m4d


Innovating Mobile Tech 4 Dev: Competition Recap

Thanks to everyone who made it out to our recent, 1st-ever, NMTF pitch competition: “Innovating Mobile Technology 4 Development!” For those who could not make it, or those who just want to relive the glory of the day, here is a brief recap: Beth Noveck opened up the competition with her keynote speech. A brief summary of her comments (paraphrased): She noted the numerous inequities facing the world: economic, social, political… There are so many problems rampant in our global community that our traditional institutions […]


This Saturday – Deadline to Apply for Innovating Mobile Technology for Development Competition!

Just a reminder, this Saturday October 20th is the deadline for applying to our first pitch competition: Innovating Mobile Technology for Development. This means we need to have your team’s executive summary and application in our virtual hands by Saturday. If you’re still vacilating on whether or not to compete, here are a few (more) reasons: The process of designing an application will prove useful to you in many other arenas, such as project design. Learn to solidify an idea and start to turn it into […]


Deadline Extended to October 20th for Mobile Pitch Competition!

For those of you scrambling to get your team together and your ideas organized, we have good news: the deadline for applying to the Innovating Mobile Technology for Development Pitch Competition has been extended to October 20th! For those of you still searching for teammates, we have set up a Google Doc to facilitate connections! For those of you who are still hesitating about joining the competition, now is the time to get involved!  Why? Glad you asked… In 1999 fifty percent of the world’s population […]


Is Mobile’s “Potential” Enough? Some Thoughts on Day 1 of 2012 Social Good Summit

Saturday I had an opportunity to attend the Social Good Summit, which included numerous speakers, bloggers, internationally-minded folks, and meet-ups around the world (#SGSGlobal). One theme that ran throughout the conference was the potential of technology, and especially mobile technology, to provide solutions to all sorts of problems throughout the world: health inadequacies, development projects, citizen engagement, etc. As a board member here at SIPA’s New Media Task Force, I am very interested in the potential of technology to address these issues; yet I often […]


Maximize and Mobilize with the World Bank’s ICT 2012 Report

Interested in the possibilities of mobile phone technology? You should check out the World Bank’s recent report, IC4D 2012: Maximizing Mobile. The report is made up of case studies and lessons from various sectors, including health, agriculture, banking, and governance. You can download each chapter here. Need some more enticing? Here’s a run-down of a few of the interesting points and case studies: Power to the Users! (Chapter 1) As a result of the rise of the smartphone, operators have much less control over the […]