There are over 3 billion cell phone subscribers in the world, the last billion having been added in just the past two years — largely due to explosive growth in India, Africa, Latin America, and Asia, reports Boston.com. Many new phone subscribers exist in impoverished areas and many entrepreneurs are using mobile technology to help them grow their communities economically.
Here are some of the latest innovators in the mobile space that are helping those in need, whether it’s an individual, community or the non-profit itself:
Business-in-a-Box
Indonesia has incredible cellphone penetration rates and three quarters of the population live in poverty. The RUMA organization aims to combine the two to empower individuals to emerge from poverty. RUMA sends a “business-in-a-box” to qualified franchises for $23. The individuals are equipped with a phone, promotional materials and an operating manual to set-up kiosks and sell prepaid airtime to their community. The enterprise has taken off with support from the Grameen Foundation and Qualcomm. RUMA sent over 1,600 microfranchises in its first five months. The “business-in-a-box” enables and empowers impoverished individuals to dig their way out of poverty.
Sparked
Just as Kiva and the Grameen Foundation revolutionized social cause fundraising through micro-loans, Sparked aims to take that concept and apply it to volunteerism. Sparked’s The Extraordinaries enables users to micro volunteer by donating only a few minutes of time here and there. Sparked’s site lets nonprofits post requests (called “challenges”) that are then routed to volunteers that have the skills to complete the task. Then, when volunteers have a spare moment or two, they jump onto the Sparked mobile app to complete a given task.
Free2Work
As consumers, we vote with our dollar and sometimes that dollar goes to corporations that outsource their labor to manufacturers that abuse employees through humiliation, starvation and rape. Free2Work’s new iPhone app aims to educate consumers by rating products, from Apple’s iPad to Hasbro’s Beyblades, based on the labor practices. The app has a barcode scanner that consumers can use to scan products and while the list of brands and products is limited at the time, Free2Work is building more and more products into its database. Free2Work hopes consumers will put pressure on corporations that have loose morals when it comes to how its products are made.
CCBRT
Mobile banking is surging in Africa, with innovators like FrontlineSMS and Paypal taking the lead. The Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania clinic (CCBRT) has created an app that leverages mobile technology to provide healthcare to women in rural Tanzania using micro payments. Using Vodafone’s M-Pesa service, “the clinic can send transport grants directly to patients to cover the average USD 60 cost of a round-trip from rural Tanzania,” reports Springwise. Like CCBRT, there are numerous small startups in Africa that are revolutionizing communities through mobile devices in highly targeted and need-based ways.
MoVirtu
More than four billion people do not own a mobile device. And as we’ve explored, mobile phones can offer access to healthcare, banking and entrepreneurship to those that wouldn’t otherwise have access. Movirtu’s aim is to provide mobile services to those four billion without mobile devices through “the cloud.” Movirtu’s cloud-based service, called MXShare, creates cloud phone numbers for anyone in without a phone, so one community could have one cell phone, but each member of that community could have access to individual mobile accounts.
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Comments
Just to say thanks for the mention, and to clarify, MXShare is software installed at a mobile operator’s hub, which provides Cloud Phone numbers to anyone without the need to purchase a phone or SIM. Really delighted you called us out for praise and do let us know if you’re like any more info!
best
Ramona
ramona@movirtu.com