Hi, I think one big innovative aspect of mobile phones that hasn't been really touched upon is the fact that it's not only a platform with a lot of reach in developing regions, it also allows for virtually anyone to participate in broadcasting. Radio has incredible reach, but becoming a radio station is no easy task. On the other hand, virtually anyone can build a simple mobile application to reach many people. I can't think of any other two-way communication modes with anywhere near the reach. Good tools for building mobile apps can be found at [url=http://mobilehacking.org]mobilehacking.org[/url] , a resource created by the Open Mobile Consortium, an entity that came out of the MobileActive08 conference. Héléne Martin [email protected]

[quote=Khalid Khan]Given that the communication is sms based, does this preclude the illiterate? [/quote] This is definitely a concern in rural Uganda. The way we get around it is by training [url=http://www.grameenfoundation.org/what_we_do/technology_programs/village… Phone Operators[/url] to market the apps and sell the service to their clients. Part of the service then becomes making the question into a query and then reading them off to the farmer. That also provides an extra source of income for VPOs and reduces failed queries since the VPOs know the system well. [quote=Khalid Khan]Also could you please tell us what type of capacity has been developed to address the potentially diverse queries. Are there linkages to research departments or universities or is this managed in-house? [/quote] The tips were originally developed by [url=http://www.brosdi.or.ug/]BROSDI[/url], a local NGO (we are not agriculture experts). Every once in a while, we go through the failed queries, analyze why they did not work, get correct answers from experts and feed them back into the system. I hope this helps someone in their project! Héléne Martin [email protected]

Hello all, Harsha, great points about using existing technology and not over-complicating the process. This is why [url=www.applab.org]AppLab[/url] has chosen to distribute information over pure SMS (no fancy frontend or anything at all). The magic is on the backend which has both relevant content (as determined by the local communities) and highly effective search abilities. Systems like [url=http://www.lifelines-india.net/]LifeLines[/url], [url=http://aaqua.persistent.co.in/aaqua/forum/index]aAquaa[/url] or [url=http://www.digitalgreen.org/]DigitalGreen[/url] all demonstrate that fairly simple, readily available technology is sufficient if the right content is being provided. So to answer your question, Luca, our applications don't need distribution since they really amount to sending appropriate queries to specific shortcodes. Héléne Martin [email protected]

Hello, The [url=http://www.grameenfoundation.org/what_we_do/technology_programs/applica… Technology Center[/url]'s [url=www.applab.org]AppLab[/url] has facilitated the creation of a weather application and an agricultural tips application for use by rural Ugandans. Both are SMS-based. Some of the principles we believe will lead to success: * Learning specific users' needs: before building applications, we conducted [url=http://www.grameenfoundation.applab.org/section/needs-assessment]needs assessment[/url] (thanks in part to one of our moderators, Nigel Scott from Gamos) and [url=http://www.grameenfoundation.applab.org/section/ethnographic-research]e…] research as well as a [url=http://www.grameenfoundation.applab.org/section/high-end-device-trial-w… device trial[/url]. We hope others can learn from our findings. * Creating strong partnerships: partnering with telecommunications companies, government entities, engineering firms and local NGOs increases buy-in and sustainability. Our applications have been built in partnership with MTN, [url=http://www.brosdi.or.ug/]BROSDI[/url] and the Ugandan Department of Meteorology, among others. * Building off existing technology: our applications are designed primarily to add value to the services provided by [url=http://www.grameenfoundation.org/what_we_do/technology_programs/village… Phone Operators[/url]. By leveraging existing human networks and cellphones already in people's hands, impact can quickly be reached. * Providing local content in local languages: local partners are critical for this piece. * Providing ample training and marketing: we create color comics in local languages to describe the use of our applications. People won't use services they are unaware of or uncomfortable with. Khalid Khan raised a number of excellent questions which I hope have been somewhat answered for our project. We rely on existing Village Phone infrastructure, so the operators already have their phones. They charge users for accessing the services, making them sustainable. We are currently in a mature pilot stage and have so far provided direct training for all operators actively using the services. That being said, we will eventually publicize the shortcodes for general access. Please let me know if I can answer any questions about these specific projects. You can try a demo on [url=www.applab.org]our website[/url]. Héléne Martin [email protected]

Hi Grace, Are you aware of [url=http://www.tradenet.biz/]TradeNet[/url], [url=http://www.drumnet.org/]DrumNet[/url], Manobi's [url=http://www.stockholmchallenge.se/data/mulimedia_market_informat]Time to Market[/url] and Kenya's [url=http://www.kacekenya.com/]KACE[/url]? These may give you some ideas on what's possible. Some of these groups are likely to be interested in expanding their reach to your area. Héléne Martin [email protected]