On Bonobos, women and mobile phones
An experiment in communication and women bonding in developing communities
Recently inspired by lectures from author and Professor Paul Bloom, and a guest talk from Professor Laurie Santos in a Coursera-run Yale course on morality, I’ve stumbled upon the germ of an idea that allies the study of the morality of primates (more specifically Bonobos), mobile technology, economy, sociology and more to try to tackle some of the developmental issues in societies in different parts of the developing world.
I must start by saying that I have little to no experience in any of the fields mentioned above, but my career as an advertising creative gives me a fairly large background in idea experimentation and open, fierce debate, at least.
The specific idea I’m about to propose here is the design, production and delivery of a free, custom-designed, gender-limitated mobile feature phone with the end objective of enhancing the general quality of life of communities by focusing on augmenting communication between women in these communities.
The idea germinates from the findings of Professor Laurie Santos and others that Bonobos — a primate species with genetic proximity to humans — seemed to have achieved a less violent, higher moral sense in their societies because of the strong coalition of females.
So porting that thought to our own species and technological specificities, the idea here would be to produce or source a very cheap mobile device, possibly using industry spoils, that is pre-programmed with networking functions directed exclusively at women of developing communities. These functions could include free SMS communication between devices, free voice calls for government-related services such as hospitals and police, and free access to knowledge repositories like Wikipedia. For illiterate people, voiceover functions could be created to allow them to still benefit from it.
A clever distribution mechanism would have to be devised, whereas women that fit a minimal criteria list (minimal age, family size, etc) would receive the device. Each time a user receives the device, a profile is created and added to the system, and location proximity allows for other women in the area to be notified of another node in this mobile community.
A range of phone functions, in the form of apps, could be designed and deployed, either pre-installed or through the network, to direct the information exchange and conversation towards points of interest like family, safety, food security, education, child protection, etc.
The device’s external design cues like color (a bright pink?) and decoration (flowers?) could deter men from wanting to use or be seen using this device, but also embedded networked functions such as flagging mechanisms could be used so as to alert that a certain device is no longer being used by a woman, therefore deactivating its usage until ownership is restored.
Feedback from direct observation and from interviews would dictate enhancements in the device’s design and changes in the distribution mechanism for further expansion rounds.
This project would need the collaboration and involvement of a design company, an NGO, a network operator and a mobile producer. For example, IDEO with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, together with Nokia and MTN or Safaricom.
Too crazy? Let’s debate?
