A set of systems which will promote economic activity in third world countries globally

New technology has made possible new techniques in the stimulation of the informal sector, SME’s, fully-fledged business, and even small-scale agriculture in 3^rd world countries.

These technologies are the internet, the mobile phone, and some related features.

There is scope right now for innovative global systems which for a very small investment and very low running cost can make a great difference to economic activity in the third world. In view of the current (2008) economic global recession, such measures should be encouraged.

In order to get rapid acceptance and expansion, it is best if the systems are free or effectively free.

In general, systems for the informal sector, the individual, and SME’s utilise mainly mobile phone sms, whereas the higher-end business-to-business systems being considered utilise mainly conventional internet. Note that by maybe 2013, then very low cost internet capable mobile phones will be universal, and the need for sms-based services should have disappeared.

Interactive data services using sms in particular require some kind of sms gateway which interfaces between pc/server applications and the mobile phone sms message.

If Open and Free sms gateway services can be set up either globally or country-by-country then the market is opened to all kinds of social and/or commercial sms-based services. Once the sms gateway is in place, and if the sending and receiving of sms messages is free to these independent operators, then the cost to them of operating services tends to zero. Thus such sms-based interactive data services (SIDS) can be run to promote a brand, can be sponsored, or can be funded by NGO or Donor.

Who will set up, operate and fund the sms gateway(s)? The MNP’s (mobile network providers – e.g. Vodafone, T-Mobile, Zain, Safaricom, MTN etc) are the best positioned to do this – they can handle immense volumes, they can tap into internal capacity. As an alternative there are already international commercial sms gateway specialist companies such as www.clickatell.com, www.smscountry.com , www.tyntec.com and many others. But it is the MNP’s who are making the big money, especially in the third world, and who should be ploughing some of their immense profits back into social programs and projects.

Who will set up operate and fund the SIDS’s? The MNP’s can get involved also in this if they want, but most are too busy making piles of money from voice services. National governments may want to do this – good luck to them – it is a worthy activity. NGO’s and Donors. Software houses. ISP’s (internet service providers). Individuals. Advertising and marketing organisations. Newspapers. Banks (for mobile banking services). Note that some of these SIDS will be conventional commercial services using short code premium sms numbers – they should of course NOT be subsidised in any way, but can coexist and use the same or similar systems and gateway as social and economic promotion systems.

So – the Game Plan –

- Bully one or several MNP’s to set up Open and Free Sms Gateways which can be accessed domestically and internationally

- Bully NGO’s, Donors, Governments or MNP’s to fund suitable SIDS’s

- Invite individuals, companies and organisations to set up and operate SIDS’s

Mr Alex Weir, 4 Brechin DriveMarlborough, Harare, Zimbabwe

18 November 2008

www.cd3wd.com/contactus/

for some ideas for SIDS’s and for IDS’s then look at www.cd3wd.com/sps/ , www.cd3wd.com/sam/ , www.cd3wd.com/smszim/ , www.cd3wd.com/sfmss/

Which standard should be used by the sms gateways? My personal preference is sms-to-email and email-to-sms. But other standards should be considered such as http, web service etc..

Over the last few years to 2008, several factors have come into place which make it possible to stimulate and conduct business in ways which are:

- Lower cost

- Faster to implement

- More efficient

Some of the tools which are now available include:

- The internet, in the form of traditional standalone pc’s, notebooks/laptops, cybercafés, and now (of increasing importance) low-cost smartphones with internet capability

- The mobile phone, and in particular the use of sms/text for data entry, communication and data retrieval

Of these tools, sms will be of importance until maybe 2013, whereafter hopefully internet-enabled mobile phones are very low cost and very pervasive throughout the 3^rd world (present 2008 cost structures are typically US$ 30 for a basic mobile phone with sms, and US$ 70 for a low-end internet-capable mobile phone). The popularity of such internet-enabled mobile phones will of course also depend on the presence of systems which are of practical use in making a living and fighting one’s way out of poverty.

There are several factors which if present can greatly stimulate business, the informal sector, and sme’s. Most of these are to do with creating marketplaces. If these marketplaces are extremely low cost or free then they are likely to be more effective, with a more rapid uptake, and with a high saturation population.

Some of these factors are:

- Free and rapid placement and search of advertisements for goods and services, both in very localised geographical locations and also globally and all levels in between

- Free and rapid placement and search of resumes/CV’s of employees and freelancers, at all levels of income, and through all geographical locations

- Free and rapid placement and search of job and contract vacancies and tenders

- Free and rapid placement and search for investment opportunities, offered and wanted

- Systems for the location of items and spares which are difficult to obtain

- Systems for the location of the best price for items (price comparison systems or websites)

- Systems which assist in credit funding of small farmers (see www.cd3wd.com/sfmss/)

- Systems which enable people without cellphones to receive business and personal messages (see www.cd3wd.com/SAM/ )

- Low cost electronic and/or mobile banking systems (see www.cd3wd.com/SPS/ )

Some of the above systems, especially those which are more business-to-business, can and even must operate with a full web interface, i.e. from pc, notebook or smartphone. Others require an sms interface or a dual sms-and-web interface.

Sms is a very interesting phenomenon – at the start it was regarded as something only for use by technical staff inside MNP’s (mobile network providers). But as we know sms is now a global success story, in the developed and in the developing worlds. Sms costs the MNP’s very little to process, but generate a very high percentage profit due to MNP’s normal pricing policies (but this profit is a very small percentage of overall profits due to the high profitability of voice).

It would be very difficult for any independent service operator to operate a ‘free’ sms-based service using normal commercial rates as provided by the MNP’s. And most MNP’s are so busy making money hand over fist by running voice services that they are unwilling to depart from core business and get into social projects. Thus we need some Government intervention or Donor/NGO Assistance to make sms-based services possible, at least at startup. There are several possible business models, which would all work.

Let us now clarify the architecture which can and will provide such internet-based and sms-based services: traditional thinking emphasises a country-by-country approach, each operating on a relatively small market size, with consequent diseconomies of scale. Much better to operate global systems, which provide (obviously) a global reach but which can also provide very localised searches. For the sms-based side of things, such global service providers can operate with one global sms-gateway service, or with a number of nationally-based sms-gateway services. (Note here that an sms gateway is quite simply a service which converts from sms-message to some form of internet message and vice-versa, and enables computers and servers to communicate with mobile phones via sms/text.)

What I am proposing here is that MNP’s should be encouraged (or even required by Government regulation) to provide Open and Free SMS Gateway services which can then be utilised by small and large system operators and entrepreneurs to create social and/or commercial sms-based services. Failing that, these MNP’s should be forced by government regulation to provide a fixed or maximum number per month of free sms’s to one or several third-party operators who set up an SMS Gateway Service for Open and General Free Useage and/or to drive their own business system(s).

Alex Weir, Harare, November 2008