AudiencScapes

Poor people have surprisingly complicated financial lives
given how little money they have. 
You would, too, if your “$1 a day” income actually came in the form of
$60 on one day, and no dollars for the next two months. The poor understand their critical need to both budget and save money.

The consensus seemed to be that mobile services are the way forward for
Africa. However, once the low-hanging fruit among potential users has
been plucked, so to speak, reaching the poorest and most remote segments
of the population will require additional effort.

Health
eVillages seeks to provide healthcare professionals working in challenging clinical
environments with medical decision making, clinical diagnosis and training
tools in easy-to-use mobile devices.

Josh Nesbit was doing HIV research at a clinic in Malawi in 2007 when he realized that new mobile infrastructure available there could be harnessed to bridge gaps and coordinate health care services. And so, Medic Mobile was launched in 2009- it develops technologies such as easy-to-use medical record systems and SIM card applications to help health workers communicate and coordinate patient care, and provide diagnostics using low-cost mobile technology. AudienceScapes Fellow Paromita Pain talks to Nesbit about how better information and communication access can help us live healthier and longer lives.

The World Bank's CGAP Technology Blog recently posted an article about
InterMedia's AudienceScapes' Haiti Mobile Money Tracker.  A tool created to
examine a series of household surveys, commissioned by the Gates Foundation in
2010, that helped monitor the impact of USAID and the Gates Foundation's Haiti
Mobile Money Initiative.  An initiative that featured a $10 million fund to
provide incentives to mobile service providers to quickly launch and expand
mobile money (m-money) services. 

The country’s recent political and economic crises mean that Zimbabwe has
been late to experiment with advances in technology. This is finally changing,
as suggested by the recent introduction of mobile money products. Institutions
are clamoring to launch products to profit from this untapped market.

Innovation in the mobile money sector is coming from non-telecom companies. Two new platforms launched this year in Kenya are experimenting with new e-commerce features for individuals and companies. Will the new services reduce the number of Kenya’s “unbanked” population? Dinfin Mulupi reports.

The
fact that South Africa has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world and rapid
adoption of mobile phone technology led to Youth Africa Live – a portal for
young people to talk about HIV/AIDS. By blending serious, educational content
with entertainment the platform has managed to build a sizeable audience.
Paromita Pain reports.

A drop in the price of mobile handsets and the arrival of the fiber optic network in Zimbabwe caused an enormous expansion in the use of mobile phones. With the launch of mobile braodband services, Zimbabwe is undergoing dramatic changes in how people communicate and do business. Chief K. Masimba Biriwasha reports...

As mobile operators build infrastructure and upgrade services, a newcomer launches a free SMS service. If subscribers are willing to put up with ads at the end of their messages, that is. As texting has gotten more expensive in the country, this new product could fill a need. Tawanda Karombo reports.