Mobile technology is rapidly becoming a ubiquitous part of development efforts for individuals, communities and states, promising new innovations in the fight against poverty. Individuals can increasingly access information directly, making services such as health and education more accessible. Communities can share information more easily, increasing resilience to environment shocks and making markets more efficient. States are able to increase trust through greater transparency and responsiveness to public demand.
Yet much of the attention to mobile and development innovation is technology, not people, focused. This event aims to be different. Experience from development communication practitioners suggests that it is how people use information, and who shares it that really matters. This event will look at the wider picture of how people are using mobile technology in development, and how it is increasingly adding to the mix that communications for development practitioners turn to, as well as becoming a media platform in its own right.
iMedia is pleased to be co-hosting this forthcoming event which is now fully booked! Please contact nicola@imediaassociates.org for details of how to dial in to listen to the presentations.
Event Details
6.30pm, 31 October 2012 at the GSMA, London
This event will bring together a panel of experienced practitioners who are working with innovative uses of mobile technology. Case studies will explore:
- an interactive, dial-in audio news platform designed for mobile users
- ways in which radio stations are using Frontline SMS to increase engagement with listeners
- a newspaper in Mozambique using mobile and social media to stimulate readers’ engagement and increase readership
- how activists are adding mobile to their media mix
- mobile phones as aids to changing health behaviour in India
The event will address questions such as:
- How is mobile technology changing the way people communicate?
- How can policy makers and practitioners ensure that mobile technology is people-driven?
- What works and what doesn’t work in the use of mobile phones as a media platform and in tandem with traditional media?
- How can development policy makers and practitioners best understand and engage with the opportunities that mobile presents?
The event is co-hosted with iMedia Associates Ltd and supported by the GSMA. Panel members will include: Amy O’Donnell – Frontline SMS, Corina Gardner – GSMA M4D, Becky Faith – Tactical Technology Collective, Lu Ecclestone – DFID Governance Adviser, Janet Gunter – Verdade Mozambique, Caroline Sugg –BBC Media Action and Emrys Schoemaker – iMedia Associates.
- Time: 6.30pm for 7pm discussion start, ending at 9.00pm (please note earlier end time).
- Date: Wednesday 31 October 2012
- Venue: GSM Association Head Office, Seventh Floor, 5 New Street Square, New Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 3BF
- Directions: GSMA is near Chancery Lane tube station. Local pubs include The White Swan, Corney and Barrow and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese if people want to carry on discussions following the event.
The C4D Network is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the communication for development sector. We host a peer social network of people working in C4D as well as supporting the sector through training, events, consultancy matching and signposting resources, new learning, case studies and much more. We aim to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experience about communication for development, and to advocate for an increasingly professional approach and acknowledgement of the C4D sector within development practice. C4D Innovation Series events are held on the last Wednesday of each month in London. The aim of the Series is to network the communication for development sector around key themes in innovation. http://www.c4dnetwork.org/
GSMA Mobile for Development brings together our mobile operator members, the wider mobile industry and the development community to drive commercial mobile services for underserved people in emerging markets. We identify opportunities for social, economic and environmental impact and stimulate the development of scalable, life-enhancing mobile services. Our programmes include Mobile Money for the Unbanked, Green Power for Mobile, Community Power from Mobile, mAgri, mWomen, mHealth, mLearning and Disaster Response. http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment