Indicadores

In addition to the economic benefits, one of the main effects of mobile phones is their impact on society. Economic and social development, including social inclusion, remains a key challenge in the region. While numerous economies in the area have experienced significant economic growth, political and social crises continue to affect the lives of local populations.

Mobile services impact positively on the living standards of people across communities in a practical manner, increasing social capital and cohesion through several mechanisms:

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■ Giving a space of expression for a variety of community voices: mobile telephony, by providing access to social media, has created a space for expression, self-identification and mobilisation around responsible behaviours in society, as a growing number people use social media platforms to share their experiences and make their voices heard.

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■ Promotion of active citizenship: mobile telephony, by providing access to social media, ensures greater participation of marginalised groups in the development process, with many governments using social media to raise public involvement and transparency in decision making. In Egypt, following the 2011 turmoil, the transition government has strongly increased its presence on social networks, which the

population now considers a main source of information and dialogue.50

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■ Extension of communications: mobile phones — and text messaging in particular — require only basic literacy, so are therefore accessible to a larger segment of the population. A mobile-based adult literacy project in Egypt has shown that the use of mobile phones is a strong motivator, increasing the

drive for students to enrol in literacy courses.51

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■ Assisting in conflict relief: mobile services allow families and friends to stay in touch in the event of conflict or war, which can also ensure that they obtain more rapid relief. Local mobile networks also

launched fundraising campaigns, asking subscribers to donate via SMS52_{. Mobile technology was also}

used by the Tunisian Red Cross to allow people fleeing the recent conflict in Libya to call their loved ones.53

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■ Promotion of digital inclusion: mobile services universalise the use of computer and communication technologies to boost autonomous and continuous learning and enable citizens to access the internet. While impacts on productivity have been discussed above, mobile services impact societies in numerous other ways by changing how people work:

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■ Stimulating local content: as discussed in section 2, mobile is quickly becoming the main platform for internet browsing in the region. However, a lack of sufficient content in Arabic has been identified as a barrier to further growth. In recent years however, there has been a significant increase in the production

of local Arabic content across the Arabic world.54 _{Apart from being a driver of growth in the economy,}

the production of local Arabic content provides an opportunity to help preserve countries’ Arabic and Islamic identity. Critical mass is needed to sustain local content on local platforms, which highlights the role government organisations and large corporations play in promoting local content creation, as well as

capital investment in new local content-focused companies.55

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■ Creating low-carbon economies: according to a GSMA forecast, mobile technology could reduce

greenhouse gas emissions by 2% by 202056_{. This reduction can be met through, among other things, the}

introduction of more energy-efficient infrastructure, along with reduced carbon consumption through more efficient communication and travel. In the region, renewable energy sources are increasingly being used to power mobile base stations, with mobile provider Tunisiana powering all of its base stations in

Tunisia with solar power and Zain also powering 36% of its base stations in Sudan with solar power.57

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■ Changing the way education, healthcare and financial services are provided: mobile services have the potential to further impact economic and social development through the provision of high- value 3G/UMTS and 4G/LTE data services by generating a host of social and commercial services in areas such as education, healthcare and financial services.

The social impact of mobile telephony and the development of local content are discussed in more detail in Appendix E.

m-Education:

Mobile technologies are especially good at increasing both the level education and achieving the goal of education for all, as they can enable literacy development, promote student motivation, enhance access to teacher development opportunities and improve communication between parents, teachers and principals. Examples of m-Education programmes in the Arab States include a programme in Jordan, provided in both Arabic and English, to help recent graduates with career development and a mobile English-language programme in Tunisia with lessons covering a range of subjects including society, technology and the environment.

m-Health:

Mobile technologies provide a significant contribution to healthcare in the region and a World Health Organisation review of m-Health programmes worldwide found that the region has a number of established programmes. Examples include a programme in a number of countries that promotes HIV prevention skills and a mobile programme in Yemen that delivers medical advice via SMS.59

m-Money:

Mobile payments and mobile banking help with the transfer of remittances and transfers of money. This has a number of benefits including promoting tax transparency and combating corruption , acting as a gateway into the banking system which helps individuals to improve their money management, as well as improving the customer experience by speeding up payment process and cutting queues. Both m-Banking and m-Payment schemes are available in a number of countries including Jordan, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, with Egypt and Tunisia also offering m-Banking services.

30 The Economic and Social Contribution of the Mobile Industry