The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship aims to identify and connect accomplished social entrepreneurs globally, fostering a community for broader public impact. The document discusses current mobile technology applications that support social entrepreneurship, such as data collection, educational games, and disaster relief communication. It also addresses the challenges and opportunities in utilizing mobile technologies, including cost reduction, infrastructure robustness, user interface design, and data security.

1. Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

2. Schwab Foundation Objectives Identify, select and highlight accomplished social entrepreneurs at the national, regional and global levels Connect social entrepreneurs to companies, media, civil society , governments, academic experts and other resources Build a global community of outstanding social entrepreneurs to achieve wider impact for the public good

3. Our Network in Year 2010 200 late-stage social enterprises world-wide Sectors Youth & Education Enterprise Development Health Energy Environment Technology Microfinance Housing Waste Management Water Access Women Rural Development & Agriculture

4. Current Mobile Technology Apps in SE SMS-based, IVR, or WAP applications for: Data dissemination and data collection (health services, market pricing, weather forecast, financial transactions and/or micro-credit)

5. Current Mobile Technology Apps in SE Marketplace for product and service exchange Educational games Location-based services (GPRS) Disaster relief communications Community/network-based mobile applications that help social entrepreneurs to market or fundraise for their organizations

6. Challenges and Opportunities for Mobile Technologies & Social Entrepreneurship Reduction in hardware and service provider costs Telecommunications infrastructure, robustness of network, and rural electrification Distribution of an application (oftentimes device or SIM-card dependent)  Mobile accounts Grassroots rural vs. urban marketing Customer account relations (24/7 banking agents) Educating/training the end user (e.g. consider an illiterate user base) Local language integration and conversion

7. Challenges and Opportunities for Mobile Technologies & Social Entrepreneurship User interface: Designing simple, effective applications on very basic phones as well as WAP/Internet-enabled phones in environments (varying telecommunications platforms) Data reliability: Ensuring the quality and accuracy of information relayed Information security and privacy (encryption of data transmitted and data stored on the device)

8. Vivian Gee Head of Asia Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship [email_address]