MobileImpact.Org

Big First Month

We’ve come a long way over the last 30 days.  MobileImpact.Org was born on October 1st at its first board meeting.  From there, we’ve traveled half-way round the globe to attend MobileActive08, interact with leaders across the field of mobile technology for social change, and since then, traveled much of South Africa to interact with practitioners, NGO leaders, and individuals from a range of economic and social circumstances.

Critically, we traveled to Limpopo province and the town of Tzaneen to meet with John Kings, local leader of the NGO Tsogang (means “wake up”), and the communications barriers his water and sanitation group and many NGOs and CBOs face across Limpopo in the areas of rural farming, health, construction, and social service delivery.

We’re now planning small pilots and support work for John and his network.  Today that means providing strategic insight and an opportunities analysis for his water sanitation group.  It will involve identifying methods to leverage used cell phones where appropriate, increase data reporting mechanisms with rural laborers, and overall, making the project more efficient and effective at addressing its communications challenges. Tomorrow, it may mean supporting the range of NGO’s and CBO’s across Tzaneen.  As we’re successful, we’ll find ways to expand our work to many others.

We look forward to developing the partnership and are grateful to John and the people of Tzaneen for entrusting part of its development strategies with MobileImpact.Org.  As a start-up, it can be difficult to find that first project which has the potential to be a win-win for all the parties involved.  So, we intend to move patiently, but purposefully and deliberately.

For us, from our research, attending the MobileActive08 conference, and interactions with professionals across NGOs, Cellular-Network providers, and individuals that suffer from communications barriers, a couple things are abundantly clear.  1) Affordable access and strategic use of cellular communications is a powerful tool in economic and social development; 2) the NGO sector in general can benefit greatly from a strategic framework to leverage communications technologies in its program models and operational systems; and 3) we can build a movement across the developed and developing nations to contribute used handsets to combat poverty, support economic and social development, and provide affordable and strategic access to communications technologies on a global scale.

So many opportunities exist in the space -- the volume is both exciting and overwhelming at the same time.  To succeed, we must adhere to a few basic principles as we grow and develop:

• Always be demand driven -- do not push your service, but find paths for others to access your capabilities and assets
• Design solutions that leverage everyone’s self interest and could potentially serve a million people or more
• Acknowledge your limitations -- don’t over-promise -- and people will accept and respect your current capabilities
• Listen
• Always focus on your strengths, find ways to maximize the strengths of others around you -- your results will be better and more impactful
• Take strategic risks

Those are some of the keys to our initial work.  As we get more precise on the full extent of our scope, I hope to return to those lessons and make sure we constantly seek to adhere and grow from them.

Its truly been an inspiring journey thus far.  As a start-up, we’re new to this work, and I know full well many challenges and hurdles are on the horizon.  But, as far as most nonprofit organizations go, we’ve had just as positive and productive first 30 days as one could aspire.

From a “big idea” 6 months ago to these first concrete steps supporting economic development in South Africa, the lesson is simple: we must listen and be patient with our dreams, but we must also be bold, and go after them.

Cell Phone Kiosks

A few examples of where cell phones are sold in South Africa.

This is a very common sight, especially in the more rural areas of the country.

Signal Strength in South Africa

Over the last couple days, we rented a car to drive from Johannesburg to the coastal city of Durban.  On our eight hour trip, we drove through a range of landscapes -- small villages, industrial towns, sometimes driving miles on end without a sign of development aside from the road ahead.  What amazed me the most was not the beauty of the landscape or the simplicity of the towns, but the signal strength of my cell phone. 

We were deep in the remote valleys of South Africa and I had full service throughout the entire drive.  I'm not able to visit my family in the highly developed suburb of Washington DC without having to dance around the house, looking for that perfect spot that allows me to make a call.  Even then, eight times out of ten, my call gets dropped midway through the conversation.  It is astonishing that in one of the most developed and wealthy cities in the world I have trouble using my cell, yet I can be in an isolated region of South Africa and have full network strength.

This isn't surprising according to the article on CNN.com, Africans Get Upwardly Mobile in Cell Phone Boom.  With almost 25 million cell phone subscribers, it is evident that the cell phone is a more accessible and useful tool in the South Africa region than the landline.  In developing countries, the cell phone is not only used as a communication tool, but also as a resource to provide information on areas such as education and health care.  The article makes the point of stating that "wireless technology is far more widely used in Africa than in Europe and the United States... Technological adoption has been much more rapid in Africa in the past five years than the past 20 or 30 years in Europe." Because of this, the United States and other developed countries are still relying on older infrastructures, while the emerging markets like South Africa have increased their advancements around mobile technology.

It makes me wonder, in a country with such a strong cellular infrastructure, how can we provide easier access so that more South Africans can take advantage of the technology in place? Is simply giving communities handsets enough?  Is it only a cost barrier or is it more complicated that that?  Hopefully, these are questions that we will be able to provide answers to in the upcoming weeks. 

MobileImpact.Org hosts a session

Today Brad lead a session on recycling and reuse of mobile phones, discussing the opportunities, risks and cost barriers. We had a diverse group of participants who added a lot of value to the conversation on a range of issues. Some of the key players included the project manager of Ateliers Du Bocage, a France based refurbisher who supports the locally unemployed; a couple of men from TechSoup who refurbish technology products and sell them at a low cost to NGOs; a representative from Computer Aid, an international organization who teams up with computer refurbishers to support education efforts; and a woman from a small village in the Limpopo region in South Africa, with a need for phones to increase local access to mobile communications.

