MobileActive08

Micro and small enterprises are the most common forms of non-agricultural economic activity in the developing world.

As mobile telephones become more affordable and wireless networks have covered the majority of the world's cities towns and villages, we've seen a rapid and steady take up of mobile telephony among small and informal enterprises. Empirical evidence and common sense alike suggest that the mobile telephone, like the landline before it, is an enormous boon to the productivity of such small businesses.

From the mobile internet to m-payments, it seems that advanced functionality beyond voice and SMS may be right at the fingertips of hundreds of millions of small businesses for the first time.

This talk will focus on outlining some of the opportunities and challenges associated with the adoption of advanced mobile services by small and informal enterprises. Although an objective assessment will suggest that none of the services currently on the horizon are likely to be as immediately attractive or relevant to the majority of small enterprises as SMS and voice, there are nevertheless opportunities for designs which target certain types of enterprises.

The talk will be interactive with time for discussion and idea-generation.