This document outlines Nathan Eagle's EPROM program which aims to foster mobile phone related research and entrepreneurship in developing countries. The key activities of EPROM include developing mobile applications, conducting academic research using mobile phones, and creating a mobile phone programming curriculum. EPROM offers mobile programming courses at the University of Nairobi to teach students skills for developing African-centered mobile applications, as PCs are still rare but mobile phones are ubiquitous in countries like Kenya. The curriculum includes introductory courses in Python mobile development and a joint project-based course between MIT and the University of Nairobi on mobile programming for entrepreneurs.

1. ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNITY
INVOLVEMENT INITIATIVES
IN LATIN AMERICA
A plan created for NOKIA
Jorge Fernandez
March 29, 2008
Cover

2. Description
Compile a 3-year plan (2008-2010) for Community Involvement in Latin America.
Budget
8 million Euros to be used primarily for social programming, rather than marketing or
media relations.
Target & Reach
Youth Development + Use of Mobile Technology = Help Society.
Length
Fund multi-year social projects, mainly because it takes time to yield results in this area.
Outcomes
Establish clear metrics and engage partners.
Volunteering
Encourage NOKIA employees to volunteer in teams. They are entitled to 2 days each
year.
Legacy Projects
Take into account these projects, which will consume 50% of the budget in 2008, 25% in
2009, and 0% in 2010. Continuing with legacy projects is optional.
The Task

3. 1. Analyze legacy projects in Latin America. For each project identify its
location, model, period, key partner, and reach.
2. Identify ways to converge CI + MT without having to reinvent the wheel.
This is better accomplished by first researching and documenting what has
been successfully accomplished in other parts of the world.
3. Identify opportunities in Latin America to adapt and replicate successful CI +
MT stories from other nations and effective ways to factor in YD.
4. Identify key partners (financial, modeling, technology, resources, etc.)
5. Identify ways to continue supporting legacy projects via self-sustainability
and engaging new partners and sponsors.
6. Explore scenarios for optimal budget allocation. Ideally, creating self-
sustaining projects which can also contribute to legacy projects and support
new YD projects.
7. Design a feasibility criteria for selection of projects with potential for higher
impact on overall society.
8. Create a wide variety of simple roles to encourage volunteering.
CI - Community Involvement
YD - Youth Development
MT - Mobile Technology
HS - Help Society
Methodology

4. › Small installed base of Internet-ready PCs in Latin America. Thus, role and
relative importance of mobile platforms is much greater.
› With its still emerging data, multimedia, gaming and video capabilities, the
mobile phone appears destined to become the primary means through which
low income users in Latin America can access all forms of informal, peer-to-
peer, networking, published, business and official content.
› Coverage of wireless access is mainly available in urban areas and rapidly
expanding in rural areas, however TCO remains the biggest challenge for low
income segments.
› Effective ICT programs need at least two media platforms:
Internet-connected-PCs
Mobile phones.
Technology Background
Relative to Disadvantaged or Low Income Population
“In developing nations the phone is basically a surrogate for the computer and the credit card. This one
ubiquitous piece of technology can be repurposed for all sorts of interesting activities.”
Nathan Eagle, EPROM, Nokia Forum
Most mobile applications have been
designed to profit in developed economies
and for wealthier market segments

5. Legacy Projects
Conéctate
Venezuela
Calle a
Calle
Say NO to
drugs
Conéctate
Colombia
Conéctate
Chile
Mudando a
Historia
Posta
Jóven
Program
Disadvantaged youth development and
improvement of their communities, by organizing
art and communications activities. 1800+
participants.
2005 - 2008SES
NOKIA
Argentina
ICT, life and entrepreneurial skills training for
youth. Job placement services for 500 local youth,
ages 18 – 29
2005 – 2008IADB
NOKIA
Venezuela
Disadvantaged youth between the ages of 16 and
20 who then act as volunteers for children from the
same socioeconomic group
2005 - 2008GTZ
NOKIA
Peru
ICT, life and entrepreneurial skills training for
youth. Job placement services for 400 local youth
2005 - 2008IADB
NOKIA
Colombia
Vocational and life skills training, community
service and job placement services for local youth.
2005 – 2008IADB
NOKIA
Chile
Teach reading to disadvantaged children.
Organized a "Youth Commission" to help
continuation of project activities by establishing
"training the trainer" activities, as well as, seeking
new sources for project funding.
2005 – 2008NOKIABrazil
Scope and ReachPartnerPeriodFundingCountry
€ 4M 2008 Budget
Apparently these projects will expire in 2008. Need to know budget breakdown and real number of beneficiaries.
Euros 26M
330,000
Beneficiaries
= Eur 79 per beneficiary

