At the initial stages of this project, I had a very clear goal: to take advantage of what I saw as an existing feedback loop, having travelers in developing countries as the initial users of whatever system I built. Since most of these travelers had easy access to using technology and most carry mobile phones even when in foreign countries. A later stage of this project would involve a larger subset of participating users from local communities in developing nations.

For the initial stages of my research I concentrated on trying to find a simple yet effective solution for different medical issues in the developing world. My intuition let me to believe that there existed a way in which people who were not trained as doctors could still help out with medical initiatives. Realizing that most travelers are in some way technology savvy (much more than the average local in the developing world), but more importantly all have access to enormous amounts of data (i.e. the web) The problems I had hoped to solve did not directly save people’s lives, but could all effectively have a positive long-lasting effect. One idea was travelers taking photos of people’s scars or other skin irritations and uploading them to a centralized location where professional volunteer doctors could give an initial analysis. This way, a traveler could serve almost as a physical extension of the web, serving for the benefit of local communities while traveling. Another idea was to have travelers actually distribute physical medical items, such as malaria nets or even toothpaste.

I had gotten in touch with various doctors who worked in different organizations with developing nations. All had a sense that the big idea was interesting, although in practicality, using travelers was not an effective and sustainable way for a service like this to be successful. All agreed that this type of program needed strong local community participation, while actually not really needing the community of travelers. It was a better idea to train local representatives in villages to use a phone and serve as an access point, providing simple medical services. From talking to doctors Kristeen Ortega and Michelle Mina at the Metropolitan Hospital, I wrote a long list[27] of medical problems in the third world, most of which have simple methods of diagnosis as well as cures.

After several weeks of trying the medical route, I decided that even if possible, I did not have enough medical background or knowledge to make a substantial thesis argument. I had realized the importance of actually going somewhere and making a small trial.

I had a week off from school over spring break. The closest and cheapest possibility to visit a developing country was obviously Mexico. During my stay there, I was hoping to find a way to take part in a more meaningful activity with a local entity. One week was certainly not enough time to do anything substantial, but I felt that even a little act could be potentially significant.

Together with the help of the ITP community, over the period of two and a half days, we managed to raise a little over 250 USD. It was interesting to see how easy it was to raise money from fellow school colleagues, by promising that the money they donate would be invested directly for a local cause within a Mexican indigenous community. 250 US dollars is a substantial amount when converted into Pesos. To my dismay, most of the opportunities that I found from online research were either expensive or had a minimum length of at least several weeks or began only on a specific date.[28]

Following my intuition, I felt that there were probably endless possibilities, but that any one of them would have to be ad-hoc. I could not plan anything until my arrival in Mexico.

I met Ron Mader in Oaxaca, Mexico. He is the founder of planeta.com, a website dedicated to ecotourism worldwide, with lots of valuable travel information on Mexico. Planeta hosts online conferences, which can be defined as a forum with a given finite time. Their main purpose is to get a group of people interested in a similar topic to have a conversation and to develop a level of trust. They begin at a given time, participants register, introduce themselves, and then leave comments regarding the different topics. Ron works with local artisans in Oaxaca amongst other locations in helping improve their web presence. In our meeting, he told me that the reason he liked using flickr so much was the simplicity of the service. He said that once you have a photo online, to add or change comments is extremely easy. He meets with local artisans at an internet café on a weekly basis, helping them place updated information on the site. Ron mentioned that although most artisans have mobile phones and cameras, there still exists a wide gap in knowledge regarding how to place a photo online. Ron arranges and documents different events. Ron emphasized that his main problem is keeping all the information updated: “People treat information as proprietary. When given the choice of saying something or not saying something, many choose not to say”. On SMS messages, he stated: “text messaging is ‘mas economico’” (extremely cheap). In regards to local NGO work: “I’m not really paying much attention to the NGO’s. The ones that `I’ve had dealings with are either corrupt or inefficient. They are living off the poverty of the state.”

