Mobile Phones and NGOs

The International Herald Tribune recently reported on the study "Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use," conducted by the U.N. and Vodafone foundations.

While cynics may argue that the Vodafone group has a keen interest in seeing mobile phone usage increase in developing countries, the study offers many inspiring stories of how activists and development experts in the field are using mobile technologies in innovative ways.

Researchers found that in the areas of global health, humanitarian assistance, and environmental conservation, mobile technology can being an important tool, and that cell phones' low barrier to adoption makes them in many instances a better mechanism for outreach than computers.