6. Budget Allocation - € 8M
€ TBD
› Scale, adapt and
replicate projects to:
Support smaller
starting projects.
Support legacy
projects.
› Monitor P&L
Management
› Define Exit Criteria
€ 2M
› Define Exit Criteria or
make assessment to
continue funding
project.
› Execute Succession
Planning or suitable
parts.
2009 20102008TYPE
€ TBD
› Apply Exit Criteria
› Develop new projects.
€ TBD
› Location selection criteria.
› Prepare business cases to
select top 3 projects.
› Strive for CI’s long-term
support.
› Define financial and success
metrics for self-sustainability.
› Engage new partners and
sponsors.
New
Projects
€ 2M
Budget allocation
needs to be
correlated to the
scope, reach and
lifecycle of each
project..
› Apply any unused
balance from allocated
budget.
› Implement means to
make project self
sustainable.
› Encourage the community
to take on some modest
tangible projects that
better meet local needs.
€ 4M
› Assess real impact of allocated
budget per beneficiary.
› Create Succession Plan.
› Take advantage of low US
Dollar value against Euro for
any purchase of assets or
services in the U.S.
Legacy
Projects
€ 6M
NOKIA funding may
still be available into
2009.
Project = Country
Program = Enterprise

7. High
2008
Budget
Legacy
Projects
New
Projects
Budget and Projects Lifecycle
2009 2010
End of 3 -year
project life
Full Self
SustainableLow
Use difference to
start new projects
Break Even
Point
Bell shape for
sake of illustration
BOP may
happen later

8. Financial Management
› Define ratios by project and consolidate then by country and region.
› Ensure bookkeeping is done per corporate guidelines.
› Strive for effective P&L management.
› Track financial costs for each project.
› Develop a program budget that allocates indirect costs to each program.
› As much as possible strive to minimize overhead or administrative costs in
order to make more money available for programs
› Identify and quantify possible liabilities
› On a monthly basis compare planned revenue and expenses to actual
revenue and expenses. Decide where to cut down on expenses and build up
on revenue.
› Produce quarterly financial statements for each project: cash flow statement,
statement of activities and a statement of financial position.
In essence always
manage actual reach and
maximize distribution of funds

9. Reflects how many months the organization could operate if no additional funds were received. (> 18 months)
Financial Ratios
Defensive Interval (DI) = Cash (Budget) + Sponsorships + Receivables
Average Monthly Expenses
Liquid Funds Indicator (LFI) = Total Net Assets – Restricted Net Assets – Fixed Assets
Average Monthly Expenses
Similar to the defensive interval in its use but is more conservative in removing assets with restrictions on them from the calculation. It also determines
the number of months of expenses that can be covered by existing assets. (Min. 12 months)
Savings Indicator (SI) = Revenue – Expense
Total Expense
Measures the increase or decrease in the ability of an organization to add to its net assets. Values greater than one indicate an increase in savings. The
savings indicator is a simple way to determine if an organization is adding to or using up its net asset base.
Debt Ratio (DR) = Average Total Debt
Average Total Assets
Measures the proportion of assets provided by debt. High values indicate future liquidity problems or reduced capacity for future borrowing. (< 1)
Revenue Ratio (RR) = Revenue Source
Total Revenue
Seven revenue sources can be analyzed in order to establish what proportion each of these revenue streams contributes to the organization’s total
revenues. These sources are: public contributions, government grants, program service revenues, dividends and interest, net sales,
membership dues, special events.
Program Service Expense Ratio =
Program Service Expense
Total Expense
Measures the relationship of funds spent for program purposes to all expenses.

10. Criteria for Quick
Project Assessment
HIGHMEDLOWNOYES
Can the project become self sustainable in the future?
When will it deplete allocated budget?
Will it generate the expected outcomes?
IS IT WORTH DOING?
What demographics will it reach?
What are the determinant attributes of each available solution, including ours?
Are there other suitable solutions or projects?
CAN THE SOLUTION BE COMPETITIVE?
Is the solution self sustainable?
Does it fit corporate core criteria and guidelines?
CAN OUR EFFORT BE ASSERTIVE?
Is it measurable?
What is the estimated cost?
Can it be delivered?
IS THE SOLUTION FEASIBLE?
What will the project life cycle be?
What is the size and scope of the addressable target?
IS THE NEED REAL?
C E R T A I N T Y
Complement with business
case at project and
program levels