Even though there are so many internet cafes in Oaxaca, when locals do use them, it is mainly for games. We talked about the potential of mobile phones, and the opportunity for a country like Mexico to leapfrog and provide an excellent mobile phone service in the near future. Ron stated that what he actually needs is step by step information regarding how to setup mobile phones so that they upload a picture automatically to flickr. He stressed that what would help him with his work would be a central website with general information on mobile phones and specifically for every country. This is something I plan to continue working on. The information is available. It is just necessary to format it so that it is simpler and more understandable.

On technology for poverty alleviation initiatives in Mexico, Ron claimed: “ Mexico is littered with the technology of people with good intentions but didn’t stick around long enough to explain how it works."

While visiting the city of San Cristobal de las Casas in the south of Mexico, an opportunity came up with a local organization. CRREAD (Centro de Recuperacion y Rehabilitacion Para Enfermos de Alcoholismo y Drogadiccion) operates all across Mexico, and is dedicated to taking drug addicts and alcoholics off the streets . We met Bianca and Margarita in the Santo Domingo square, San Cristobal de las Casas as they were asking for donations. Bianca is the elder sister, and at the age of 15, works full-time for the center. One of their main tasks is raising money to pay for their bills (electricity, water) and buy mattresses. They get some food donation from the community, as well as clothing. As a drug addict was brought in by one of the workers, I noticed the little details of working in this center, locking every door with a separate key, and taking off any shoelaces, because supposedly that is a popular tool with which to commit suicide. This center operates on a low budget, and works for the benefit of the community, since alcoholism is a major problem especially with the indigenous people of that region. I tried to convince them to allow me to document their center, and take more photos, but they were not keen. I am hopeful that this will change in the near future, as more and more people realize that being “online” can directly benefit their operations.

image 5: Bianca from the CRREAD center, San Cristobal de las Casas.

Mexico has one of the largest prepaid bases in Latin America. It was the first Latin American country to introduce prepaid services in mid-1996, and Mexican operators have been particularly effective in developing successful prepaid programs. Prepaid cards have made mobile phones accessible to those segments of the population which do not qualify for credit-worthiness, or which have limited budgets, or make few outgoing calls. In September 2005, prepaid subscribers made up 93% of the country’s total subscriber base.

Although prepaid service was originally introduced as a temporary solution to curb churn in the wake of the peso crisis, it proved so popular that operators have been unable to migrate subscribers from prepaid to contract plans. In any case, prepaid has some advantages also for the operators, such as lower acquisition costs, the elimination of bad debt problems since subscribers pay up front for airtime, and wider distribution as operators can sell their prepaid packages at retail stores. The disadvantage of prepaid for operators is the lower ARPU.

Researching Rural Development issues in Mexico, I stumbled upon this[29] article regarding the effect that government regulations in Mexico on bandwidth have on information technology-based programs working on connecting remote villages never reached by wired infrastructure. Wi-Fi and Wi-Max can bring affordable high-speed internet access to isolated, rural areas. Due to technological progress, spectrum is ever more abundant and a sharable resource. Sadly enough, in rural Mexico, the government hasn’t opened up its regulations. And that, according to the author, directly impacts the lives of more than 50 million Mexican who live in poverty. The author claims that by opening up regulations, and thinking creatively about possible wireless connectivity solutions, the government can help empower these 50 or so million Mexicans who live in poverty to find a sustainable livelihood, through access to important information on crop prices, microfinance, distribution channels, efficient and less-costly remittance systems, health information and communication with their migrant relatives. Neglecting or opposing the use of such new technologies is not only immoral but suicidal as a nation, and contrary to the long-term business interests of the same telecomm carriers who paradoxically oppose any connectivity efforts using what is known as “unlicensed spectrum.” The results speak for themselves. An Internet penetration of only 14 million users among a global population of over 103 million Mexicans.
“A sustainable rural connectivity project with a grassroots community development plan could fly using free spectrum to reduce costs of broadband access… Millions of fellow Mexicans — who live in conditions you wouldn’t even imagine in the 21st century — are worth some creative thinking.” - This is what keeps me motivated.

