The State of Mobile Data for Social Good


UN Global Pulse: “This report outlines the value of harnessing mobile data for social good and provides an analysis of the gaps. Its aim is to survey the landscape today, assess the current barriers to scale, and make recommendations for a way forward.

The report reviews the challenges the field is currently facing and discusses a range of issues preventing mobile data from being used for social good. These challenges come from both the demand and supply side of mobile data and from the lack of coordination among stakeholders. It continues by providing a set of recommendations intended to move beyond short-term and ad hoc projects to more systematic and institutionalized implementations that are scalable, replicable, sustainable and focused on impact.

Finally, the report proposes a roadmap for 2018 calling all stakeholders to work on developing a scalable and impactful demonstration project that will help to establish the value of mobile data for social good. The report includes examples of innovation projects and ways in which mobile data is already being used to inform development and humanitarian work. It is intended to inspire social impact organizations and mobile network operators (MNOs) to collaborate in the exploration and application of new data sources, methods and technologies….(More)”