Re: Contextualized software, cost of download

Dear Colleagues,

I also enjoyed to meet and discuss with many of you in Brasil and am
glad to be able to keep sharing thoughts with you on a longer term
basis.
I'd like to come back to Bill's first email and its second paragraph in
particular.

>As I listen to the on-the-ground stories, it does appear to me that
>somewhere in the mix of solutions needs to be more "home-grown" web
browser
>and mobile web application software developed within the cultural
context of
>the developing world. 

I think our group may need to agree on a set of definitions in order to
be able to share ideas with a precise common technical understanding.

Bill mentions "web browser" and "mobile web application softwares".
What I realized in Brasil is that in the case of "web browsers", we are
talking about web page reading/viewing, but that the "mobile web"
encompasses a much broader domain than the "traditional" Web-based
content/applications (the ones we view/use on our PCs via Opera, FF, IE,
etc.).
In other words, I learned some time ago to distinguish "the Internet"
(essentially IP or Internet Protocol) and "the Web" (HTTP or hyper text
transfer protocol). The Web being one of the multiple "layers" over the
Internet.

Now I got a bit confused when some of you told me in Sao Paulo "the
Mobile Web is much wider than what goes on the Web we use on our
PCs(HTTP). It actually also covers VoiceXML and many more".
It is then useful to read this Wikipedia abstract: "Just as HTML
documents are interpreted by a visual web browser, VoiceXML documents
are interpreted by a voice browser."

My point here is to make sure we share the understanding that the
"Mobile Web" is not simply the World Wide Web, as we use it every day on
desktops and laptops, viewed through mobile phones. Concluding this
point, I'll take a sentence from the "Mobile Web" article on the same
encyclopaedia:
"Services on the Mobile Web can include capabilities that do not exist
on the traditional Internet, such as SMS text messaging."
At first, this was a bit shocking for me, but now I get it. Just a
question of shared definitions.


>At the moment, we often are trying to modify software
>that was developed for a very different context to realities that
>are present in developing countries. In some ways, efforts to leverage
SMS
>capability already available on many mobile phones  is a good example
of
>that.  It works to meet a local need, but it is a pragmatic solution,
>modifying in innovative ways a software solution developed for a
different
>context and purpose. 

If it is a "pragmatic solution that meets local needs", I guess it is a
good way to follow for now ;)
In fact, in our case, mango and green bean international prices sent
via SMS, was something that exporters from West Africa asked us to send.
So we set-up an automatic system for it. Many similar examples in
developing economies show that this concept is in strong demand.

>I do not suggest this is a bad idea, but probably in
>the longer term, not the best approach to optimizing the possibilities
of
>the mobile web.

I agree with you that SMS has limited capacities and that we need to
try and help put the right environment in place in order to enable more
content-friendly protocols and equipment. But if I had come up with food
prices on another protocol than SMS, the exporters that I was trying to
help would have told me: "Now get me a new cellphone and a "data plan"
with one of our local telecom operators" (when available, this costs a
fortune, including because of the cost of download). As we said during
the workshop, for now, lots of it is left to the good will of the
telcos.

If anyone has statistics on the availability of "mobile internet access
on phones" (only a chunk of the mobile web, if I get it right!) in
developing economies, it could be quite useful.

I'm keen to read other people's views on these points.

Cheers,
Raphaël


>>> "Bill Gillis" <bill@efrsource.com> 19/06/2008 16:08 >>>
Dear Colleagues,

Enjoyed meeting and speaking with many of you in Brazil.

Thought you might have interest in article found at link below:

http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/06/17/bridging-the-african-digital-divide

-

In our discussions there has not been much said about the cost of
downloads,
but my perception is that this indeed is an issue for many in the
developing
world who utilize PCs.  I like the kiosk idea described in this
article
where individuals can go to a central location and download software
onto a
CD so they are not relying on expensive access time to download
desired
software.   I can certainly envision an Optimistic future where
"developing
world" research institutions actively create multiple innovative open
source
software solutions for mobile browsers and applications that are
culturally
appropriate within each region's particular context.  A challenge to
implementation, should this reality emerge, will be the cost for users
of
downloading that software onto their phones.  The kiosk to dispense
open
source software, is an interesting one.

As I listen to the on-the-ground stories, it does appear to me that
somewhere in the mix of solutions needs to be more "home-grown" web
browser
and mobile web application software developed within the cultural
context of
the developing world.  At the moment, we often are trying to modify
software
that was developed for a very different context to realities that
are present in developing countries. In some ways, efforts to leverage
SMS
capability already available on many mobile phones  is a good example
of
that.  It works to meet a local need, but it is a pragmatic solution,
modifying in innovative ways a software solution developed for a
different
context and purpose.  I do not suggest this is a bad idea, but probably
in
the longer term, not the best approach to optimizing the possibilities
of
the mobile web.

The business question that appropriately is asked by the software
developers
who are in the business of creating software for mobile devices is:
"would
there be a market if they were to go to the expense of substantially
modifying their software to the multiple developing world contexts?". 
Since
there is indeed not just one developing world context, but rather
many nuanced differences among regions of the world, the business
problem is
even greater.  I do not mean this in a critical light.  This is the
appropriate question for somebody in the business to ask before going
down
that path.  It does, however, remind me of my own experience in the
higher
education world.  In that previous role, I had many conversations with
US
university administrators who wanted to determine if there is enough
"market" to translate curriculum developed for US audiences into
multiple
languages and delivered via distance education to the developing
world.
This has proven to not be the right focused question to ask, as in
general
the context of the curriculum developed for US audiences, often is not
what
is needed in developing countries. Relevance requires much more than
language translation and minor tweaks.  What does appear to be
successful is
when university faculty within "developing countries" establish
relationships and draw on expertise from the "developed countries", but
in
the end build the curriculum from the "bottom-up" within their own
context.
I was interested in what Fisseha Mekuria has been doing in Uganda for
example.  Seems to be working.

We may need to see more of this "home-grown" approach from the
software
development side to create browser technologies and mobile web
applications
that meet the needs of the developing world.  Once developed, however,
there
remains the issue of widespread dissemination to mobile devices. 
Perhaps
the kiosk idea is one to consider as one small but useful component of
an
Optimistic future with expanded MW4D.  Would be interested to here
from
others on this list their thoughts.

cheers,

Bill Gillis, Co-founder
EFRsource Inc.
+1 509-432-4243
bill@efrsource.com 
http://www.efrsource.com

Received on Thursday, 26 June 2008 14:10:20 UTC