The rapid and multi-sector growth of Mobile for Development (M4D) has had an important impact on the way that development actors see the role of technology. M4D impact can be seen in every sector and region around the world and some argue that telecentres have become obsolete.

In his article entitled “Technology's new chance to make a difference in 2012” in The Guardian early this year, leading mobile entrepreneur Ken Banks expressed his wish for the mainstreaming of ICT4D:

Finally, I'd love to see ICT4D and m4d go mainstream. Today, we have a crazy situation where each sector of development seems to be divided into two camps – the people who are deploying (or most likely figuring out how to deploy) mobile technologies, and those who aren't. The former put an ’m‘ in front of their discipline, giving us m-heath, m-agriculture, m-learning, and so on. The rest remain plain old health, agriculture and learning. Even worse, they often go to different conferences… We never had p-health (paper health), or b-learning (blackboard learning). ICT4D will only have truly succeeded when it becomes invisible, intrinsic and yes, ultimately works its way out of a job.

In our next TIS Talks, we will explore development situations and projects where the power of mobile and telecentres can work for development. InSTEDD, a non-profit organization focused on using a blend of social and technical approaches to improve global health, safety and sustainable development, will walk us through scenarios where mobile alone can’t succeed and where telecentres can increase their impact by working with mobile applications.

The webinars will take place at the following time:

October 24 (Spanish) - 7:00pm GMT  (2:00pm Colombia/Peru/Mexico; 4:00pm Argentina)

November 1 (English) - 6:00am GMT  (8:00am Spain/Egypt; 9:00am Kenya; 1:00pm Thailand; 2:00pm Philippines)

To join, simply log in as Guest at http://engageteachers.adobeconnect.com/telecentre at least 10 minutes before the scheduled time.

Let’s experiment the joining of forces. Let’s go mainstream!