, as a number of authors have pointed out. In this paper I heed the call for further theoretical work by addressing a blind spot in our field of vision, namely the elusive relationship between mobiles and sociocultural change. I suggest that we think about change not in the present continuous as we usually do (how things are chang-ing at present) but in the recent past, revisiting the empirical examples we have to date on actual changes that have already taken place, and then try and work out what part, if any, mobile phones played in those changes. I explore this approach through examples drawn from three strands of the burgeoning mobile telephony literature, including some of my own primary research, namely political mobilisation, mobiles and markets, and everyday mobile sociality.

There has recently been an explosion of interest around the application of mobile communication technologies to support health initiatives in developing countries (mHealth). As a result, there is a need to promote and share rigorous research for better informed policy, programming, and investment. There are, however, few platforms for the exchange of information and proven practice between practitioners and researchers.

The subtopic of prevention, well-being, and health promotion within mHealth is particularly ripe for deeper exploration. While many reports tout the potential of mobiles to influence behaviour change for health, there is limited knowledge about what works (and what does not work), and about how to evaluate current and future programs. This is a focused edited volume with contributions from leading researchers and practitioners to identify best practices in using mobile technologies to promote healthy behaviours (and reduce unhealthy ones) in resource-constrained settings with a special focus on developing countries.

This topic is inherently interdisciplinary. Though the opportunities to leverage mobile phones for health are new, the challenges confronting researchers and practitioners are well-established and theoretically complex, with roots in decades of work on mediated behaviour change campaigns and theories.