[AfrICANN-discuss] Mobile phone access reaches three quarters of world population

[Anne-Rachel Inné]

http://www.infodev.org/en/Article.873.htmlMobile phone access reaches three
quarters of world population New World Bank report charts development
opportunities in the mobile era

17 July 2012

With over 6 billion mobile subscriptions in use worldwide, up from fewer
than 1 billion in 2000, three out of every four human beings worldwide now
have access to a mobile phone, says a flagship report on global mobile
trends released today by *info*Dev and the World Bank.

According to *Information and Communications for Development 2012:
Maximizing Mobile* <http://www.worldbank.org/ict/ic4d2012>, more than 30
billion mobile applications, or “apps,” were downloaded in 2011 – software
that extends the capabilities of phones, for instance to become mobile
wallets, navigational aids, or price comparison tools. In developing
countries, citizens are increasingly using mobile phones to create new
livelihoods and enhance their lifestyles, while governments are using them
to improve service delivery and citizen feedback mechanisms.

This new report, the third in the World Bank’s series on Information and
Communications for Development (IC4D), explores the consequences for
development of the emerging “app economy”, especially in evolving
approaches to entrepreneurship and employment. It also examines the vast
transformative impact of mobile technology in sectors such as agriculture,
health, financial services, and government.

Download the IC4D 2012
infographic<http://www.infodev.org/en/Document.1178.pdf>


Countries around the world are taking advantage of this potential, for
example:

   - In *India*, the state of Kerala’s mGovernment program has deployed
   over 20 applications and facilitated more than 3 million interactions
   between the government and citizens since its launch in December 2010.
   - *Kenya *has emerged as a leading player in mobile for development,
   largely due to the success of the* *M-PESA mobile payment ecosystem.
   Nairobi-based AkiraChix, for example, provides networking and training for
   women technologists.
   - In *Palestine*, Souktel’s JobMatch service is helping young people
   find jobs.  College graduates using the service reported a reduction in the
   time spent looking for employment from an average of twelve weeks to one
   week or less, and an increase in wages of up to 50 percent.

The report benefits from research funded by the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs of the Government of Finland, the Korea Trust Fund for ICT4D, and
UKaid. It features at-a-glance tables for more than 150 economies showing
the latest available data and indicators for the mobile sector.  It also
introduces an analytical tool for examining the relevant performance
indicators for each country’s mobile sector, so that policy-makers can
assess their capacities relative to other countries.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/africann/attachments/20120718/1e2c1fbe/attachment.htm