Mobile Phones for Social Change and Behavioural Change: A Compendium of 100+ Initiatives in India

"The bigger thinking of compiling over 100 projects is to explore how mobiles can drive desired social and behavioural changes among millions of Indians."

In order to understand how communities and frontline workers in India are using mobiles for information dissemination, reporting and monitoring of services, and interpersonal communication, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) India and the Delhi-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) initiated a project called Mobiles for Social and Behaviour Change (MSBC). One of the main outcomes of Phase II of this project is this compendium, which is a compilation of over 100 mobile-based communication for development (C4D) initiatives in India around education, health, civic participation, socio-economic development, and disaster management. It further aims to understand these mobile-based interventions by broadly dividing them into 3 categories: information and dissemination; monitoring and tracking; and support to frontline workers. Each profile describes features such as reach and the road ahead and provides a URL for more information about the project.

According to an IAMAI-KPMG report, India's mobile internet userbase will reach 314 million by 2017. Used as a publishing and communication tool, it enables millions around the world to communicate instantly, gives the common citizen a voice among an audience of millions, and serves as a huge multimedia library of information. There are increasing number of mobile-based projects, and the government, bilateral agencies, private sector players, and the civil society continue to invest in mobile-based practices that can provide local solutions in local context and problem areas. This directory features over 100 such projects that evolve around addressing various issues and provide solution-based tools to various ongoing challenges around women, adolescents, youth, girls, and children and sectors across health, education, nutrition, and empowerment. This compendium can be further used for referential and advocacy purposes. Some of the projects have been further researched and analysed.