TxtEagle Global

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Txteagle, founded by MIT researcher Nathan Eagle, is a platform that pays people in the developing world small amounts for completing simple tasks by SMS, such as translating words into local languages for companies like Nokia to use in software localisation. In a BBC report, a resident of the Kenyan village of Kilifi is shown receiving a word to translate into the local language Giriama by text, with the platform cross-checking multiple responses to arrive at a reliable translation before returning it to the client; workers are paid via the M-PESA mobile money service. Dr Eagle argued the model could let people in rural villages supplement their income within a 160-character SMS limit, tapping into a global outsourcing industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars, while hoping eventually to support larger-scale tasks.