Mobile Disconnect: Can Mobile Solutions Really Combat Global Poverty?
Event
Presented in partnership by the New America Foundation's Global Assets Project and Open Technology Initiative
Mobile connectivity is the critical infrastructure of the information age and, as the Arab Spring has exemplified, a solid foundation for a more empowered, connected, and inclusive society. Nearly 6 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions exist worldwide, and mobile penetration has reached 87 percent globally, according to the International Telecommunications Union.
However, mobile growth alone does not automatically translate into social or political progress, and behind the mobile hype is a human and technological reality that is rarely addressed. The case of mobile money and the oft-glamorized example of Kenya’s M-PESA provides a cautionary exemplar of both the potential and the limitations of mobile solutions. At root, we must ask one central question concerning mobile solutions to the growing ICT4D field, one that we ignore at our own peril: what does it really take to combat global poverty?
The panelists discussed the potential offered by mobile connectivity as well as its limitations.
Co-hosted by Global Assets Project Director Jamie Zimmerman and Open Technology Initiative Director Sascha Meinrath
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Participants