The promise of mobile communication: What is the socio-economic impact on rural communities?

A multidimensional issue that must be faced in a multidimensional way.

A personal summary of the Interactive Facilitation Meeting "The promise of mobile communication: What is the socio-economic impact on rural communities?" held at the WSIS Forum 2011 (see details below).

  INTRODUCTION: BASIC IDEAS

Mobile phones constitute the first available synchronous communication tool for most of the population living in developing rural areas. This is, under my point of view, the main fact to be taken into account when analyzing this issue. For sure, some readers would consider this a really simplistic idea, but sometimes we forget that this general purpose technology makes the most significant differences precisely in these areas. Indeed, a mobile phone operating as an extra telephone (a complement to a fixed line) is not the same as a mobile that is the first phone an individual has ever used.

Besides, we should avoid biased approaches: the techno-optimistic focus, only able to highlight positive impacts of mobile technology diffusion; and, the techno-pessimistic focus that is just the opposite. Both approaches suffer from a lack of critical analysis as real life is not black or white. As already mentioned, mobile technology is a general purpose technology and, therefore, there is not any guarantee that every activity it enhances will be always positive, or always negative.

I will keep these ideas in mind to summarize the discussion we had in this interesting session. I present my main conclusions following a six-point structure, and hope the readers will find this interesting.

1. Mobile technology is important, but it is not the single answer

Mobile telephony is spreading in developing countries as no other communication device has ever diffused before (see afrographic for some selected African countries). Indeed, nowadays there are more mobile subscriptions in developing regions than in developed ones (as ITU statistics show).

However, this is not the only relevant infrastructure. Once a farmer or a fisherperson has real-time information on prices, then roads are needed to bring the product to the market in an efficient way. What is more, not only infrastructures are relevant. For instance, business skills and business models are needed as well for farmers to be as efficient as possible when bringing their products to the market.

Thus, there are several dimensions (infrastructure, skills, institutional stability, etc.) that should be considered in order to properly asses the effects of mobile communication in rural communities development.

2. Beyond economics

Mobile technologies are used primarily for social issues, while economic issues only involve a minor quantity of communications [but might be very relevant from my point of view]. Mobile phones can reinforce the already existing links of individuals, thus strengthening social capital.

In this sense, it would be of most interest to explore how this technology can be used for social initiatives, politics and/or rural communities’ auto-organization. The role of mobile communication in catastrophic situations should be considered as well.

3. Challenges

Despite the many successful cases, three points have been identified as necessary in order to prevent negative consequences from mobile communication diffusion in rural communities. First of all, there is a lack of dialogue among agents and stakeholders (regulators, operators, etc.). Second, national champions are weak in supporting rural communities in the use of mobile communication.

Finally, an effort is needed to make women more comfortable in the use of ICTs. Not only regarding literacy (ability of use) or confidence of use, but even in the way they do business. In this sense, gender is an issue of equity and ICTs must be more gender sensitive to allow for a better diffusion of mobile communication among women (who, in some places, constitute the weakest social group).

4. Mobile services in rural areas: it’s not only about technology

Implementation of (new) mobile services must take into account social and cultural aspects. The diffusion and acceptance of a given mobile service can change consumers’ behavior (as explained by Harsha Liyanage). As final users, farmers explore mobile services and decide if they are useful or not. Their decision is affected by the cultural, economic and social context in where they live. It is well known that technology is appropriated, or rejected, in different ways in different places. Despite technical benefits, in some instances mobile services are perceived as useless and farmers do not incorporate them in their everyday practices.

As a result, in order to identify and design mobile services for rural communities there is a need for a combined approach that takes into account, among other things, the technology itself and the context in which it would be deployed.

5. How to broaden positive benefits

In addition to infrastructure, which is a must to be able to use mobile communication, it is critical to understand the context in which the technology is deployed, as mentioned in the previous point. Therefore, the simple replication of successful projects without a critical approach to the new context where the new project would be deployed must be avoided. That said, as the context itself changes, so past success is not a guarantee of future success.

One main point regarding context has to do with the trust on mediated communication. Available research show that some time for technology appropriation is needed to trust a new communication channel. For instance, when it is necessary to gather sensitive communication, trust must be built and reliability must be proven before mobile phone users accept using this channel instead of relying in the older mechanisms of information gathering. It is important, however, to understand the mechanisms of selection of a given channel.

6. Policy recommendations

Some of the recommendations to overcome current challenges regarding ICT use for rural development are:

• Bring ICT to the wider development scenario: Discussions on ICT must be incorporated into the wider agenda of development, as communication technologies are key tools for human activities. 

• Include the disconnected: It is a must to consider those who are disconnected, as rural development should reach the whole population, not only those who already have access to ICT. Thus, make sure that the voice of the poor and marginalized is taken into account in the development arena.

• Mobile money: Find ways to effectively develop mobile money systems, as discussed in the previous facilitating meeting, Mobile Money Solutions for Small Enterprises (here, the outcome document).

• Creativity: By approaching successful case studies from a creative perspective, it is easier to understand existing processes. As a result, reproducing these case studies will be easier. This means, among other things, trying to understand new and unforeseen uses of mobile communication. This includes non-legal uses, better understood as those uses that emerge in underground or informal markets. Innovation as always, needs creativity.

  MULTIDIMENSIONAL PROBLEMS MUST BE TREATED MULTIDIMENSIONALLY

The key idea that arises from the discussion is: we are dealing with a multidimensional problem that must be treated in a multidimensional way. Technology, in this case mobile communication technology, is just a tool. So, on the one hand, it should be included in the agenda of development, while on the other hand, projects in the field of mobile technology for development should include social, cultural and context aspects to improve the final results.

There is still lot of work to be done to answer the question discussed in this meeting. However, the WSIS process, more specifically, the interactive facilitation meetings are, in my point of view, a really necessary instrument to better understand the different dimensions of the phenomenon.

There is a clear need of dialogue between organizations, institutions and individuals from around the world interested in the socio-economic impact of mobile communication in rural communities. This dialogue, that should last the year long, should help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our respective projects and researches.

Interactive Facilitation Meeting "The promise of mobile communication (part 2): What is the socio-economic impact on rural communities?"

WSIS Forum 2011 Action Line C7 e-Agriculture (FAO/UNCTAD/ITC)
Wednesday, May 18th (Outcome document, available at WSIS Forum 2011 Outcomes).

PARTICIPANTS:

Chair & Moderator:

• Michael Riggs (FAO)

Panelists:

• Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol, Co-director, Research Program “Mobile Communication, Economy & Society”, IN3 - Internet Interdisciplinary Institute, Open University of Catalonia
• Harsha Liyanage, Managing Director, Sarvodaya-Fusion
• Oumy Ndiaye, Chef de Département at Centre Technique de Cooperation Agricole et Rurale ACP-UE (CTA)
• Roxana Samii, Web, Knowledge and Internal Communications Manager, IFAD
• Tim Unwin, Professor of Geography and UNESCO Chair in ICT4D, Royal Holloway University of London

ONSITE AND REMOTE PARTICIPANTS:

The discussion revolved around these key questions:

1. What are the key characteristics that make mobile technology so important to rural and agricultural communities?
2. Why is mobile technology not only creating positive benefits in rural communities? What are some of the challenges that must be faced to rectify the situation?
3. What mobile services are most needed in rural and agricultural communities now?
4. How can the positive benefits of mobile technology be brought to a wider range of rural communities, enhancing economic development and food security?
5. What policies and support mechanisms should governments put in place to foster the positive impact of mobile technologies in rural areas?

Photo credits: ITU - Flikr