Closing mobile’s data divide
Good mobile data is hard to come by. Much is either speculative, out of date or – if based on more recent research – expensive. And what is freely available is often spread far and wide across the Web. If you’re into mobiles for development then today your life is set to become a lot easier with the launch of “Mobile and Development Intelligence” (MDI), a new open data platform from the GSM Association which aims to “educate and unite all who want to harness the power of mobile for good”.

A key objective of MDI is to help increase investment and activity in the mobile for development field, and in turn amplify the social, economic and environmental benefits the technology can bring. That positive impact has already touched a wide range of development sectors from education and health to financial services, government transparency and democracy, and agriculture. With mobile phones now in the hands of the very people the development community have historically tried to help – billions of them, and counting – exciting new opportunities have emerged. According to the GSMA:
The mobile phone’s ubiquity is uniquely well-placed to drive economic and social development in emerging markets. Investments in the mobile and development sectors are rising yet there is limited data on which to base these decisions. MDI is designed to bridge this information gap.
These gaps include:
- The lack of data for business cases, product strategies and programmes
- Limited visibility of organisations and communities
- Limited understanding of the impact of mobiles on development
- Fragmentation of platforms and limited cross-sector convergence
In line with these challenges, MDI aims to provide:
A freely accessible, online repository of data and analysis
MDI will aggregate, cleanse and categorise data from multiple internal and external sources into a single, centralised data repository. Users will have the ability to manipulate, visualise and export the datasets (below: the ratio of total mobile connections to total population, 2009-2011).

Visibility of organisations, products and services and community
MDI will provide an online directory where users can access information about organisations and their products, services and initiatives. It will provide the “who, what, where and how”.
Clarify the impact of mobile on development
Develop impact pathways for each specific sector to find and map evidence of socio-economic benefit, and host impact metrics from other GSMA departments e.g. the impact of mobile on GDP.
Thought leadership on technology convergence
Working outwards from user needs to design common platforms to deliver them.
Future functionality will include an investor hub, document repository, online community and coverage maps making MDI a one-stop shop for NGOs, international NGOs, government departments and the private sector interested in leveraging the power of mobile technology for development.
You can visit the MDI site here.
Congratulations to the GSMA team, partners ThoughtWorks and PwC, and investor the Omidyar Network.

116 comments
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
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Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
->@kiwanja: Closing mobile’s data divide http://t.co/Oewd4Uxf
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/iuRMwAyE via @kiwanja #m4d
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
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Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
#anthro blog post: Closing mobile’s data divide: Good mobile data is hard to come by. Much is either speculative… http://t.co/Hj2hcsEX
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
RT @kiwanja: Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/9Q9HzzPo #m4d
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
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Excited for launch of @GSMA "Mobile Data Intelligence" a new open data platform – yeah good #mobile data http://t.co/3AQTkwlE #m4d #ict4d
Excited for launch of @GSMA "Mobile Data Intelligence" a new open data platform – yeah good #mobile data http://t.co/3AQTkwlE #m4d #ict4d
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RT @kiwanja: Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new open data platform. http://t.co/6RdxFkuu
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RT @kiwanja: Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new open data platform. http://t.co/6RdxFkuu
RT @kiwanja: Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new open data platform. http://t.co/6RdxFkuu
RT @kiwanja: Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new open data platform. http://t.co/6RdxFkuu
RT @kiwanja: Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new open data platform. http://t.co/6RdxFkuu
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GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
Closing mobile’s data divide http://t.co/oPbvNICZ via @zite
GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
Closing mobile’s data divide http://t.co/GSuHWtwC
[...] More here: Closing mobile’s data divide [...]
New data platform aims to "educate and unite all who want to harness the power of mobile for good". http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
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Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
RT @kiwanja: New data platform aims to "educate and unite all who want to harness the power of mobile for good". http://t.co/eBH38b1O #m4d
GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
RT @kiwanja: Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new open data platform. http://t.co/6RdxFkuu
GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
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GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
Very useful data store for information on mobiles and development: http://t.co/FAissLlF via @kiwanja
GSMA launches “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new mobile data platform. http://t.co/cWNgCW09 with data from its wireless intel service.
Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch "Mobile Data Intelligence", a new open data platform. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
New data platform aims to "educate and unite all who want to harness the power of mobile for good". http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
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RT @kiwanja: Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new open data platform. http://t.co/6RdxFkuu
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Closing mobile’s data divide … http://t.co/jKBmH7rl
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RT @kiwanja: Struggle to find good mobile data? GSMA launch “Mobile Data Intelligence”, a new open data platform. http://t.co/6RdxFkuu
Closing mobile’s data divide http://t.co/wgQ9sfas by @kiwanja #ICT4D #M4D via @aldoceccarelli @ictdev
[...] site has just launched, and Ken Banks says that, as the service develops, it will include an investor hub and information for the private sector. It already is a good [...]
Excellent new "Mobile Data Intelligence" site for anyone interested in mobile for development data. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
[...] Intelligence website hosts several datasets on the developing world mobile industry and beyond. Ken Bank’s blog mentions this has been done by the GSMA team, in partnership with ThoughtWorks and PwC, and [...]
Excellent new "Mobile Data Intelligence" site for anyone interested in mobile for development data. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
closing mobile's data divide http://t.co/LRwqguJO
RT @TopsyRT: Closing mobile's data divide http://t.co/hCr9PLSK
Cc @kmoeti RT @Topsy Closing mobile's data divide http://t.co/hCr9PLSK
Thanks
cc @ORooigrond RT @Thabo99: Cc @kmoeti RT @Topsy Closing mobile's data divide http://t.co/SbFCpYNK
Thanks
cc @ORooigrond RT @Thabo99: Cc @kmoeti RT @Topsy Closing mobile's data divide http://t.co/SbFCpYNK
Ta! cc @ActivateZA @Kmoeti: Thanks
cc @ORooigrond RT @Thabo99: Cc @kmoeti RT @Topsy Closing mobile's data divide http://t.co/8vGrxGYV
Thx re MDI RT @kiwanja New data platform aims to "educate & unite all who want to harness the power of mobile for good" http://t.co/4a56ptC6
Excellent new "Mobile Data Intelligence" site for anyone interested in mobile for development data. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
Excellent new "Mobile Data Intelligence" site for anyone interested in mobile for development data. http://t.co/gywC16oV #m4d
[...] the launch of the GSMA’s Mobile and Development Intelligence website (covered on my blog here). Now, Ericsson have picked up the baton and published one of the most comprehensive [...]
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