"Creating Innovative and Appropriate M2M Technologies With and For the NextBillion"
Telefonica-Arduino GSM/GPRS Shield Use-Case Scenarios for Emerging Markets
Telefonica I+D, Physical Internet Lab
Telefonica I+D, Physical Internet Lab
Authors: Aisha Walcott Bryant (Telefonica I+D), Dr. Robbin Chapman (Wellesley College), Mr Eric Mibuari (Stanford University), Dr. Jakita Thomas (Spelman College), Mr. Francisco Javier Zorzano (Telefonica I+D)
Abstract
The Physical Internet Lab at Telefonica I+D in collaboration with developers at Arduino have created a new open-hardware device called the GSM/GPRS Shield (or GSM Shield) for the Arduino. The GSM shield combines the functionality of a cell phone with the input and output capabilities of a typical microcontroller board, such as the Arduino. The shield allows access to the Internet, sending SMS, making phone calls, and connecting sensors and actuators to interact with the physical world. Moreover, the GSM shield is a low-cost open-hardware device that enables developers around the globe to create innovative machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions. As a result, new M2M markets in emerging economies can be identified by and for the NextBillion- a term used to describe the next billion people to move into the middle class, and the potential for billions in profits for entrepreneurs and new business created for the next billion people. This document presents use-case scenarios where relevant and appropriate technologies that use the GSM shield may be developed. The use-cases cover education, healthcare, and entrepreneurship/new business.
1 Introduction
Cell phones and mobile technologies are becoming more and more ubiquitous since their introduction in the 1970s. They have penetrated advanced markets and now are more pervasive in emerging markets. Cell phones are an excellent example of a technology that is owned by billions and has a wide variety of uses in different regions around the world. Such examples include mobile banking, farming and agriculture, and gaming [Bolarinwa, 2011; Grant et al, 2007; Hughes et al, 2007]. The key features of mobile phones that have allowed them to reach consumers in all regions of the world are their size, portability, smart and appropriate pricing strategies (such as pay-as-you-go), and diversity of cell phone models and satellite/cell phone networks.
Making cell phones accessible to users and developers in emerging markets has allowed the creation of numerous new businesses, improving economies in a number of developing nations including, Kenya, India, and Mexico. We recognize that by selling the GSM Shield online, it will be challenging to reach our desired market demographic. As a result, we are proposing a product roll-out strategy that focuses on identifying communities and users in specific emerging markets. One of our objectives is to provide an equal platform for learning, creating, innovating and building businesses with the Arduino, GSM/GPRS Shield, and related technologies.
Figure 1: Image of the Telefonica I+D and Arduino GSM/GPRS shield.
The purpose of this document is to layout scenarios for immersing the Telefonica GSM/GPRS shield into emerging markets and developing communities. We want to take advantage of the opportunity to include emerging markets in the innovation and creativity that is relevant to their local communities. Such technologies have the great potential to improve the lives of those in developing countries and increase economic empowerment within emerging markets.
2 Potential Use-Cases
In this section we present example GSM Shield use-cases for developers, consumers, and businesses in emerging markets and developing communities.
2.1 Education
Education is a critical context for introducing new technologies into developing communities. It allows potential users to learn about the device in a systematic and structured way. At the same time, using education as a tool to introduce a new technology into a developing regions empowers communities to innovate solutions using the technology that are appropriate and relevant to their lives. In particular, education plays an important role when introducing the GSM shield because it is not a standalone device but instead a hardware resource for creation, innovation and development of new technologies. An education-based strategy enables early adoption of the GSM shield and understanding of this new low-cost technology. Both early adoption and shared understanding will result in a broad array of developing communities and emerging markets that may participate in the innovation and creation of new technologies.
There are two main approaches to using the GSM shield in learning environments. The first is to have students use pre-built/off-the-shelf devices, similar to using computers, educational software, or science kits. The second approach is to introduce Arduino and the GSM shield into the classroom and have students create their own tools to enhance learning and classroom engagement. The second approach directly addresses the issue of sustainability by allowing students to create Arduino projects to solve problems relevant to their everyday lives [Anwy, 2004]. A third option is a hybrid approach. Initial educational activities use pre-built/off-the-shelf units and hands-on, inquiry-based pedagogy to support learners gaining fluency designing with the units and exploring possible uses for the technology. These activities are followed by activities where learners move on from using the pre-built/off-the-shelf units to creating their own tools. This tiered approach supports a learner’s low-threshold entry into using the GSM shield with the potential for later high-ceiling adoption of the technology. This rich adoption model may result in the most sustainable use of the GSM shield by the community.
