Background & Concept

In the 21^st Century, the mobile age is upon us. According to the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions across the world has gone up from 2.2 billion in 2005 to 6.9 billion in 2014 representing a growth of 213.6 percent and a global mobile penetration level of 95.5 percent. Of course, the actual number of unique mobile subscriptions is considerably less but even then, the most conservative estimate – that of Wireless Intelligence – puts the penetration level of unique subscribers at 45.6 percent and predicts this will reach almost 60 percent by 2017. If these numbers are seen together with the phenomenal rates at which new mobile subscriptions are growing, especially in the developing world – where penetration levels are less than half of the penetration level of around 80 percent in the developed world – it would seem very likely that by the end of the second decade of the 21^st Century, nearly 70-80 percent of the people around the world would be using some kind of a mobile phone device.

The accelerating pervasiveness of cell phone technology is bringing about major impacts along various dimensions – social, cultural and economic. Not only has this technology made the world a smaller place with its ability to instantly connect people who earlier needed hours, days and sometimes even months to communicate with each other, but it is also liberating and empowering people along all these three dimensions.

This is more so in the developing world and especially in South Asia where more than 60 percent of the world’s poor reside. Hitherto living in an information-dark age, mobile technology among other digital media is now enabling even marginalized, unserved or underserved communities to have a voice. The people of these countries are now becoming a lot more “noisy” – billions of people whose voices were never heard earlier are now demanding better governance, better delivery of government services and entitlements, better education, better health, better protection of their rights and so on.

Mobile technology more than any other digital media is bringing about a bloodless revolution even in remote, rural areas of South Asian countries in particular and the developing world in general. As part of an effort to help people in these countries to take full advantage of this empowering phenomenon, the Delhi-based Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) formally launched the mBillionth Award South Asia to highlight, recognize and reward best practices, excellence and innovations in the development and use of mobile applications and creation of content and services, which are transformative and help bring about significant improvements in the lives and livelihoods of people, especially those who are deprived and socio-economically disadvantaged.

The industry‐driven and peer‐acknowledged mBillionth Awards acknowledge South Asia as a key hub of the world’s mobile and telecom market in terms of penetration and innovation. The region, however, suffers from a significant digital divide. These Awards recognise that at the moment, mobile phones are surpassing all  other  media  in  terms  of  penetration  in  the  region:  TV,  radio,  Internet, newspapers, magazines and   landlines. Mobile platforms are becoming the natural choice for smashing the information barrier and extending essential and innovative digital services to the broadest section of the population.The awards, therefore, seek to not only reward all those who are taking initiatives to bridge the digital divide, empower people and bring about greater socio-economic equality but also create an ecosystem and network of such innovators and developers so that they can learn from each other, collaborate and scale up.