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.
Where are you?
Posted by: Ditshego | October 29, 2008 at 08:51 AM