11. › Close the digital divide gap.
› Promote entrepreneurship for increased economic sustainability.
› New employment generation with fulfilling careers.
› Include measurable impacts on development of life skills, civic
education, reduced social exclusion, poverty reduction, etc.
› Youths shall acquire basic, intermediate and advanced ICT skills critical
to employment, education and communication.
› Increased self-esteem, confidence, teamwork and conflict management.
› Higher ability of participants to sustain themselves via employment or
starting a new businesses.
› Return the favor by actively volunteering in new projects or by
generating new job opportunities.
› High rate of volunteering among Nokia employees.
Expected Outcomes
Define
curriculums
HARD benefits
SOFT benefits

12. High
Low HighVariety of Projects and Roles
Volunteering
Legacy
Projects
Shared Phone
Basic MT+YD Projects
Advanced MT+YD Projects
mApps
mUniversity
Volunteering
› Organize internal events to raise awareness of
projects portfolio and variety of roles
› Communicate expected outcomes
› Leverage Nokia’s Helping Hands
› Leverage “Connecting People” initiative
› Leverage ShareIdeas.org
Launch basic
programs in 2008

13. FRAMEWORK FOR EFFECTIVE PROGRAMMING
Making Youth Programs Work
WORKING WITH YOUTH
1. Focus on positive youth development.
2. Offer developmental appropriate activities.
3. Strive for maximum youth participation.
CONTEXT,FAMIILY, COMMUNITY, AND CULTURE
4. Involve parents, family and other caring adults.
5. Involve the community in the work of the program.
6. Strive to be culturally relevant.
SOUND ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES
7. Cultivate and retain competent and committed staff.
8. Build strong managerial and administrative capacity.
9. Take action to maintain sustainability.
10. Develop systems for monitoring and evaluation.
Source: International Youth Foundation, Summer 1999
“We recognize that simply supporting young change makers is not enough. We need to dialogue and engage with
them in seeking solutions to urgent social needs.”
Martin Sandelin, VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, NOKIA
Engage in dialogue at the
very beginning to identify
needs, set a structure
and attainable solutions.

14. Student Objetives
› Develop a business behavior and mindset that leads
into improved personal financial independence
› Acquire basic competitive skills to succeed in
business.
› Feel confortable and confident when embracing
complex business challenges
› Improve business and financial estrategies.
Foster Entrepreneurship
DI-Empresa, is a new learning program developed
in Peru that teaches youth how an enterprise is
created, how to generate business ideas, and
foster an entrepreneurial mindset.
Teach participants to run
profitable enterprises and
commit to supporting
other programs.

15. Mobile Technology Applications
› Mobile Payphone
› Shared Cell Phone
› Village Cell Payphone
› Bridge-It + Text2Teach
› Mobile Banking,
transactions, micro-loans
› Micro-payments, SMS
Money Transfer
› Mobile Learning – Mobile-
ED
› Mobile Map Service
› SMS Gateway
Development
› SMS based search engine
› Mobile Stock Trading
› Mobile Blogging
› mHealth
Suitable for Low Income Segment,
deployed in Asia, Africa and India

16. Working with Universities
Engage students in each target
country to design business
models and develop mobile
applications aimed to resolve
problems that affect low income
population.
There’s no better approach to
resolve a problem that designing
a solution by the very people that
are experiencing said
predicament.
To Engage the Local Communities

17. 3-Year Plan
› Execute Expansion Plans
Horizontal (geographic)
Vertical Demographics
Age
Disadvantaged youth women
Industry: video production, web
site development, retail,
services, etc.
› For selected projects develop
community structures and arrange for
space, training, resources, processes,
and professional expertise (legal,
financial)
› Secure participation of key partners.
› Identify and engage Youth Forums
that represent addressable targets.
Introduce project plans.
› Launch University Contest and secure
(free) proper media coverage with
participation of partners and
government officials Launch university
contest: business models, m-
commerce, m-banking, m-
transportation, m-communications, m-
socialdev, m-collaboration, m-video,
m-payments, m-ordering, m-content
› Volunteering: Continuously promote
project portfolio and exciting variety of
roles.
› Learn Nokia’s CI guidelines.
› Take over management of all legacy
projects.
Rapidly get acquainted with primes,
contacts, allocations of resources,
priorities, deliverables and deadlines.
Assess outcomes vs. budget
› Succession Planning
Try to match legacy projects with MT
Explore self sustainability
Search new partners and sponsors
Handle the actual timing of
withdrawal with care
If possible dovetail into new funding
programs
› Development Plan of New Projects
Define country selection criteria:
youth unemployment rate,
disadvantaged youth rate, poverty
rate, rate of unemployed young
women, etc.
Gather primary market data
Prepare business cases and socialize
projects with selected partners
201020092008

