Former ICT4D Student Blogs about Cell Phones in Africa

As part of her internship with Food Tank, former IDEV4100:ICT4D (Fall 2011 semester) student Suzannah Schneider authored this blog entitled “Five Ways Cell Phones are Changing Agriculture In Africa.” The post lists some familiar ideas, such as using mobile phones to access market prices and weather information, as well as receive useful information via SMS messages. However, it also mentions some more specific and innovative ideas such as iCow and micro-insurance. Based on your experiences in our class, what are your thoughts on these 5 applications of mobiles for agricultural development?

More information about Food Tank can be found in this video: “The Food Think Tank Trailer“

The Links Between Agriculture, Advice, Radio, and SMS

An installment from the National Geographic series Digital Diversity that shows how “mobile phones are being used throughout the world to improve, enrich, and empower billions of lives” greatly coincides with the report by Farm Radio International, “The new age of radio: how ICTs are changing rural radio in Africa”. Both the report and the article state that radio is extremely important for agriculture and increases awareness  productivity  and knowledge. The article stated an interesting point that having other farmers speak on the radio creates a sense of community as well a larger impact. Rural farmers are more apt to take advice from people they can relate to and trust (like a fellow farmer) than a radio producer or radio host. The FRI report stated that there were some concerns about the availability of the shows since they are not always accesible, but the article states there is a higher chance of the farmers listening if they air them at night when they are relaxing in their homes.

The “two way” versus “one way” communication was also mentioned in the FRI report, letters being the only option for farmers to contact the hosts or programs, though the article shows that many are utilizing their mobile phones and texting in questions and comments (around 20 texts a week per program). The FRI report states that there are more listeners when the program sends out text alerts around 30 minutes before hand. Both these usages of SMS are beneficial, quick, and painless. The benefits of radio are not only seen in agriculture, many could be seen seen in other sectors such as health. For instance, how farmers find out how to prevent or treat poultry disease can be transferred for human diseases and treatments. Overal the widespread penetration, accessibility, and affordability of radios’ make them great for less developed nations and should be utilized more often.

Neustar Pushes Government SMS Use for Disaster Management

Neustar, a provider of real-time information and analytics for the Internet, telecommunications, entertainment, and marketing industries, published mGovernment: How Government Agencies Can Use SMS , a paper on the benefits of SMS for governments to communicate with their citizens. They argue the availability of SMS is a key component of its value. Citizens do not need expensive data plans or smart phones to communicate. Additionally, because mobile phones have taken the place of land-lines, mobiles are an incredible tool to use as a means to provide information. The final argument Neustar makes is “since most consumers have their mobile phone within reach and keep the device always on, government agencies can make public information and government services accessible to the population anytime and anywhere”.

A crucial component for governments to use SMS is for disaster management. Neustar provides case studies of disaster management implementation through SMS. The paper mentions Oman, a country that is mostly desert, and ways they use SMS for disaster management. Oman sends out texts to citizens when it is raining heavily via The National Committee for Civil Defense. An example of a text is the following:

“’Despite the low precipitation yesterday, some casualties were recorded due to some people’s venturing through wadis. We exhort you to be extremely cautious. NCCD.’”

The idea of disaster management is different from disaster relief, however the use of ICTs is one in the same. Spreading knowledge, whether that be pre or post disaster is important. Allowing citizens to understand conditions of disasters prior to their occurrence can help prevent relevant dangers to citizens. Oman is just one of many countries using SMS for disaster management. It is evident this concept is universal and should be implemented across the globe.

Shrinking the Digital Divide to Improve Health

An article titled “Health education and the digital divide: building bridges and filling chasms” argues that “lack of access to information technology can have profound negative implications for one’s economic, social and physical health and well-being,” and I agree with this point. They believe that ICTs have the capability to improve health outcomes for the world because ICTs allow people to access health information. Today, many people in the world get their health information from ICTs: they seek out information on the internet, or are sent health information by organizations/ services they subscribe to via email or SMS messaging. People often use this information that they find online to make educated decisions about their health care. The ideas presented in this article are consistent with what I have learned in my Public Health and International Development classes at Tulane.

