A new report called Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use, was released today by the United Nations Foundation and The Vodafone Group Foundation.
“Well over 3.5 billion mobile phones are in use around the world and organizations are harnessing this technology to help overcome humanitarian challenges,” said Timothy E. Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation. “Modern telecommunications, and the creative use of it, has the power to change lives and help the UN solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. It can connect families separated by disaster, help emergency relief workers respond more quickly, empower health workers with data to help combat disease and epidemics, track the impacts of climate change, and even help in the resolution of civil conflicts.”
Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use examines emerging trends in “mobile activism” by looking at 11 case studies of groups active in the areas of public health, humanitarian assistance and environmental conservation.
I don’t think we’ve even begun to really exploit mobile technology in the nonprofit sector on a widespread basis. There’s so much potential here but it will basically take another generation of cell phones and nonprofit leadership to exploit properly. Many of the most interesting applications, mobile video and GPS-sensing capabilities as well as data transmission, are dependent on improving battery technology. As soon as that happens, I think we’ll see the knee of the adoption curve.
However, this study is a great survey on what is happening now in the sector, especially overseas. The great thing about this report is that it doesn’t rely on hoary examples of the Philippines bringing down a leader with SMS messages. Hey, I’m Filipino, love that example, but after a few years it’s getting a little long in the tooth. All in all, there are some very good examples that nonprofit leaders should consider.
Another cool part is that my officemate, Katrin Verclas of mobileactive.org is one of the authors of the report. Katrin, why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?
The only real disappointing portion of the report is that it was presented in PDF (nice banner though). That’s too bad, it would have been nice if it had been formatted in HTML for both mobile phones and computer screens. A simple CSS style sheet could have taken care of it. In fact, that’s how nonprofittechblog.org works. You can check us out on your cell phone and find that the site has been reformatted for mobile phone viewing pleasure. Surely, if this little ol’ blog could do it, the UN Foundation could do it too!
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Thanks for the pointer Allan.
No problem, Beth!
Hey, Allen — if I’d ever see you, would have told you
Neither one of us seems to be in a whole lot… and thanks for the write-up! And point well taken on the pdfs. Will relay that to the UN Foundation folks who are still learning this game. Onward!
True — I like to hide out at home. I’ve told the UN Foundation PR person that I handle embargoed press releases so hopefully I can have more lead time to produce a better review.
I’m a true believer in the mobile phone for non-profits causes movement. I’m glad that there are so many new uses. I highly recommend that people check out the survey and mobileactive.org.