Our target starting age group is 13years and older. This age group was selected in particular because in many developing countries there is a 1-2year gap in which a high school graduates must wait before entering college [Wabwoba et al, 2011]. During that time those students have difficulty securing a job and furthering their education. Additionally, there is limited space at Universities and as a result numerous high-achieving students are unable to attend college or coerced into programs of study outside of their interests. Thus, a number of citizens in emerging economies are unable to pursue their education through traditional means. Therefore there is a great need to propose non-traditional learning opportunities. Thus, developing an educational curriculum with the GSM shield as a continuous process that can be done outside of the school including at community centers, Internet cafes, and other centers for community learning and engagement.
The material being taught should be visible to the community and tangible. This can be achieved through local IT awareness/demonstration fairs technological fairs, parent teacher meetings, and so forth. In Figure 3 below we illustrate the community learning model, visualized by concentric circles, that should be included in curricula development. Also, there should be an extra layer of engagement between parents and students (their children), so that parents have the ability to learn about the GSM shield and its capabilities, with their children.
Figure 3: Concentric rings representing the GSM shield education and engagement between students and their community.
Below is a list of key methodologies to consider when building a curriculum to support learning and creating with the GSM shield.
- Learning should be very visual at first in order to get past/minimize any language barriers
- E.g. videos can be used to show students what can be done with the shield
- Select 1 or 2 specific example that would directly be used for the community
- Use the examples to show the students specifically how to operate the technology.
- Determine what the needs of the community are in relationship with the children
- Address the barriers, such as women/girls learning technology
- Determine what types of communication is important and what is the etiquette for it
Lastly, to promote project sharing and sustainability of projects, we propose to use one of the leading computational toolkit, called Pearls of Wisdom, to support community sharing of expertise and promote collaboration on community-based projects [Chapman 2011]. Pearls of Wisdom was developed at the MIT Media Laboratory by Chapman to support the sharing of learning and intentional reflection within a constructionist cooperatives, a community-based learning environment. A Constructionist Cooperative is a community of learners who articulate and share their learning experiences as a regular practice. The expertise an individual shares about a development project is packaged within a media-rich, editable web page(s) called a Pearl. This integrated tools incorporates video, text, web and Pearl links, and other media as the Pearl creator desires. Making and sharing Pearls supports propagation throughout a community of the ideas, expertise, and processes of individual projects. This sharing facilitates a learning process that enables reproducibility of projects - projects shared in this way enables others to replicate and build on those projects. The Pearls of Wisdom software is an excellent vehicle for supporting long-term education and sustained engagement with projects built using the GSM shield. In addition, Pearls of Wisdom software has already been successfully implemented as a teaching and learning framework within the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network, a face-to-face and online community of students who create and share design projects [Kafai, Peppler & Chapman 2009].
In summary, we propose developing a curriculum to introduce the GSM shield through education. Students will be able to learn about the shield, its capabilities, and develop community-related projects using the shield. This is particularly important for those students who have excelled in school but are not able to attend a university due to lack of space or resources. To connect teaching/learning the GSM shield to the community we propose an engagement model that includes students, teachers, parents, NGOs, and members of the community. Also to support project development and sustainability we propose using the PoW framework. Overall, education will play a critical role in ensuring access to resources that allow developing communities and emerging markets to innovate and create new technologies with the GSM shield.
2.2 Health Care
The GSM shield has the capacity to advance and change the ways in which people world-wide access health care and related information. Access to health care is particularly important for the billions of people around the world that have limited or no access to health care. Many of these people live in rural or developing communities. Additionally, cell phones can be found in different types of regions all over the world, especially in developing communities. As a result, mobile phones have been used for a number of applications, most notably mHealth (mobile health) which has increased access to health-care world-wide.