This article opens up a conversation about how beneficial ICTs, especially access to the internet, could be for developing countries. Since many citizens of developing countries often do not have the resources to visit a doctor whenever they want to, it would be extraordinarily helpful for them to be able to receive or search for health information online to determine whether the symptoms they are experiencing are worrisome or not, so they can decide whether to access health services or not. Working to extend the internet and mobiles to under-served communities will give the poor an opportunity to improve their health. Failure to address the digital divide and get ICTs to the citizens in developing countries and under-served in developed countries will widen health disparities between the developed and developing world.

Although internet access for all is the desired goal to shrink the digital divide and improve health according to the article above, many organizations and countries are taking steps in the right direction by starting initiatives to provide health information to under-served communities via SMS text messaging on mobile phones. This idea has proved to be a great alternative for communities that have no access to the internet. For example, the World Health Organization came up with the “M-check project” which is a system designed to decrease maternal and infant mortality in developing countries. Essentially, when a pregnant woman accesses a health center her phone is registered with the “M-check project” and she is sent SMS messages containing ‘safety checklists’. These checklists include danger signs for mothers look out for in themselves and their infants in the week or two after delivery. The system also sends daily reminders to the mothers to check their safety lists. There is also a feature that allows women to call the ‘M-check’ info system, where they are connected with help to work through any questions or concerns that they have, and they can also be connected to an ambulance and taken to a local health service if necessary. This system is using ICTs to change the way that mothers are able to promote and protect their health. This project is contributing to the closure of the digital divide and health disparities by allowing people in need to access health information via ICTs. Clearly, even relatively simple ICTs can improve health outcomes for the developing world.

Cloud Computing in ICT4D: Vietnam

         In class this week, we discussed cloud computing as one of the top emerging trends in Information and Communication Technology today. Broadly, Cloud Technology is using computer resources that are delivered over a network, without needing the necessary hardware or software making it a great option in developing countries. I was interested in looking at how this was specifically applied in developing countries and came across this blog describing a pilot project in Vietnam. This project was developed to help sugar cane farmers communicate with factories about deliveries and payment. Due to the sensitivity of time between the time the sugarcane is harvested and when it is received at the factory, it is crucial for farmers to communicate with the factory to discuss pick up times and amount of cane needed. Previously, farmers were attempting to call the factories and had trouble with their calls going through or not getting the information in a timely manner. Cloud computing allows the farmers to receive a response in 1-2 minutes. By beginning their texts with a keyword such as NATL, the SMS messages are routed appropriately and can be responded to with the requested information. The diagram below details the exact mechanism of the message response and delivery.

          Fred Chong, the author of the blog and one of the main computers on the project identifies SMS messaging as being critical to the success of a project like this in developing areas due to the remaining spottiness of service making phone calls difficult, low costs of sending SMS, the large availability of cellular network infrastructure in rural areas, long mobile battery life as opposed to computers, and suitability for rugged, roaming lifestyles of farmers. This program has led to higher quality sugar cane and greater profits for these Vietnamese Farmers. Chong looks forward to a bright future in this work and calls it “one of the most fulfilled computing project I’ve ever done”. Check out the video in the blog for more information and to hear from the farmers themselves!

 

Txteagle: Incentivizing Participation in Disaster-Preparedness Surveys

Txteagle is an interactive data collection platform that is incredibly innovative in its techniques.  They received funding to set up an application for nurses in rural Kenya to text in blood supply levels at local hospitals.  At first, the application was very successful, but within a few weeks, participation declined to close to nothing.  To counteract the decrease in engagement, Nathan Eagle, the program’s founder, created an incentive system.  Safaricom, the local Kenyan mobile operator, gave Eagle access to their mobile billing system.  This allowed him to reward participation in his application with minutes of mobile airtime.   So, for each text they sent containing data about blood supply levels at local hospitals, nurses received one minute of airtime.  This incredibly simple incentive system was wildly successful—almost immediately, all of the nurses began participating again!

This incentive program is applicable to a plethora of other data collection applications.  Eagle eventually integrated his system with Safaricom’s partners, so that 220 mobile operators worldwide were able to use his billing and compensation platform.  To put this in perspective, Safaricom and its many partners have access to 2.1 billion active numbers in 80 different countries.  Consumers need only to complete an opt-in process to begin sending information in exchange for mobile minutes.

