World Café Methodology: At round tables, groups are invited to have a series of conversational rounds around a set of three questions ie. one question per round lasting about 20 minutes. See World Cafe Website for more info.

 

1. Where have you personally seen mobile/distributed data collection make a difference? Feel free to share a specific example - personal stories more about who was involved, what happened and why it was remarkable.

 

2. What conditions best support the use of mobiles in distributed data collection? What things gets in the way?

 

3. What can we do over the next two and a half days to contribute towards the creation of enabling conditions for distributed data collection, and to break some of the barriers that exist? 

 

Summary of first two rounds:

Problems and things that make it easier to use mobile technology.

 

Common theme: there needs to be something that is necessary, i.e. something an issue they need every day. There need to be solutions that are fit for purpose. Do you use a fancy phone, a basic phone?

Iraqi participants: We are social researches at the ministry of labor. They love the idea of mobile data, but how can you make it accurate? There are many steps ahead in Iraq. The internet is used for nonsensical activities by many, people need to be educated.

They have two kinds of surveys, postal one and personal ones. The postal one is often inaccurate due to problems with literacy. But due to the security situation in Iraq, mobile data collection could be very useful. 

Participant from Malawi: There are two mobile providers. There is need for more things mobile, because it can save costs. More people have access to phones. Sometimes there is no network availability, which means that no message is going to be conveyed.

Participant from Gaza: In Gaza and in Ramallah and the West Bank there are systems in place, where people can use SMS to share information among their peer groups.

Conclusions: This type of data is different, when you collect such data, you can act on it immediately --> Actionable data. What is the mobile phone useful for? For a detailed survey it may not be the ideal tool.

 

  

 Round 1: Examples of use of mobile technology for social action and development:

  

MIT Social Media lab: work on tools to anonymously collect data from mobile phone users. How do you protect privacy?  The data should be used for the common good.

One key aspect is that you need a trusted organization, which has the backing of the local community to justify and facilitate the data collection.

 

 

UNICEF Somalia: For area based programming it is extremely important to get timely information. That is why the use of text messaging is important to get more accurate data. For cholera outbreaks it can be extremely useful to use SMS in order to get instant information. In Somalia there are many life-saving issues for which instant information is crucial. 

 

Using mobile technology to do follow up of MDGs:

 * Pacific island MDG process following

* Challenges:

·         Electricity

·         Dampness, damage to PDAs (Blackberries etc.)

  

Ushahidi:

* Mapping of violence incidence

* Started in Kenya during election violence

 

 

Experience from Asia, Mekong river region:

* Reaction to disease outbreak, used to be slow to reacting to that since very hierarchical

* Created groups to share info via sms, even across countries in a region

* Sending messages up the bureaucracy but also sharing horizontally among each other

 

 

Iraq:

* Curfew listing information disseminated by SMS

 

 

Iraq government faces challenges:

* Problem gathering information knowing how many students there are

* Most schools no internet, in some areas even no mobile phones

* Generally 5 or 6 months delay in getting data, effects effectiveness of work heavily

 

 

 Amnesty international:

·         sends out SMS to mobilize support and create awareness

 

 

2) Which conditions are supportive for mobile technology to work? What are the barriers?

 

 

* Sms phone to phone rather via tower can help when there is not enough coverage or government wants to control or suppress the use of mobile phones

 

 

Zambia, Malawi: Project to trace mothers more effectively

Obstacles and ways around it:

·          challenge: technical literacy -- >Answering phone easier than writing

·         10 cent a message too high of a cost for the user: -- > Working on reverse billing

·         Devices are quite wide spread

·         Privacy issues: Village phone lady, shared phone use pattern, contact community and they know who it was, have to be careful about HIV confidentially, so speak about health issues in general when calling someone in for HIV test or treatment 

 

·         Iraq cost of SMS: $0.05 USD

  

* problem, higher margin of error if put several data types/information in one text

  

* problem of incentive, how do you incentivize people, black hole, what do they get back?

o Ideas for solutions:

o Give scores of favourite soccer club

o Or give info back

o Rich client application

o Close distance between people in the field

o Phone engages them

  

* Identity problem, so can trust data, how do you identify users?