18. Partners in Education
› Local Universities and Technical Institutes
› Local Governments
› Technology Vendors
› Wireless Service Providers

19. EPROM
EPROM 2008 Update
EPROM’s first academic year was extremely eventful.
They have successfully developed a mobile phone
programming curriculum and taught hundreds of
Kenyan, Ethiopian, Ugandan, and Rwandan computer
science students Python, Java, and SMS-based mobile
application development.
These classes have led to dozens of projects
concerning the development of mobile phone
applications specifically for the African market. Several
of these projects have gathered international media
attention, while others are being formed into start-
up ventures based in Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and
beyond.
Principal Investigator
Nathan Eagle, PhD
- Research Scientist, Program for Developmental Entrepreneurship,
MIT Design Laboratory
- Fulbright Lecturer, University of Nairobi
- Adjunct Associate Professor, CTIT, Ethiopia
MIT
Professor Alex (Sandy) Pentland
- Director & Founder of the Program for Developmental
Entrepreneurship, MIT Design Laboratory
Professor William J. Mitchell
- Director & Founder of the MIT Design Laboratory
http://eprom.mit.edu/entrepreneurship.html
EPROM, part of the Program for Developmental Entrepreneurship within the MIT Design Laboratory,
aims to foster mobile phone-related research and entrepreneurship.
Key activities include:
›development of new applications for mobile phone users worldwide
›academic research using mobile phones
›creation of a widely applicable mobile phone programming curriculum
Today’s mobile phones are designed to meet Western needs. Subscribers in developing countries,
however, now represent the majority of mobile phone users worldwide. The adoption of new
technologies and services within this vast, emerging market will drive innovation and help shape the
future of the mobile phone.

20. Off the Desktop
EPROM’s educational component involves mobile programming courses at the University of Nairobi.
Eagle and his colleagues believe that the current curriculum, which focuses almost exclusively on
programming for PCs, is inappropriate for Africa. PCs are still rare in countries such as Kenya. By
contrast, mobile phones are virtually ubiquitous. As a result, according to the EPROM Web site, “African
computer science graduates are not qualified to address the computing needs of African people. At such
a critical point in the evolution of computing technology, there is a need to equip these computer science
students with the skills to develop mobile phone applications specifically for African users.”
To that end, Eagle and his colleagues are preparing a series of mobile technology courses. The
proposed curriculum has been approved by a college principal and the university’s deputy vice
chancellor of academics.
For students with little programming experience, EPROM will offer a class titled “Python for Rapid
Mobile Application Development,” which is based on a one-week pilot course that was offered to
university faculty and students in July 2006. The new course will provide an overview of how to develop
mobile applications with minimal amounts of coding.
The EPROM educators are also preparing a joint MIT–University of Nairobi project-based course titled
“Mobile Phone Programming for Entrepreneurs.” This class will team MIT and University of Nairobi
students, who will develop, market, and launch their own mobile applications in Nairobi and Boston. In
general, those applications will be short message service (SMS) server-based offerings, but client-side
applications will also be encouraged. Nokia has pledged seed funding to turn the best class projects into
commercial ventures.
For those students who have already studied object-oriented programming (preferably with Java™
technology), EPROM is offering “Introduction to Mobile Phone Application Development in Java.” This
course will use existing MIT and Nokia course material.
EPROM

21. SMS Bootcamp - Text Message Service Prototyping
The most popular mobile phone applications are server-side SMS (text messaging) services. During the
2006-2007 academic year, we will be offering a "SMS Boot Camp" at the University of Nairobi, a project-
based course enabling teams of students to launch and market their own SMS services to the millions of
mobile phone users in Kenya. A small amount of seed funding will be available to the best teams
interested in turning their project into a commercial venture.
Airtime Banking
Mobile phone users in rural areas are only able to buy airtime when they go to the market in town centers
- an event that occurs rarely due to the long distances required to travel. In Kenya there are millions of
these rural subscribers who currently have to guess how much airtime they will use before their next visit
to the local market. However, as many Kenyans can attest, budgeted airtime often disappears much
faster than anticipated.
Airtime Banking is an SMS application developed by Dickson Ukanga in s60 python for Kenyan airtime
dealers in rural town centers to help solve this problem. Using Kenya's standard airtime transfer
techniques (Sambaza and Me2U) the application transforms a s60 phone into an automated SMS
gateway. When airtime is purchased, the airtime dealer updates the client's account on the system with
the purchased value and the period that the client wants the amount to last. The Airtime Banking
application sends a trickle of airtime to the client's phone over the course of the selected time period,
helping the client use the airtime more efficiently. While this may cut some calls short, the system
guarantees the client will have access to airtime until his next trip to the market.
EPROM

