Thought Leadership and Innovation
Our Thought Leadership & Innovation program produces studies that give governments, civil society groups and the private sector research and recommendations on how to use technology—especially wireless technology—to effectively address some of the world’s toughest challenges.
PUBLICATIONS
The most recent publication in our series—mHealth for Development: Mobile Communications for Health—outlines the opportunity presented by the growing field of mobile health (mHealth). The 12-page brochure provides a landscape analysis of the rapid adoption of mobile technologies by developing countries to improve health data collection - ultimately precipitating improvements in general health and patient care in some of the most remote and resource-poor regions of the world. The brochure will be followed by a full-length mHealth publication due out in the first quarter of 2009.
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Download the mHealth for Development: Mobile Communications for Health publication |
The second publication in our series—Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use—examines innovative uses of mobile technology by groups working to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. The report identifies emerging trends in "mobile activism" through 11 case studies, and highlights the results of a global survey of NGO usage of mobile technology.
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Download the Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use publication |
In our first publication, the UN Foundation-Vodafone Foundation Partnership collaborated with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and South Africa’s Finmark Trust to examine the role of mobile phones in delivering banking services to the poor. The study aims to improve the ability of governments, NGOs and service providers to give poor people access to banking and other financial services needed to relieve poverty, raise standards of living and create economic development.
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Download Mobile Phone Banking and Low-Income Customers |
STORIES OF IMPACT
Mobile Activism: Make Text, Not War
Area of Involvement: Technology
When waves of political violence swept through Kenya after the December 2007 presidential election, human rights advocates in the country turned to cell phones to help stem the violence.
Rapid Hurricane Response: Haiti
Area of Involvement: Technology
This summer has been a tragic time for Haiti. The country, the poorest in the Western hemisphere, was already suffering from the global food crisis. In August and September 2008, three consecutive hurricanes – Gustav, Hanna and Ike – devastated the island nation.
RESOURCES
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mHealth for Development
Issue Area: Technology
The most recent publication in our series—mHealth for Development: Mobile Communications for Health—outlines the opportunity presented by the burgeoning field of mobile health (mHealth). The publication examines the rapid adoption of mobile technologies by developing countries to improve health data collection - ultimately precipitating improvements in general health and patient care in some of the most remote and resource-poor regions of the world.
-
Mobile Phone Banking & Low-Income Customers
Issue Area: Technology
The UN Foundation-Vodafone Foundation Partnership collaborated with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and South Africa’s Finmark Trust to examine the role of mobile phones in delivering banking services to the poor. The study aims to improve the ability of governments, NGOs, and service providers to give poor people access to banking and other financial services needed to relieve poverty, raise standards of living and create economic development.