We initiated a dialogue with the South African woman, Ditshego, in order to arrange a visit to her village so that we could truly get an insider's perspective to better understand the needs and barriers of mobile technology. Next week we will visit her village to meet with some of the women she works with, and talk to those in the community who would directly benefit from the use of cell phones. We will certainly add updates on our experiences in Limpopo.

Our fundamental concern is finding ways to lower the cost of access for the 3 billion people who aren't currently connected to sustainable communications.

Sustainability was a major theme, both during our conversation and throughout the entire conference. It seems that what sets Computer Aid and TechSoup apart from other NGOs involved in computer refurbishing and resale is the fact that they are financially sustainable operations. Studying the computer refurbishing market is going to be a great asset to our organization -- learning what works and applying it to the cell phone recycling industry will substantially improve our potential success.

We have a lot more to cover from today's discussion as well as the conference, which we will be touching on over the next several weeks. Some key issues include women as the untapped market in mobile technology, the risks to recycling phones in developing countries, and how cell phones can be used as a tool for other purposes in development activities, from research to disaster communications.

Exciting Day 1 at MobileActive08

We had a long and full day at MobileActive08, filled with NGO experts, software application designers and others passionate about the potential for Mobile Phones for Social Impact. An incredible stat which speaks to how special this conference is that there are over 350 people representing 5 continents and 45 nations across the globe.

As a start-up NGO focused on how to leverage used phones for social change, it's a fascinating environment. "Overwhelming" was Dana's word which pretty much sums it up.

My notes are filled with key insights and contacts, from UNICEF to small NGO's combating HIV and AIDS in rural villages all over Africa, from Cape Town to Nairobi.

As we gear up for today, we think we're going to propose hosting one of the participant sessions, which is a really cool opportunity at such a gathering. Imagine if every conference invited its audience to drive almost half of the presentations with topics that come up over the course of discussion, analysis and review.

My proposed topic: Opportunities, Risks & Value of Mobile Recycling for Social Change.

Dana and I will be writing more on our experience yesterday, including a riveting session on the impact of mobiles with women. We'll keep you posted on our day today as well.

~Brad

Preparing for MobileActive'08

Over the last week, countless emails entered our inboxes, introducing many of the 350 participants who will gather tomorrow for the first day of the Mobile Active '08 conference.  The variety of ideas and the range of fields of expertise is incredible, if not overwhelming for a small start up non-profit.  Over the last six months, we have spent countless hours trying to figure out how to turn an idea into a reality, constantly reevaluating and shifting directions based on the constant change in technological advances.  Throughout the process, one idea remained -- create sustainable access to communications for the global poor.  Over the next three days we will meet with the world's experts in software, hardware, and cellular networks with the hopes of increasing our knowledge on how to make that idea more attainable.  We are extremely excited to learn about the current advances in the ICT world as well as those ideas still in their experimental phases.

If interested, please check out the conference agenda to get a better idea of the range of topics to be covered:  MobileActive'08 Agenda.   

A Journey Begins...

Tonight we depart for South Africa. 

For the next six weeks, we will be traveling and reporting on the intersection of cellular communications and economic development.  First at the global summit, known as MobileActive08.Org, which will flood us with an extraordinary range of how people and organizations are leveraging cell phones for social change.  Then we'll be traveling all over South Africa and its neighboring countries, sharing on the ground accounts of how powerfully this tool helps people's lives.  We'll be sharing pictures and videos as well, and promise to write as often as we can. Lastly, we'll share MobileImpact.Org's story, how we came to be and what steps we're taking to create a great organization.

We are excited about the journey. And appreciate you reading and following along with us.

Wish us luck!

Brad and Dana

Imagine...

Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of their wealth or status, is empowered with the tools to accelerate and achieve their own dreams and goals.

Fact: The mobile phone is a fundamental tool to accelerate individual economic development.

The degree to which this assertion holds varies by context, geography, skill set, and other factors, but it is a fact. With a mobile phone, one is more accessible to information, networks, markets, and help when and where it's needed. All of these increase productivity and efficiency regardless of your position or status in the world.

Fact: For every additional "10 phones per 100 people, a country's GDP rises 0.5 percent." (NYT – 4/13/2008 "Can the Cellphone help End Global Poverty"). What's more, after the most basic needs – water, sanitation, shelter, food, etc—people in developing countries spend most heavily on access to information and communication technology.

Fact: Globally, 3 Billion people do not yet own a mobile telephone. For the 1.3 billion "moderate poor"—those with access to food, shelter, water, education and healthcare— hundreds of millions would purchase a cell phone if it were affordable. The lowest cost handset on the market in the world, at $30 US, remains substantially out of reach for the overwhelming majority of the global poor.

Fact: 130 million mobile phones, in the United States alone, are replaced every year. Only 30 million of these are currently being captured in the US recycling market. Which means, 100 million phones annually are being left in desk drawers and glove boxes around the country. In fact, well over 500 million used cell phones are estimated to be useful but unused. These phones have significant potential value to emerging economies.

Fact: Today, 80% of the world's people are within range of cellular signal. By 2015, that number is expected to rise to about 95%. The movement for universal access to these technologies is well underway. Nations and global development firms are working hard to provide the infrastructure required.

Imagine if you could help connect the lives of 3 billion people. Imagine if you could help change the world.

We're MobileImpact.Org, and that is our mission.