The Global Impact Study

Mobile phone use is soaring, especially in developing and transitioning countries. What does the dramatic increase in mobile use — and particularly mobile internet use — mean for public access venues? Will mobile internet compete with, complement, or coexist with public access? A new in-depth study, Public Access, Private Phone, will explore the interplay between mobile internet and public access venues.

Any study of public-access ICT users is incomplete without a corresponding examination of non-users. To put the findings from our public-access venue operator and user surveys in context, we are also implementing a non-users survey.

In March 2010 Global Impact Study team members working on the in-depth studies, survey, and inventory activities gathered to harmonize impact indicators and discuss the project’s approach to communications knowledge sharing. You can download the communications and knowledge-sharing presentation and view photos from the workshop.

Field testing for the venue operator and user surveys is underway. Our survey coordinator, Chris Rothschild, just returned from two weeks in the Philippines and Bangladesh getting acquainted with the survey implementation teams, visiting public access ICT venues, and observing some of the field testing in progress.