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                                                                                                                                  Choosing appropriate                                                                          Success stories
                                                                                                                                  technology includes
                                                                                                                                  consideration of not just
                                                                                                                                  technical aspects, but also                                    · Kazi650 Kenyan job-brokering service notifies subscribers of employment opportu-
                                                                                                                                  environmental, cultural                                           nities via SMS. People see value in paying for the service, which has filled more than
                                                                                                                                  and economic factors.                                             60,000 jobs since its launch. www.kazi560.co.ke
                                                                                                                                                                                                 · FrontlineSMS Standalone SMS hub developed by kiwanja.net requiring a PC and
                                                                                                                                                                                                    a GSM phone. Meant for new growth market conditions, it allows organizations in
                                                                                                                                                                                                    areas with sparse infrastructure to communicate with users, staff and communities.
                                                                                                                                                                                                    www.frontlinesms.com
                                                                                                                                                                                                 · Entrepreneurial Programming and Research on Mobiles (EPROM) In Kenya,
                                                                                                                                                                                                    computer science students are taught to create applications for mobile phones, not
                                                                                                                                                                                                    just PCs ­ prime example of a project that builds future capacity. web.mit.edu/eprom




                                                                                                                                                                                              and who we are ultimately doing it for,"          without continuing financial support or
                                                                                                                                                                                              Banks continues. Local context ­ cultural,        subsidy. "One World's Kazi560 job alert
                                                                                                                                                                                              social and physical ­ needs to form an            service in Kenya has found the balance
                                                                                                                                                                                              important aspect of mobile communica-             perfectly," he says. "Users get economic
                                                                                                                                                                                              tions projects.                                   value ­ jobs and income ­ so it is a cost
                                                                                                                                                                                                 "Developing tailored products and              they are willing to take."
                                                                                                                                                                                              services for new growth markets is now               Financial stability, whether in the
                                                                                                                                                                                              seen as the best way forward," says               nonprofit, private or public sector, is




                                                                                                                                                                  Photo: Nathan Eagle/EPROM
                                                                                                                                                                                              Banks. "We can expect to see more of              not always easily achieved. To ensure
                                                                                                                                                                                              this as the bottom of the economic pyr-           that local context is taken into account,
                                                                                                                                                                                              amid increasingly becomes a focus." He            Banks "sense-checks" potential solu-
                                                                                                                                                                                              cites an example of a service designed            tions against grassroots reality. Are
                                                                                                                                                                                              specifically for new growth markets:              the assumptions that form the basis of
                                                                                                                                                                                              "Vodacom's `Call me!' service in South            the project proposal or business plan
                                                                                                                                                                                              Africa allows users to send a free SMS            consistent with the onsite situation?
                                                                                                                                                                                              requesting to be called back."                    Engineers, programmers and planners
Applying appropriate technology helps create sustainable                                                                                                                                          In some mature markets, customers             have not necessarily had exposure to
solutions. In new growth markets especially, "appropriate                                                                            "Needs-driven" refers to a techno-                       are charged to both send and receive              the prevailing conditions. For example,
                                                                                                                                 logical product or service responding                        calls and text messages ­ a business              will local traditions make citizens wary
technology" signifies much more than just the technology itself.
                                                                                                                                 to real needs of the target community                        model that Banks says would likely                of giving their phone numbers to field
                                                                                                                                 or customers. Development of these                           falter in new growth markets for lack             workers, even if it is for a good cause




More than technology
                                                                                                                                 technologies should also be people-                          of compatibility with local conditions.           such as disaster warnings via SMS?
                                                                                                                                 driven. "People are different all over the                   "If this model had been replicated en                  "Internet access via wireless devices
                                                                                                                                 world," says Banks, "so local customs,                       masse in new growth markets," he com-             is still a long way off for rural com-
                                                                                                                                 social context and infrastructure need                       ments, "then we would not be having               munities in new growth markets," says
                                                                                                                                 to be considered." By contrast, a tech-                      this conversation right now, because              Banks. He hopes that dialogue will
                                                                                                                                 nology-driven solution would be more                         mobiles would not have become the                 result in the "appropriate, relevant




P
        olicy-makers, regulators and       scholar at Stanford University in the      projects revolves around the application   about simply implementing the latest                         engine of this amazing revolution we              applications" that hold so much impor-
        operators pondering possible       Reuters Digital Vision Program, has        of appropriate technologies that are       technology rather than specifically aim-                     are experiencing today."                          tance. Technology, he notes, "will not
        solutions for expanding the        spent the past 15 years dealing with ICT   primarily needs-driven or people-driven,   ing to meet people's needs.                                                                                    bridge the digital divide alone."
        scope, efficiency and useful-      solutions for nongovernmental organiza-    rather than technology-driven. Banks                                                                    Sustaining solutions
ness of mobile communications can          tions and other groups involved in         explains, "Appropriate technology          Communications in local context                              In his work, Banks lists economic value           For more info about the work of Ken Banks,
find insights in the work of nonprofit     new growth market social and environ-      means the technology most appropriate      "We should not just march on and on                          as part of his recipe for a sustainable           see www.kiwanja.net, where "technology
organizations. Mr. Ken Banks, an anthro-   mental development initiatives. He         to the environmental, cultural and eco-    with technological advancement, with-                        mobile communications project ­ one               meets anthropology, conservation and
pologist and technologist and visiting     believes that a key principle of ICT       nomic situation."                          out reflecting on what we are doing                          that will someday be able to carry on             development."



6 Expanding Horizons 2/2007                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2/2007 Expanding Horizons 7