Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in Mobile Use by NGOs

Published by The Vodafone Group Foundation and the United Nations (UN) Foundation Partnership, this report on mobile technology 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. It includes research results of a survey of mobile technology use by non-governmental organisations (NGO) with statistics on both how they use mobile applications and their perceived benefits.


As stated by the author, Katrin Verclas: "The report... highlights the results of a global web-based survey of [non-governmental organisation] NGO mobile technology use... reaching a geographically and thematically diverse group of NGOs: Idealist.org, InterAction, International Youth Foundation, MobileActive.org, New Tactics in Human Rights, OneWorld, SANGONeT, and ShareIdeas. The global survey found that 86% of ...NGO employees use mobile technology in their work, and 25% believe it has revolutionized the way their organization or project works. While the most common uses of mobile technology by NGO workers are voice calls (90%) and text messaging (83%), more sophisticated uses, such as mapping (10%), data analysis (8%) and inventory management (8%) also were reported." Efficiency appeared to be the greatest benefit cited in the survey, including time saving, ability to mobilise individuals, reaching audiences previously difficult to access, ability to gather data more rapidly and accurately, and more accurate data transmission. More than 75 percent of the NGOs indicated the desire to increase their use of mobile technology.

The report recognises the potential to scale up innovative and entrepreneurial projects, which, it suggests, are often small scale pilot projects. It cites creative partnerships, both public-private partnerships and government-NGO partnerships, as a key to project success. For example, SexInfo, a text message-based health information service for youth, is made possible through collaboration between the San Francisco Department of Public Health and a local non-profit.


The report points out that information sharing and technical exchange, particularly among smaller organisations, could reduce the amount of time it takes to launch a solution and reduce the associated costs. It recommends that more be done to move the knowledge gained across organisational boundaries to overcome ‘innovation silos’. For example, a health data collection project in Zaire gathering measles data using hand-held computers heard of a Kenyan project to vaccinate for polio and record vaccination data of two million Somalian refugee children. They were able to downloaded the outbreak investigation form of the Kenyan team from the project website, and put it into use in Zaire with minor modifications. The report found, however, where data collection is the project enhanced by mobile technology, there is an increased need to create back-end systems capable of aggregating and analysing a wealth of new data.


The report states that though mobile initiatives provide opportunities
for social impact that other information and communications technology (ICT) projects do not necessarily share, the solid impact assessments that evaluate whether an empirical link exists between a technology solution and the achievement of a social or international development goal are rare. According to the report, investment in impact assessment that can link technology usage, its results, and lessons learned is needed for achieving the objective of knowledge sharing. Verclas describes the social impact of two projects exemplifying the advantages of physical access and high penetration of mobile technology: "Among the programs highlighted are two conflict prevention projects, both active in Kenya. Oxfam-Great Britain and the Kenyan umbrella group PeaceNet created a text messaging ‘nerve center’ that collected alerts about violent outbreaks during the recent civil unrest and mobilized local ‘peace committees.’ The project served as a vital tool for conflict management and prevention by providing a hub for real-time information about actual and planned attacks between rival ethnic and political groups. The GSM Association, together with a handful of non-profit and private sector groups in Kenya, developed another conflict prevention project that allows farmers to preserve their crops while protecting wildlife. The program monitors instances when elephants approach farmed land, and provides an early warning system via mobile that is reducing the incidence of human-elephant conflict in an area where as many as five humans and 10 elephants are killed each year."


In the field of disaster relief, the report cites a number of cases where text messaging was used to advantage, including distribution of food aid to Iraqi refugees in Syria and several instances in natural disasters - first responder usage, fund raising for victims, connecting survivors, and coordinating services. Early warning text messaging systems are being considered in a number of countries. The report recognises a need for government coordination with telecommunication carriers to establish ICT policies and regulatory frameworks that are consistent and predictable and foster an environment for innovation, and also to develop disaster preparedness communication protocols and infrastructure.