More recently, Txteagle has begun working with the Global Network of Civil Society Organizations for Disaster Reduction.  This network, consisting of 300 nonprofit organizations worldwide, focuses on increasing the resilience of affected people to disasters along with minimizing the impact of the disasters themselves.  Txteagle’s platform is used to send survey questions to vulnerable communities in order to improve disaster preparedness.  To initiate communication, a “blanket SMS” invitation is sent out to a community; if a person opts-in, he or she is given the option to complete a survey via SMS text or online – either way, airtime compensation is still received.

I think that this is an awesome idea.  By incentivizing inputs, Txteagle is ensuring a much greater level of participation, thus enabling its partners to more effectively give aid to those in need.  Txteagle also works with the operators to provide incentives for them as well.  Because both the operators and the end users are being compensated for their participation, this program has a great chance of long-term sustainability.  It can be applied to so many aspects of development beyond just disaster relief, so future growth seems inevitable.

Source: http://realitymining.com/pdfs/hcii_txteagle.pdf

Automated Texting Services for Low-Resource Languages

Following our class period with Robert Munro, I found myself browsing through his Twitter and found an article describing his PhD topic in an August 9th Tweet. Within the article, he elaborates on some of the concepts discussed in class; as he explains, so many of the 5,000+ languages of the world are being written for the first time ever with the proliferation of mobile telephony, but the technology to process these languages cannot keep up. Compounding the problem, these phone users are of varied literacy levels, making for spelling inconsistencies among users. However, he concludes that automated information systems can pull out words that are least likely to vary in spelling (ie people, places, organizations) and examine subword variation by identifying affixes within words as well as accounting for phonological or orthographic variation (ie recognize vs. recognise). The article goes on to provide more technical prescriptions for automated text response services, and he even links to another article in a separate Tweet, which describes Powerset, a natural language search system that ultimately failed, but utilized a few valuable processes.

Ultimately, Dr. Munro implies that the capacity for automated text services in “low-resource languages” is well within reach, particularly because the messages are generally just one to two sentences. Because spelling variations are predictable, they can be modeled, and hopefully reliably answered by automated systems. However, the use of these systems will not be realized until they become more reliable and efficient than human responders, which, as he explained in class, can be extremely effective.

Truth in Disaster: “I can’t live without my cell phone”

        Cell phone use has become increasingly important in disasters to warn, react and recover. Phones, both fixed and mobile, allow messages to be delivered quickly and play an integral role in warning before a natural disaster. Mobile phones, specifically, have the capability to send Short Message Services (SMS), which can send data even when phone lines are congested and can quickly be sent to large groups of people. This choice of mobile technology for disaster preparation and response has been tested with the recent earthquake in Haiti when mobile phones helped coordinate humanitarian aid effort, find lost family members and stay up to date with news and conditions.

           This article from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti details exactly how cell phones and radios saved lives post disaster. Thomson Reuters Foundation’s AlertNet humanitarian news service provided residents with the first-ever Emergency Information Service that offered free, practical SMS messages. This service allowed Haitians to:

•          Direct injured residents to open hospitals
•           Help search and rescue teams coordinate response
•           Information alerts through SMS (publicized through radio)
•           Information to reduce disease risk, find missing persons and protect vulnerable populations

       One of the reasons that this ICT was so effective was the ability to get the SMS networks back up and running within almost a day of the earth quake. Free re-charging was also offered at local mobile carriers.

This experience of cell phones in Haiti prompted FEMA to issue a blog about using cell phones in an emergency here in the United States. FEMA advises citizens to:

•         Store useful phone numbers (family and emergency)
•           Utilize twitter through SMS without needing an account
•           Bookmark useful mobile sites
•           Backup your battery

Stay safe, stay charged, stay connected!

Facebook Reads Your Text Messages?