22. Mobile Mapping Kenya
Jessica Colaco had been exploring the possibility of studying mobile GIS systems
for her thesis work, but was getting increasingly frustrated that maps of developing
countries such as hers were not commonly found in existing mobile map databases.
After finding no suitable service that would meet her needs, Jessica developed her
own system that allows a mobile phone user to view detailed street maps of Nairobi
as well as access to her user generated point-of-interest (POI) database. Using a
GPRS connection to our Apache web server, a user can query local Kenyan
destinations, streets, businesses, or civil services such as police stations and
hospitals. The locations and contact information of the results that meet the search
criteria appear.
MoSoko - The Mobile Community Market
Billy Odero, a newly graduated Computer Science student from the University of Nairobi, was moving out of
the dorms and wanted to sell some of his things to the other students at the university. He was also
interested in finding an apartment to share with other newly graduated students somewhere downtown.
Tired of sifting through irrelevant ads on bulletin boards, Billy developed a SMS bulletin board system to
help connect buyers and sellers in Nairobi. Sellers text into the MoSoko SMS gateway with information
regarding the type of item (bicycle, TV, couch, ... ), their location (Nairobi, UoN Chiromo Campus), and the
asking price for the item. This information is stored in a database and can be easily queried via SMS by
potential buyers.
EPROM

23. Context-Aware Mobile Data Entry for Billing Systems
During a summer internship John Muli Senga became familiar with data collection
in the field, and the importance of data integrity and accuracy. However, ensuring
the data's integrity becomes a difficult task without automated integrity checks - an
impossibility with the standard paper-based field data collection. John set out to
design a mobile phone application that enables data entry with realtime integrity
checks, shifting the bulk of integrity control from the backend entry staff/system to
the data collector. Collected data from his application can be uploaded remotely to
a server, which does a much lighter processing and error control. The Data Logger
also enables real-time data synchronization with a database server through GPRS.
But to allow batch transfers and cut down the connection latency, a resident
database is available which can be synchronized with the remote database at
longer intervals. To ensure the data collectors are in the correct location, John also
developed the functionality to log GSM and also GPS location information at the
occurrence of an event.
Mobile Phone Programming for Entrepreneurs
We will be hosting a project-based course that will allow students to learn enough of the basics of mobile
phone programming to design and launch their own mobile phone application. While a major focus of the
course will be on the technical skills required to build these application, we will also have a particular
emphasis on opportunity analysis and product marketing. Success in this class depends on recognizing an
existing market demand and meeting that demand with the design and launch of an original mobile phone-
related service. While there will be an emphasis on SMS server-side application development, we will also
give students to the skills to build applications on the phone itself.
EPROM

24. New global collaboration gives children a voice
Plan has teamed up with one of the world leaders in mobile communications, Nokia, to help give a voice to thousands of children in Africa.
The new collaboration will use information and communications technologies (ICT) - such as radio, mobile phones and the internet - to raise
children’s awareness of their rights and opportunities. Nokia has provided an initial donation of one million Euros for 2006.
The first stage of this new joint effort will see Nokia focus on supporting Plan’s existing child media and ICT projects, which help children produce
high quality material that is relevant to them and promotes their rights.
Producing their own digital media is often revolutionary for many children, providing them with the chance to gain self-confidence and further
influence their own future.
Tackling child poverty
Boys participating in a Plan
child media project
Access to and use of ICT is a vital element in helping to tackle poverty and improve the respect, fulfillment and
protection of children’s rights. It is an important tool for children and youth to make their voice heard and to learn
about issues that are relevant for them.
Plan’s chief executive officer Tom Miller said: “Plan is committed to working in partnerships, not only with local
groups or governments in the countries where we work, but also with like-minded corporate organizations like
Nokia. I believe that this cooperation will deliver long-term sustainable benefits for hundreds of communities in the
developing world.”
Plan