Indigi-Net is conceived in hope to facilitate the connections created between people. The focus is not on technology itself, but rather on how it empowers local communities and utilizes available resources in a more efficient manner. Some of the core features include simplicity of use, immediate upload to the web and remote access for those who are not computer savvy. The service takes in SMS messages from mobile phones (in places where there is an available mobile phone network) and posts their content on the relevant online page. In regions without cellular network signal, it is still possible to store the information on a mobile handset, and send the message out when a signal is received once again.

The service entails a website, http://indigi-net.org, which acts as the main access portal to the data. The site is linked to a database, as well as a mobile SMS gateway, which accepts messages from mobile phone users. The messages act as live updates to the site’s information, and can act as a method for users to keep their information updated without needing access to computers and the internet.

Figure 2: A Network diagram of the Indigi-Net service, allowing for both travelers and local entities to access and update information via mobile phones or by using the web.

 

Website - http://indigi-net.org

The basic website is open to the public and available online. The site showcases a database of worldwide initiatives which is also displayed on a world map. Each initiative has a separate page and anybody can submit a new one. It is possible to add comments to every page.

The website is designed to have a community feel to it. A new initiative post can be created through the ‘SUBMIT’ link. This places a separate page online. The given information is then plotted on a map. Upon inserting a new initiative, it is given an ID number, which can later be used for mobile phone updates (explained in the following subtopic).

A user can create a personal account, and log into the service. Currently, a user’s personalized page displays initiatives created by that user. However, a future feature would allow a user to pick and initiatives, and contact other users, while planning a trip abroad. This is aimed at providing travelers as much information as possible, before or during their visit in a foreign country. Users may enter their interests or skills, and can find locations around the world which match them. I am currently using the Yahoo Maps API for visualization.

An additional feature for the website will support stories from the field, allowing users to upload their personal stories relating to specific initiatives, describing any personal experiences or connections made during their travels. This information can currently be inserted via the comments tab on each initiative page.

Mobile phones help make this service more relevant for a majority of people who live in developing nations. It becomes much more participatory when those who don’t have access to computers and the web are still able to contribute and be users of the service.

I focused on creating a simple service, with easy SMS syntax, that didn’t require its users to have internet access on their phones. There were several implementation options for this type of service. They are described in detail at the methodology section. All the options, however, carry one similar characteristic: a local access point. There will be a unique local phone number for every country in which the service exists. This phone number will connect all SMS messages from the mobile phone network, to the SMS gateway, which will then lead the messages on to the web.

A mobile phone server is a method I devised in order to allow users to engage in simple yet inexpensive ways of participation, via SMS. The Short Messaging Service is a lowest common denominator technology, readily available and used worldwide. Direct outcomes for implementing such a service meant that users could access and post information online, not needing a computer nor to pay for a monthly internet-mobile data plan.

The mobile phone server is a J2ME applet that runs on an S60 phone. The applet basically transforms the phone to have a similar functionality to that of an online server: It listens in the network and waits for incoming messages. Once received, the messages are parsed, dealt with, and a reply is sent back to the origin. Functionality is similar, only that instead of http packets coming in to the server, there are SMS messages. The phone server accepts local SMS or MMS messages, parses them, and then hits different PHP scripts, which then query and update the website database. Upon receiving a response from the database, the server sends a reply message back to the querying mobile phone.

HJ Barazza contacted me after reading one of my blog posts on Mexico. We exchanged emails back and forth, and he offered to help me work on the Mexico mobile SMS portion of the service. HJ is helping by sending SMS messages to the indigi-net server. This helps me write the code which parses and analyzes messages coming from the Mexican mobile phone network. It is still in the process

Below are two diagrams, the first displays the general network layout, while the second shows some example SMS interactions with the server:

Diagram 2: Mobile Phone Server network architecture scheme. The phone server itself needs a local SIM card, as well as some data plan or other method of communication with the web.

Diagram 3: Displayed above is an example of the mobile phone SMS syntax when using the service.

 

[27] The list is displayed at Table A of the Appendix.

[28] A detailed list of options I found: http://giladlotan.com/blog/?p=126

[29]http://www.convergemag.com/story.php?catid=235&storyid=93196