{"id":151,"date":"2011-01-04T15:31:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-04T15:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coyoteblog.posterous.com\/cell-phones-and-handhelds-in-humanitarian-aid"},"modified":"2017-05-16T17:13:40","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T00:13:40","slug":"cell-phones-and-handhelds-in-humanitarian-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2011\/01\/cell-phones-and-handhelds-in-humanitarian-aid\/","title":{"rendered":"Cell phones and handhelds in humanitarian, aid and development"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>For the world’s poorest, cellphone technology provides access to information and resources few ever imagined possible.<\/p>\n

Back in October 2001, I wrote an article for the United Nations (originally part of the UNITeS online knowledge base<\/a>) on handheld computer technologies in community service\/volunteering\/advocacy<\/a>. It was on both cell phones and stand-alone tech used for reference and recording in the field and then connected to a network later. It provided some of the earliest examples of volunteers\/citizens\/grass roots advocates using handheld computer\/personal digital assistants (PDAs) or phone devices as part of community service\/volunteering\/advocacy, or examples that could be applied to volunteer settings.<\/p>\n

Text messages and other mobile applications have created platforms for aid groups to reach the most remote farms and crowded urban slums of Africa, Asia and Latin America as well. This article back in September 2010<\/a> was the latest in profiling some of these activities.<\/p>\n

I’ve continued to pay attention to this subject, though I haven’t been in a position to do any further in-depth research at all. Some web sites that keep me up-to-date on what’s going on:<\/p>\n