VeSeL: Village e-Science for Life Blog

Mobile phones now easily outnumber fixed lines in many developing countries, spurring telecom providers to roll out mobile services tailored to these customers. One of the most striking examples is mobile banking in Africa, particularly after the success of mobile payment services like M-Pesa in Kenya, a country counting some 15 million handsets today compared with only 15,000 ten years ago. more

Labels: development, device, ict4d, kenya, mobilephone, technology Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 8/27/2009 12:09:00 PM 0 comments

held in Maputo, Mozambique on 1-2 April 2009. This workshop was organized by the W3C Mobile Web for Social Development Interest Group, part of the EU FP7 project Digital World Forum. During the two day event, the 70+ participants held discussions regarding the potential of mobile technologies in the development sector. The key outcomes that are expanded in this document can be summarized here

Labels: conferences, development, events, handheld, ict, ict4d, mobilephone, research4development, technology, web, wireless Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 7/25/2009 12:33:00 PM 0 comments

Two Kenyan university students invent a device that allows bicycle riders to charge their mobile phones. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/8166196.stm

Labels: device, energy, kenya, mobilephone, power, technology, toolkit Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 7/25/2009 09:44:00 AM 0 comments

Kenya has abolished sales tax on computers and in last week’s budget ended the sales tax on new mobile phones. more

Labels: development, government, ict, kenya, mobilephone, technology Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 6/22/2009 02:01:00 PM 0 comments

I just launched a project called Mobile Movement, a microfinancing website that connects young entrepreneurs in the slums of Nairobi with the rest of the world using mobile technology.

We just launched and would love to get loads of people to log on. The youth in Nairobi are standing by their phones, and answer any and all questions! We also have a Facebook application if anyone is interested.

Mobile Movement is a partnership with a UN agency (UN-HABITAT) and is a winner of the Digital Media and Learning Competition at the MacArthur Foundation.

Cheers,
Leba Haber (ITP)

Labels: development, finance, handheld, ict4d, kenya, mobilephone, social_change, technology Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 6/18/2009 02:55:00 PM 0 comments

NAIROBI, Apr 10 (IPS) - Mobile phones are being used to diagnose and treat crop diseases that cause massive losses to farmers, presenting an opportunity to increase yields as location-specific information about disease threats is made available. more

Labels: agriculture, development, handheld, ict4d, kenya, mobilephone, SMS, technology Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 5/06/2009 03:33:00 PM 1 comments

EpiSurveyor is a free, open source tool enabling anyone to very easily create a handheld data entry form, collect data on a mobile device, and then transfer the data back to a desktop or laptop for analysis -- without expensive consultants.

Labels: device, handheld, ict, ict4d, mobilephone, technology, toolkit, wireless Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 4/07/2009 03:53:00 PM 0 comments

In Kenya, about 70 per cent of the handsets come from Chungking Mansions. Mathews leans across the table to check the figure with a rangy Kenyan in his mid-20s sitting down to a curry. "It's more," says the trader. "In Kenya, it's more like 80 per cent of phones come through Chungking Mansions." more

Labels: kenya, market, mobilephone Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 3/07/2009 02:20:00 PM 0 comments

In recent years the mobile phone has emerged as the main modern communications link for rural areas of Africa. From 2002 to 2007, the number of Kenyans using cellphones grew almost tenfold to reach about a third of the population... more

Labels: agriculture, development, device, google, ict, kenya, mobilephone, technology Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 2/03/2009 02:42:00 PM 1 comments

The latest technology is enabling villagers to bypass middlemen and find out the prices their crops will command. more

Labels: agriculture, development, device, handheld, ict4d, information, mobilephone, technology Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 1/04/2009 10:58:00 AM 0 comments

Article about Dabba, which uses re-programmed wifi hubs, cheap wifi handsets, and pay-as-you-go cards.

Labels: device, ict4d, mobilephone, skype, technology, wireless Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 12/09/2008 01:23:00 PM 0 comments

Vodafone Group Plc, the world's largest mobile phone group by revenue, launched a mobile money transfer pilot scheme between Britain and Kenya, aiming to increase its role in the growing industry and potentially boost customer loyalty.

more

Labels: development, finance, handheld, kenya, mobilephone Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 12/09/2008 11:43:00 AM 0 comments

Kenya’s third mobile operator, Econet Wireless Kenya is preparing to make its test run later this month as it seeks to beat the November deadline to launch its service. more

Labels: kenya, mobilephone Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 9/12/2008 07:48:00 AM 0 comments

Goes both ways: In London you can receive air quality info by SMS. Or sensors embedded in mobiles can detect and send radiation or pollen levels. "Grassroots citizen science" work by Eric Paulos in Ghana attached sensors to taxi drivers' phones in Ghana to measure pollution levels. Details here.

See also Urban sensing: Out of the woods: "Services such as Google Earth have driven to nearly zero the cost of this visualization measured in terms of dollars, time-to-deploy, and technical sophistication required." (See an example of the scientific use of Google Earth here.)

Labels: climate, device, handheld, map, mobilephone, participatory, sensors, technology Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 5/25/2008 10:10:00 AM 1 comments

A research team at UC Berkeley is developing a technology that will enable anyone, anywhere in the world, to diagnose malaria with just a cell phone and a special microscope. more

Labels: device, mobilephone, sensors Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 5/17/2008 07:32:00 PM 1 comments

Stockholm (SE), July 2007 - Ericsson announced at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva (05-06 July) that it is collaborating with Stanford University to explore the innovative use of mobile technologies in distance eLearning. Ericsson will work with Stanford University's International Outreach Program to bring distance learning to countries in Africa.

The program offers students on different continents the opportunity to learn from researchers in environmental sciences from several countries and perspectives, as well as contribute to lively discourse and debate through Internet and mobile phone interaction.

Labels: development, e-learning, education, handheld, ict, ict4d, mobilephone, research4development, technology Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 4/27/2008 03:26:00 PM 1 comments

"EpiSurveyor is a free, open source tool enabling anyone to very easily create a handheld data entry form, collect data on a mobile device, and then transfer the data back to a desktop or laptop for analysis -- without expensive consultants, software subscriptions, or long-term contracts.

Coming soon: EpiSurveyor running on Windows Mobile, Symbian phones (and other Java-enabled devices)."

Labels: mobilephone Links to this post

Posted by x at 2/20/2008 10:17:00 AM 0 comments

Some options for sending money direct to a phone in Kenya available at:

Labels: mobilephone Links to this post

Posted by x at 1/18/2008 10:44:00 PM 0 comments

Mobile Planet provided up-to-the-minute results by text message.

Labels: government, kenya, mobilephone, SMS, social_change Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 1/01/2008 09:09:00 PM 0 comments

Mobile phone maker, Nokia, Monday announced the opening of four care service centres in Nairobi to offer after-sales support to its customers. more

Labels: kenya, mobilephone Links to this post

Posted by Kevin Walker at 12/12/2007 09:36:00 PM 0 comments