Over the past four years FrontlineSMS has taught us a lot, and I write about it frequently (see my recent misconceptions and observations posts). One of the biggest – and most underestimated – challenges is outreach. If you’re building a tool for grassroots NGOs, particularly those working on the margins, promoting social mobile tools to … Continue reading Taking on the grassroots challenge
Month: July 2009
Update: Domestic violence – An SMS SOS
This update is the twelfth in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts. Here, Anthony Papillion – Founder of OpenEMR HQ – shares the latest news on its use in his Oklahoma home town, where the software is helping provide relief to women suffering domestic violence “In late May of this year, I assisted a local … Continue reading Update: Domestic violence – An SMS SOS
SMS registration for Maker Faire Africa
Attendees of next month’s Maker Faire Africa will be able to register their attendance by text message, thanks to a clever hack by Henry Barnor and Henry Addo, two Ghanaian developers. In the true spirit of Maker Faire, the two Henry’s have built the system using a phone with a Zain SIM card connected to … Continue reading SMS registration for Maker Faire Africa
Development best practice for beginners. #4
Find more in the best practice series here
Poverty: The elephant in the room
A recent tweet by good friend Juliana Rotich on street/graffiti artist Banksy reminded me of another image he put together a couple of years ago. On display in Los Angeles for a limited time as part of an exhibition on global poverty and injustice, this was an incredible piece of “live art” which made it … Continue reading Poverty: The elephant in the room
The Million Dollar Homepage
Some of the best ideas are so incredibly simple that, after-the-event, we’re all left wondering why we never came up with them. When I first heard of The Million Dollar Homepage back in October 2005, that’s precisely how I felt (like millions of others, no doubt). Alex Tew was a student trying to figure out … Continue reading The Million Dollar Homepage
Searching where Google can’t
“We read a lot about the delivery, and popularity, of SMS services such as market prices, health advice and job alerts in developing countries, information there is clearly a need for. Only last week Grameen’s AppLab initiative, in conjunction with Google and MTN, launched a suite of SMS services in Uganda. These are the services … Continue reading Searching where Google can’t
On a mission to aid farmers in Latin America
This is the eleventh in our series of FrontlineSMS guest posts. Here, Jorge Alonso – a veterinarian turned ICT4D practitioner – discusses his thoughts on the application of the software in agriculture in Latin America “I am a veterinarian by qualification but, as often happens in life, ended up working with information and communication technologies… … Continue reading On a mission to aid farmers in Latin America
Mapping medicine availability via SMS
Medicine stock-outs are a potentially lethal problem in a number of African countries, yet governments insist they don’t occur. What could be more powerful than a map which contradicts this claim? Last week activists in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Zambia started surveying clinics in their respective countries, checking stock levels of essential medicines, including: First-line … Continue reading Mapping medicine availability via SMS