Reflections on {MobileActive} 2008 and the {M4D} landscape

Abstract

(Special agreement: Deadline 14 November.)This paper revisits presentations at the MobileActive08 conference inJohannesburg as a starting point for critically examining the currentdiversity of mobiles for development (M4D) projects and approaches. Wefirst distinguish between mobile technologies in general (voice, SMS,mobile applications, etc) and the subset of M4D projects which areconducted with explicit social or economic development goals (GrameenFoundation, for example). We continue by identifying four common choicesfacing individual M4D projects (intended users, technical accessibility,informational links, and market links) which collectively mark the currentlandscape of M4D.Discussions of M4D projects have tended to be delineated bytraditional development domain (health, education, agriculture, etc). Byfocusing on choices that cut across domains, our approach highlightselements which vary across M4D projects, but which to date have not beenobserved to be correlated with project successes. We discuss these fourchoices in light of the broader course of development of the ICTD field,particularly the first wave of internet and PC applications appearing inthe last 10 years. Further, we argue that these choices made at the projectlevel have the capability to create different M4D landscapes, withimplications for the breadth and depth of the technology’s impact ondevelopment, and on the relative degree of concentration of efforts andactors involved.