According to one pay-walled report by The Sunday London Times Facebook is one of many smartphone apps that can access personal information on your phone, including text messages [1]. The company has admitted to the fact and stated they want to collect this information to help them trial their own messaging service [2].One representative of Facebook stated, “The permission is clearly disclosed on the app page in the Android marketplace and is in anticipation of new features that enable users to integrate Facebook features with their texts” [3]. As if we don’t get enough exposure to Facebook as it is.

After this information was initially released there was a huge clamor over the Internet relating to this issue. Facebook went on to deny ever using this feature even though it is in your contract agreement [4]. The purpose of this permission is for the launching on another app that wants to connect Facebook with your SMS. One representative said, “The Sunday Times has done some creative conspiracy theorizing but the suggestion that we’re secretly reading people’s text is ridiculous.” Apple has also stated they will mend this by requiring explicit consent before accessing the data [5].

Many other companies were accused of using their apps to access your personal data, including Flickr and Yahoo Messenger (table follows). Some can even INTERCEPT PHONE CALLS according to the report, and most frightening of all YouTube and others can take photographs and videos by remotely accessing your smartphone [2].

Due to the fact that many of these products are free they “pay” for your use by accessing your information.

---

[1] Imran, Awais. “Facebook Is Reading Text Messages From SmartPhone Using Native Mobile Apps.” Redmond Pie. 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Haslam, Oliver. Link here.

[2] “Facebook Spies On Phone Users’ Text Messages, Report Says.” Fox News. 26 Feb. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Link here.

[3]  Ibid

[4] Haslam, Oliver. “Facebook Denies Reading Users Text Messages.” Redmond Pie. 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Link here.

[5] Whittaker, Zack. “Facebook, Flickr, Others Accused of Reading Text Messages.” ZDNet. 26 Feb. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. Link here. 

 

Table from Citation 5.

Crowdsourcing the Gulf oil Spill

In order to track the effects of the Gulf oil spill, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade has launched a Ushahidi supported database. Combining text messages, calls, and e-mails into a visually mapped and searchable source of information allows help to be directed to areas of urgent need. PBS’s Sam Weber interviews Anne Rolfes, who founded the Bucket Brigade, about this project.

Rolfes actually learned about Ushahidi in a class attended at Tulane University! This tool filled her already felt need for a tool to place text messaged information on a map.  The decision to transition to using Ushahidi was swift (done in under a week) and successful (in the interest point of view.) One setback of Ushahidi in this situation is in the reliability of data. Rolfes says that verification is extremely important in making sure that the data is accurate and truthful.

In the specific case of the Gulf Oil Spill, the livelihoods of people who live along the Louisiana coast are the most apparently affected. Alabama and Pensacola fishermen are banned from their careers, often ones that have been passed down through generations. These effects can be reported, while most of the environmental damage that is out further in the gulf cannot be reported.

Rolfes hopes that this project will give people a voice, encourage regular people to share their story, and increase the availability of information about this catastrophe. “It enables that voice to merge with the thousands of other commercial fishermen who are out of work.” Not only are these stories shared and allow these people to connect with others, but it also demonstrates the magnitude of the catastrophe. Rolfes hopes that by the end thousands of stories will be compiled and this project will become a stable source of information for first response teams such as Health and Human Services, the Coast Guard, or Wildlife and Fisheries.

When asked about other applications of Ushahidi in other situations within America, Rolfes says that she can think of 10 other applications off the top of her head in New Orleans alone.

“Think about the complaints over corruption. Imagine if we had an Ushahidi map of New Orleans’ City Hall and residents were able to text in when they had problems with a permit or got the run around getting a particular kind of contract. The [possibilities] are endless. We are extremely proud to have what we believe is the very first use [of Ushahidi] in the U.S. for humanitarian purposes.”

When related to the checklist for planning strategic use of ICTs, this open source of data assists with several criteria. Texts from people who are affected by disasters is a direct supply of information about the context in that area. Problems are reported from the perspective of those in need. By posting information in casual text messages or emails, the content is provided in an easy to read and understand format. This provides additional insight on how to formulate solutions or strategies for problems. Ongoing updates will also aid the monitoring and evaluation of implemented strategies.  Finally, since all of this information is open to public access, other people dealing with disasters that are similar will be able to learn from previous experiences and mistakes.