dr tim kelly , mobile application lab brainstorming
DESCRIPTION
This presentation was presented by Dr Tim Kelly via Skype at the Africa Mobility Foresight Workshop on 1 July 2010 at Pretoria. The event was sponsored by SAFIPA.TRANSCRIPT
Mobile Africa 2049:What role for applications?
Mobility in Africa Foresight Workshop, June 1-2, 2010
Tim Kelly, Lead ICT Policy Specialist, infoDev / World Bank
A brief history of typewriters
• Mobiles in 2010 = Typewriters in 1950:Current focus is on the device rather than the applications
• Typewriter first commercialized in US in 1870s – important innovations included the QWERTY keyboard, carbon paper, portability etc
• From 1960s onwards, computers began to be integrated into computers – a similar analogy would be the transition of mobiles into smartphones with addition of memory, IP capability, keyboards etc
• By 1980s, typewriters were transitioning to “word processors” – typewriters becoming “keyboards” on other devices like mobile is a “communications capability” for other devices
• By 2010s, typewriter keyboards are becoming “invisible” – the typewriter is now a device application than can be turned on when required
What lessons for mobile 2049?
• Mobiles in 2049 = Typewriters in 2010:Mobiles will be impossible to “count” because they appear in so many different forms
• The focus will be on the application not the device – Could we have imagined, in 1950, the uses of keyboards in 2010?
• Non-human mobile “users” will greatly outnumber human ones – machine to machine communications in an “Internet of Things”
• Usage costs will approach zero – Flat-rate, rather metered, pricing will be the norm within the next 10 years
• Everything over IP
On-board mobiles communicate with similar devices in other vehicles for collision avoidance
Mobile communication embedded into universal communicator device
Navigation Mobile updates real-time traffic and weather conditions
Mobiles report real-time vehicle data for automated carbon tax collection
Why are mobile applications so important for Africa today?
• Mobile already represents the largest delivery platform for development applications – e.g., M-Pesa in Kenya
• No adequate substitutes are available – mobiles outnumber PCs by >16:1
• Low barriers to entry – Standard-based tools are available free of charge
• Market is highly segmented and localized – industry has not yet had its “Google moment”
• High export potential – compare with India’s success in offshore s/w development
Growth of fixed and mobile connections in Africa, 1998-2008, in millions
Source: ITU World Telecom Indicators Database.
Creating Sustainable Businesses in the Knowledge Economy
• A public-private partnership, launched on Dec 17 2009▫ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland▫ infoDev / World Bank▫ Nokia
Other partners include Mobile Monday, Korea ICT4D Fund, MCT Mozambique
• Three key areas of focus▫ Agribusiness▫ Mobile communications▫ Innovation, SME creation and
supporting technology entrepreneurs• Three regions
▫ Africa▫ Asia▫ Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (ECA)
Track 1: Mobile Applications
• Regional Mobile applications laboratories▫ Three labs to be established in Africa, Asia and Eastern
Europe▫ Labs intended to develop between 8-10 mobile applications
• Possible Lab functions▫ Training and accreditation▫ Certification▫ Competition for Ideas▫ Replication of successful applications▫ Mentoring of start-ups and SMEs (via incubators)▫ Repository of knowledge and best practice cases▫ Consumer behaviour research▫ Facilitating access to finance / access to markets
• Mobile social networking▫ Working with Mobile Monday to extend the model of an
innovation network to extend the reach of mobile applications
▫ Launch of MoMo Kampala on 8 March▫ Launch of MoMo Nairobi on 11 March▫ Other planned launches in Mozambique and Tanzania
Creating Sustainable
Businessesin the Knowledge Economy