An association of mobile operators and related companies called GSMA in partnership with Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, have launched the Mobile and Development Intelligence (MDI) project that will make data available for the mobile industry in the developing world.
The MDI will offer data and analysis services through an open access portal.
With over 70 metrics available to the users, the MDI will enable mobile network operators to tabulate, graph, map and export the datasets with country-level dashboards available for more than 140 developing world countries.
“The GSMA believes that open access to high-quality data will improve business decision-making, increase total investment from both the commercial mobile industry and the development sector, and amplify economic, environmental and social impact,” said Chris Locke, Managing Director, GSMA Development Fund.
“Omidyar Network is proud to partner with the GSMA on the MDI portal to help foster a thriving mobile ecosystem in the developing world,” said Raj Gollamudi, director of investments, Omidyar Network.
Currently, the mobile industry stakeholders in the developing world lack access to data and analysis to support their decision-making.
MDI intends to fill this gap by aggregating and hosting publicly available data from multiple sources such as the GSMA, the United Nations, the World Bank, the wider mobile industry and development organizations.
With more than 800 organization profiles, the GSMA is best placed to aggregate this data. In addition, over 750 products and services have been summarized, with an initial focus on mobile money and mobile health.
The MDI is expected to increase the development momentum by providing a robust, data-rich, user-friendly and freely available portal that offers a new level of global visibility.
