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India: A content hungry country turns lead in mobile access creation into advantage in m-content creativity
Prof. Dr. iur. Peter A. Bruck
In order to use its digital potential, mobile technology needs to bring broadband to everybody
Mobile technology is leading a connectivity revolution which gives nearly 90 per cent of the world’s population and even people in rural and remote areas access to digital communication and information. The latest data from the International Telecommunications Union, which acts as the world body for IT within the UN, show that mobile is today more wide spread than TV which reaches only 75 per cent of all households.
In order to use its digital potential, mobile technology needs to bring broadband to everybody. This would increase the availability of ICTs in – for instance – health institutions in developing countries and not limit the ambition of “connecting all health institutions to the Internet”. M-health, involving mobile devices in medical and public health practices
Much progress has been made in the area of m-government. The target set to “connect all local and central government departments” has been at least partially achieved and countries move towards more sophisticated and interactive online e-government applications and services, for example, to apply for a driver’s license, fill out a tax form, or to make online payments using a credit or debit card.
To bring the area of bringing schools online and to ensure that school curricula teach students how to use ICTs, one finds mixed results. While many schools in developing countries remain deprived of any form of Internet access, a number of countries have successfully brought ICTs to schools.
Now given that access and services are less and less an issue, the lack of local digital content, in local languages, becomes more and more apparent. The mobile web is still largely dominated by the English language.
The ITU Telecom Report on Development makes three main recommendations on the policies and measures needed to help achieve the targets:
- Ensure that half the world population has access to broadband by 2015
- Build an ICT-literate society globally
- Develop online content and applications
M-Billionth Award as dedicated platform showcases the potential of mobile sector across South Asia to create and deliver outstanding mobile content. The m-Billionth Award South Asia 2010 is first of its kind in the region recognizing and felicitating mobile innovations, applications and content services delivery.
As the daughter event of the World Summit Award Mobile (WSA-mobile) mBillionth fittingly honours excellence in mobile communications across South Asia spread over 9 core categories. The m-Billionth Award winners will go through to the Grand Jury of the WSA-mobile and thus be a superb channel to assist South Asia’s leading mobile content creators to reach for the world stage.
I salute all the organizers and supporters of the m-Billionth Award and the many people involved in organizing the first Mobile Congress in media and policy advocacy in the region. India is leading the way with these initiatives to the benefit of its content designers and application developers.
Prof. Dr. iur. Peter A. Bruck PhD., MA
Chairman,
World Summit Award & WSA Mobile Content
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