Mobile Web in Rural China?

Stéphane Boyera

http://www.w3.org/2008/02/sb_www008/

WWW2008 - W3C Track

Beijin, China, April 23 2008

Universal Web Access

• W3C Vision: The Web Anywhere, for Everyone, at Anytime, on Everything

Next step: bridging the Digital Divide

• 1+Billion of Web users
• 4/5 Billions of people unconnected

• 3 Billions+ of people having access to a mobile phone

	Since 2006: W3C explores how the Web on mobile phones could be a potential solution to bridge the Digital Divide and leverage Web access in Developing Countries.
(Photo Source : The Economist )

ICT to sustain economic and social development

	ICTs are a great opportunity to deploy services toward rural communities and underprivileged populations in Developing Countries: Government Services Education Health Banking Communities services Business ...
(Photo Source: Der Spiegel)

How to provide access to ICT?

• With cheap laptops and low-cost broadband access: One Laptop Per Child?
• With the Mobile Phones:
  • Taking advantage of the existing 3+billion of mobile phones
  • Taking advantage of the GSM cover (>80% of the world population

Can Mobile phones be an ICT platform? How?

Proof of concept: SMS Applications

	Principle: sending a SMS to a specific number with specific keywords receiving the answer in another SMS Success Stories Banking NGOs-run SMS based system: e-gov, business (market poll), health, ...
	But few problems: Interoperability problems Discoverability of services limited interaction costly/inappropriate required infrastructure to start services
(Photo Source: Vodafone)

Tomorrow?

• The Mobile Web: Unleashing the power of Mobile Phones
  • No interoperability problems
  • Discoverability through portals and search engine
  • Enhanced interaction through forms/voice/multimodal interaction
  • Cheap/free hosting
  • Standardized technologies and development platform

Challenges

• How to make the Mobile Web usable ?
  • accessibility of mobile browsers: configuration, interface and interaction...
  • accessibility of web content: "natural" interface and interaction...
• How to identify the needs in ICT-based services to leverage development ?
  • tools to help people and to enhance their way of working or living
• How to empower people, build local capacity, and leverage local content authoring ?
• What about sustainability ?
• ...

Next Steps

W3C to launch a new group to in May 2008:

• Create an inter-disciplinary forum between experts in technology (Web, Mobile), experts in Social Development, experts in sustainability and entrepreneurship, people with grassroot experience (NGO sector), and experts from Developing regions
• Identify the challenges of unleashing the power of mobile phones as an ICT platform and leveraging the use of Mobile Web technologies in Social Development projects
• Identify the most promising directions to follow and establish a roadmap

W3C to organize a workshop on the Role of Mobile Technologies in Fostering Social Development

• When: 2-3 June 2008
• Where: Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Who: anybody interested, position paper required
• http://www.w3.org/2008/02/MS4D_WS/

Joining the work now

• The Mobile Web in Developing Countries Home Page: http://www.w3.org/2006/12/digital_divide/public.html
• A white paper on the key challenges: http://www.w3.org/2006/12/digital_divide/ajc.html
• A public-mailing list: public-mwi-ec@w3.org archived at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-mwi-ec/
• A public Wiki: http://www.w3.org/2006/12/digital_divide/wiki/
• Mobile Web for Social Development Work Program under review by W3C Members
• Stéphane Boyera : boyera@w3.org

Conclusion

• W3C Goal: to make the Web accessible, relevant, usable and useful for under-privileged populations and rural communities
• The Mobile Web is the most promising platform for low-cost large scale development, deployment and adoption of ICTs
• But what are the specificities (technical, social, cultural,...) of the targeted people and how to take them into account ?
• Join the process of gathering the critical mass of experts to start the work

This work is part of the Digital World Forum project supported by the European Union's 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7)