·         username if shared phone

 

Egypt:

* Unicef talking to Vodafone for cooperation to bring costs down

* Using mobile technology to look at how financial crisis is affecting children in Egypt

* Cultural problems:

o Officials do not seem to see the value in the use of new technology to gather more data since a central military agency exists which collects and disseminates information

o bureaucrats in ministries don’t share information, need to do a year of careful persuasion until you break through barriers

o Started small project:

* Early childhood nutrition

* Attendance at schools

* People text in both languages

* GPS allowed now

* No literacy problem

* Top 10 in mobile data usage, including developed world

* 50 million plus users (80 million population), huge growth rate

 

 

Lebanon: encouraging women in technology

* Tried via e-mail, no feedback

* Did via SMS and got a higher response

* Problem: in Arabic less letters allowed per text message

 

 

Using MMS:

·         sending in pictures of disasters, or skin diseases and get a diagnosis back right away

·         problem: need for sophisticated phones, expensive and not widespread

·         Solution: Provide phones

·         Question of cost effectiveness: when do you break even? Some organizations say it is cheaper distributing expensive phones rather than driving around and visiting each location in person

·         Androids expensive but Chinese phones are being developed (cheap but bad interface), maybe in future can put better interface on cheap Chinese phones?

·         China: working on developing phones just for Africa, $40 piece

 

 

Problem of Bulk/spam SMS:

·         In Middle East: get a lot of Bulk/spam SMS

·         can’t unsubscribe , should have a feature similar to the link at the bottom of mass e-mails: how to unsubscribe

·         Solution: Gateway for SMS called: clickatell

·         Go to local carrier, ask them: want to send up a SMS gateway?

·         opt-in rather than blanket text messaging?

o    in India have flood early warning system people can opt into

o    But then might miss people

 

 

 

 

Question 3: What can we do over the next two and a half days to break down barriers?

 

 

Iraq:

o    3 providers , each in a different region

o    Zayn: 10.5 million users

o     UNICEF working on arrangement to send free SMS and receive them for free, cooperation underway

o    Challenge: how to do it across carriers

 

 

Example kite photography: doing it with people who live there, their pictures, all we do is provide tools, but facing challenges:

o    Question about permission in e.g. Lebanon

o    Problem of sensitive information gathering

o    Problem of some organizations not having a cooperative approach

 

 

Possible uses of mobile technology for Iraqi Ministry of municipality:

o    direct call or SMS to notify authorities in case something is broken

o    question: how can a text messages be sent to a computer so that it goes directly to decision makers?

 

 

What to do if no connectivity? -à Delayed tolerance networks:

 

 

Bus driving by let’s say once a week, and as it drives by it picks up the data

Delayed tolerance networks!, don’t have to have a mobile phone, computer okay as well

Dak Net

o even used Yaks

o or motorcycles which drive like mail men

o it is a company that does this

o done in several countries, Cambodia, Vietnam, somewhere in Africa

o security and data protection question?

TAKEAWAYS:

• Every day simple use! Don’t try to build a new system.
• YOUNG people are the key focus group for such technologies for immediate leverage.
• TRUST: how to incentivize people to participate in new systems.
• Enabling passing buses with WIFI to connect remote villages.
• Keep it simple! Ensure trust.
• Applications should be localized. Using local languages and local customs.
• Provision of training to people that may use these new applications.
• Incentives: how to get people to participate in these new networks.
• How to get carriers to drop the price for messaging services.

Unicef

o need to look at everyday simple use:

o like kids in school

o water provision etc.,

o easy things

o Young people 9-15 years old, biggest growing market, can use it best, target of Zain (phone company in Iraq)

o They are the ones who gonna drive the change

 

 

o Issue of trust, incenctives, how to overcome security concerns, hesistation

o Delayed tolerance networks, can use bus driving by to collect data via wifi

 

 

o Keep applications as simple as possible

o Security, trust

o Localization (having application in own language and familiar with local customs), multi-lingual

o Humanizing applications, simple

o Provide training

 

 

o Incentives, how data does not disappear into black hole, but feedback

o Bring cost down