This document discusses how mobile technology is changing everything and its importance for social entrepreneurs and NGOs. It provides an overview of key mobile trends like the rise of smartphones, mobile internet access, and location-based services. Case studies show how mobile is used for healthcare management in South Africa, emergency communication in Kenya, election monitoring in Pakistan, and anti-corruption efforts in India. The document concludes that mobile provides opportunities for NGOs to inform, listen, communicate, fundraise, and pay through a range of uses if they focus on user-friendly solutions, partnerships, assessing impact, and addressing challenges of finding the right use case and scaling projects.

1. How mobile is changing everything
Ismail CHAIB
ismail@tesobe.com

2. Agenda
• Introduction
• Why Mobile is important?
• Trends
• Case studies
• Conclusion
2

3. Who am I?
Background
• Open Bank Project
• Cofounder of SMSBridge
• ESI Graduated
• Social Business enthusiast!
Why am I speaking to you:
• Help social entrepreneurs solve
their challenges via MakeSense
• Involved with mobile
technologies for the past 4 years
3

4. A little bit of (Hi)story…
We are here! 4

5. The current mobile stack
Users
Fullfil needs
Developers
Build software Mobile “apps”
Devices
Manufacturers
Build hardware
5

6. The current mobile stack
Users
Fullfil needs
Developers
Build software Mobile “apps”
Devices
Manufacturers
Build hardware
They are everywhere
and becoming smarter
exponentially
Lots of them tackles
NGOs needs already
How to serve them better?
6

7. Agenda
• Introduction
• Why Mobile is important?
• Trends
• Case studies
• Conclusion
7

8. There’s more mobile phones in the world
than toothbrush!
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
2005 2012
Smartphone
Feature-phone
Smartphones outpaced PC and are growing at an exponential rate 8

9. ~100% mobile penetration in Algeria
Mobile internet growing faster

10. 99%
mobile
penetration
rate
~100% mobile users in Algeria
Algeria is Africa’s #1 mobile connected nation
vs
• 21% internet penetration
• 10% landline penetration
• 3G available “soon”
10

11. Why mobile is important to us?
• Maintaining and
strengthening social and
family networks
• Stay informed
• Organise events
• Keep up with “modernity”
• Social Pressure
Mobile is making us Connected, Excited, Curious and Productive!11

12. Agenda
• Introduction
• Why Mobile is important?
• Trends
• Case studies
• Conclusion
12

13. 4 building block
Voice Text Location Data
• Expensive
• Emergencies
• Creative use
• Cheap
• Ubiquitous
• Maps
• Emerging
• Photo, video…etc
• Emerging
• Will drive growth
13

14. Co-creating interactive maps
Crowdsourcing “events” and putting them on a map 14

15. Mobile payments
MPESA enables payment via dumb-phones15

16. Asking for information
16
Receiving up-to-date
information about crop
prices in real time

17. Verifying codes
mPedigree: checks if
your medicament is
couterfect
17

18. Leveraging cheap hardware
18

19. 19

20. Agenda
• Introduction
• Why Mobile is important?
• Trends
• Case studies
• Conclusion
20

21. Mobile in the NGO sector
Applications of NGO
1. Voice and text messages
2. Photo and video
3. Data collection/ transfer
4. Multimedia messaging
5. Data analysis / mapping
Source: Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in Mobile Use by NGOs
86% NGO employees use mobile technology for their work. 99%
described it as positive and 25% as revolutionary.
Perceived Benefits
• Time saving (95%)
• Quickly mobilize and organize
individuals (91%)
• reaching audiences that were
previously difficult or impossible
to reach (74%)
21

22. Case Study 1: Delivering Patient
HIV/AIDS Care in South Africa
Challenge
• Monitoring HIV/AIDS
patient treatment adherence
Solution
• “Aftercare” programme,
created by Cell-Life NGO
in Cape Town
• SMS-based data collection
of health information
Outcome: “one of the most experienced initiatives combining
mobile phone technologies and AIDS management.”
22

23. Case Study 2: Facilitating Communication in
Emergency Situations in Kenya
Challenge
• Providing Real-Time Information in
Times of Crisis
Solution
• Text messaging ‘nerve center.’
• Real-time information about actual and
planned attacks between rival ethnic
and political groups.
• The texts are sent to local peace committees for response
Outcome
• Averting several attacks in Eldoret and elsewhere
Example: “We have
been alerted that it is
not safe tonight, in
Bamburi, Utange, home
area. We a
asking 4 security here
please.”
23

24. Case Study 3: Monitoring Elections in
Pakistan
24

25. Case Study 4: Uncovering the price of
Corruption in India
25

26. Agenda
• Introduction
• Why Mobile is important?
• Trends
• Case studies
• Conclusion
26

27. A range of uses for NGOs
• Inform
• Listen
• Pay
Communicate
Fundraising
27

28. Your mobile Toolbox
28

29. Lessons learned
• Don’t reinvent the wheel
• User-friendly - Easy to use wins
• SMS remains predominant
• Free-ish
• Inclusive. Community-based
• Private-Public partnerships
29

30. Challenges
Find the right use case
Right people / skills
Community of users
Assessing impact
Funding
Scaling the project
Prayer is plan B ;-) 30

31. The mobile stack (2.0)
Connected “apps”
YOU ?
Build the use case
Devices
Story
Users
Fullfil needs
Developers
Build software
Manufacturers
Build hardware
31

32. 32
Supercat

33. Thanks.
Ismail CHAIB
ismail@tesobe.com