From a PowerPoint presentation by Anneke Bosman, Amnesty International, The Netherlands.

In keeping with this blog’s mission to bring you concentrated nuggets of tactical and strategic information, we continue our exploration of new tactics involving the use of mobile phones. I draw my inspiration today from various posts and papers found mostly on the sites of resource people for our tactical discussion on using mobile phones for action. 

My last post covered the emergence short messaging as a tool for protest organizing in various countries, including the Philippines, how Amnesty International set up its youth-based SMS Alert network, and how to find some protest ringtones. I now turn to some incredibly creative emergent uses of wireless communications for human rights and social change work.

So here are my top five up and coming uses of mobile phones for positive change

1. Grassroots fundraising. According to Katrin Verclas, experimental SMS- or PayPal-based donation campaigns have only had disappointing results so far, mainly because cell phone companies top donation amounts at $10, off which they will take a 40% - 50% bite (is that greed on my phone?).  However, fundraising programs involving voice messages from a celebrity asking you to call a donation centre, collection drives asking you to donate your old mobile phone, and charity-branded handsets have met with much more success.

2. Citizen journalism. We saw it recently in Burma (Myanmar), camera phones can now be the eyes of the world on struggles that repressive governments try to keep under the cloak of censorship. Especially now that 90% of the globe is covered by wireless networks, and worldwide mobile penetration has hit 50%, phones from which photos, video clips and text can be uploaded to newsrooms and websites play an increasing role in conflict situations. Special citizen journalist tools are even being developed.

3. Life-saving information. According to kiwanja.net, instantaneous text information to mobile phones can save lives. Impoverished patients save precious time and money travelling to far-away clinics thanks to phone reminders to take their medicine. Poor farmers find out ahead of time if the current price for their crop makes a trip to the market worth their while. And text alerts tell young people in the slums of job opportunities in the city.

4. Help across borders. Imagine an instrument that would help migrants and refugees navigate their way across borders, using their phone’s global positioning (GPS) information to show them not only the safest route and where water and shelter can be found, but also which itinerary offers the best scenery! That’s what an “artivist” project called the Transborder Immigrant Tool hopes to achieve.

5. Dialup Radio. In Africa, access to information is often a matter of life and death, especially when dealing with AIDS and sexual health. Dialup Radio allows people to upload voice messages in their own language. A callback number or SMS can then be provided to retrieve free, customized information. The pilot envisions other uses such as health and legal information for sex workers, refugees, and citizen-based monitoring.

There’s lots more to be said about such novel concepts as abuse reporting through youtube,  HR video hubs, public electronic billboards through Wiffiti, and even Smartmobs. 

You’ll find a ton of information about these and others on mobileactive.org, a prime resource on the use of wireless communications and activism. Go out and make sure to grab their Mobile Phoness in Mass Organizing: A MobileActive White Paper, a most valuable read. 

And again, if you have yet to visit our dialogue on using mobile phones for action, head over there now. There are juicy bits in here about the caveats of mobiles phones when an emergency strikes, and a humbling reminder that despite the hype, it’s all about people, not tools: the relationships bring about change, not the technology per se.

— Philippe Duhamel, interTactica.org