Mobile Technology Innovation Holds Out Hope for Societal Change, But It’s Over-hyped, Panelists Say
Mobile communications technological innovation is not as world-changing as the industry would have us believe, panelists said at a New America Foundation event Thursday. Mobile solutions may benefit society in the long run but don’t offer any immediate solutions to longstanding human problems, said U.S. Agency for International Development Chief Innovation Officer Maura O'Neill. She said she’s hopeful about the future effects of mobile innovation, but current effects are being over-hyped. Solution providers should focus first on adoption rates, especially among minority groups, connectivity and affordability, she said.
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Mobile technology is growing because “people want to talk to each other” and not because of may play a role in economic development, said MobileActive Editor Katrin Verclas. She acknowledged that sophisticated technology is becoming available at lower cost, and this is contributing greatly to its availability. This leads to more innovation, she said, but that in turn could again widen the digital divide. What’s more, proliferation of mobile technology can lead to less data privacy and protection, she said.
Hope is as prevalent as hype when it comes to mobile innovation’s role in solving societal problems, said World Bank Senior Policy Specialist Michael Tarazi. A solution to focus on is mobile money, he said. Mobile money allows the benefits of banking to reach the 1.2-1.7 billion people who have mobile phones but don’t have bank accounts, he said. Mobile money services are 19 percent cheaper than comparable bank services and half the price of informal options for money transfer, he said.
But technology is “just not the deciding factor in solving very difficult social problems,” said Kentaro Toyama, researcher for University of California-Berkeley’s School of Information. “Technology only magnifies human intent and capacity.” He said that, despite the technological innovations like the Internet, Google and the iPhone, poverty rates in the U.S. have remained unchanged. Societal solutions come from people’s desire to change, not mobile innovation, he said.