Research on Mobile Phone Data in the Global South: Opportunities and Challenges

The rapid uptake of mobile phones in the global South—that is, developing countries located primarily in the Southern Hemisphere—is a fact that is often repeated in popular discourse as well as academic research. In the years since it became a favorite factoid, there have been shifts in some of the most well-known patterns of use, with new data being created and collected. To a large extent, communication and information researchers have yet to fully address the opportunities and challenges regarding these changes. This chapter outlines some of the shifts in usage trends, what kinds of data they generate, and what kinds of questions they can help answer about social and economic ties, mobility and location, and innovation and design. These can strengthen theorizing new communication practices and generate greater knowledge about life in a networked age for those in resource-constrained environments

altVerto: using intervention and community to promote alternative transportation

This paper was submitted to the CHI 2007 Conference as a student design competition project, winning the design competition.We seek to motivate drivers who regularly use web-based local and mapping services and have access to viable alternative transit methods — such as public transportation, carpooling, walking or bicycling — to use these alternatives instead of driving alone. altVerto works with users’ existing habits to intervene during trip planning, and then sustains long-term positive behavior through progress tracking and community-building around alternatives to driving. Our study investigates how computer-mediated intervention at decision making moments and online transit-related community motivates and sustains the use of alternative transit methods.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78393/1/altVerto_2007_GukeisenHutchfulKleymeerMunson.pd

Qualitative Assessment of the Feasibility, Usability, and Acceptability of a Mobile Client Data App for Community-Based Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Care in Rural Ghana

Mobile phone applications may enhance the delivery of critical health services and the accuracy of health service data. Yet, the opinions and experiences of frontline health workers on using mobile apps to track pregnant and recently delivered women are underreported. This evaluation qualitatively assessed the feasibility, usability, and acceptability of a mobile Client Data App for maternal, neonatal, and child client data management by community health nurses (CHNs) in rural Ghana. The mobile app enabled CHNs to enter, summarize, and query client data. It also sent visit reminders for clients and provided a mechanism to report level of care to district officers. Fourteen interviews and two focus groups with CHNs, midwives, and district health officers were conducted, coded, and thematically analyzed. Results indicated that the app was easily integrated into care, improved CHN productivity, and was acceptable due to its capacity to facilitate client follow-up, data reporting, and decision-making. However, the feasibility and usability of the app were hindered by high client volumes, staff shortages, and software and device challenges. Successful integration of mobile client data apps for frontline health workers in rural and resource-poor settings requires real-time monitoring, program investments, and targeted changes in human resources