Although the majority of my more recent work has sat in the ‘global development’ bucket, much of my early interest lay in conservation. Before I stumbled into the world of mobiles-for-development (m4d) I was helping with biodiversity surveys in Uganda and running primate sanctuaries in Nigeria, and focusing my academic studies on the role of … Continue reading What technology-for-conservation might learn from technology-for-development
Tag: m4d
The “Tweet. Recycle. Repeat” of ICT4D
During a rare, quiet, bored few minutes last week I looked through a few early blog posts from some of the longer standing members of the ICT4D community. Between around 2012 and now, many of the same statements, proclamations and questions have come up time and time and time again. The same tweets with the … Continue reading The “Tweet. Recycle. Repeat” of ICT4D
m4d: The fun is over. Time to get tough?
I’m all for discussion and debate, and I’ve taken part in my fair share over the past eleven years. But I’m now beginning to wonder if, after all this time, everything we could have said has been said. The fact we’re still talking about the same handful of challenges and issues implies that very little, … Continue reading m4d: The fun is over. Time to get tough?
Spreading the “Mobile Message”
Over the past year or so, it’s become increasingly clear to us that we need to take the “mobile message” out of its technology silo and make it more available – and accessible – to a wider audience. This was the thinking behind our regular series on PC World, and is the thinking behind a … Continue reading Spreading the “Mobile Message”
Wrong model. Wrong place.
If conventional wisdom were anything to go by, this is what might typically happen to a social entrepreneur with an idea: Said entrepreneur comes up with an idea. Entrepreneur puts together a sample budget and an early-stage business model. Funding is sought for a pilot or prototype. Said pilot runs and impact/results are measured. If … Continue reading Wrong model. Wrong place.
Mobile community: The holy grail of m4d?
Last week I wrote a post on the difficulties of running a “mobile for development” – or m4d – project. I tried to make it challenging, and was hoping to stir up some discussion around the merits of mobile-initiated development projects versus development-initiated mobile projects. You can read that post here. Unless you’re one of … Continue reading Mobile community: The holy grail of m4d?
Dissecting “m4d”: Back to basics
Do the majority of people working in “mobiles for development” work in mobile, or development? It may seem like an odd question, but how people approach “m4d” may have more of an impact on success or failure than we think. The world of social mobile isn’t short of anecdotes. “Put the user first”, “Consider the … Continue reading Dissecting “m4d”: Back to basics