The GSM shield provides a unique opportunity to advance mHealth technologies by using its open-hardware interface to add a number of relevant sensors, actuators, and displays. Such examples are thermometers, blood pressure sensors, and low-cost ultra sound devices. With the shield data collected from the sensors can be uploaded to a database and broadcasted to a local health center of specialist for further investigation. The shield also allows various groups with common illness or disabilities to easily communicate with and support each other as they cope with their ailments. In addition, the GSM shield can be used as the underlying technology to develop novel user-interfaces that are easy to use and appropriate for the users.
There are numerous ways that the GSM shield and supporting technologies can be used to increase access to health care, particularly in rural and developing communities. There has been current research on how cell phones and content can be used to promote health awareness, provide information, and assist medical practitioners in rural communities. However, the interface of a common low-cost cell phone is limiting and often times unfamiliar for users in these types of communities.
One potential eHealth project, where the GSM/SPRS shield combined with an appropriate and novel user interface, is providing information to and aiding pregnant women in developing communities. Pregnant women with limited or no access to maternal care are at a high-risk of complications during pregnancy as well as higher maternal and infant mortality rates due to complications during labor and delivery [Thomas & Rankin, 2010; Thomas, Rankin, Tuta & Mibuari, 2011]. This includes millions of stillborn and young child deaths world-wide [Donnay, 2000]. With information provided to local health care technicians a number of complication can be remedied. Such complications include premature labor, fetus in breech, and hemorrhaging. Fortunately, a number of approaches to address the problem of pre- and post-natal care, and more recently mobile technologies have been used to aid in care [mHealth].
At Spelman College, Professor Jakita Thomas and her colleagues are engaged in researching and developing mobile phone applications to inform skilled birth attendants, midwives, and local health clinics in developing communities. In addition, the applications are being developed to support and inform women through their pregnancy. While the use of mobile phones is wide-spread, their interfaces are often limiting for developing health related software, or inaccessible to potential users. As a result, Professor Thomas is researching ways in which traditional storytelling/sharing in the local language can be leveraged through technology to create local-social networks for pregnant women. For example, a pregnant mother-to-be may have questions about what to expect at a check-up or a new mother may have trouble breast feeding where the child is not latching. To get information about these issues, women can interact with a mobile phone or a simple device to see pictures and hear experiences of other mothers in her community. Access to such information helps to create community among mothers who are often very busy with child-rearing, working, and maintaining their households. In addition, the information can be made available at any time which is important at night, for example, where safety and security are a great concern.
The GSM shield can be used to develop a device and interfaces that improves access to pre- and post-natal care in developing regions. Pregnant mothers can use the device to communicate with health centers and local maternal health professionals and remote specialists (OB/GYN, neonatal specialists, etc.). In addition, different sensors such as thermometers and blood-pressure monitors can be plugged into the device to provide pregnant women and health centers of the current health of the women and diagnose potentially life-threatening conditions (e.g., eclampsia). One important sensor is a handheld low-cost ultrasound which can be connected to a cell phone for viewing. The ultrasound sensor can be taken on field visits to pregnant women and be plugged into the GSM enabled device to record pregnancy data for each woman. Images can be compared with other images in databases created by users in the community and by using the shield to access the internet.
Figure 4: Hand-held low-cost ultrasound sensors connected to cell phones (courtesy Washington Univ).
2.3 Entrepreneurship and New Business
To create and encourage entrepreneurship in emerging markets a number of new businesses can be created. Specifically, a common problem in developing countries is that many skilled programmers and developers do not have access to resources that would allow them to pursue their ideas. However, with the Arduino and GSM shield such persons can identify market opportunities and prototype new business ideas at a minimum cost. An example of a business opportunity in the field of public transportation is outlined below.
In Kenya, as well as in a number of developing countries including, Peru, Trinidad &Tobago, and Ghana, the primary method for public transportation are share taxis/mini-buses called matatus. The matatu business is a flexible public transportation system that combines the concept of a taxi with the concept of a rigorous large-scale public bus system. More specifically, in the matatu business people share a small van from various depots and the driver follows pre-defined, unlabeled routes. The matatu business is primarily composed of owners, drivers, conductors, and passengers. The owners usually own a fleet of matatus and hire the drivers and conductors for their vehicles. The driver drives the routes which often vary depending on different factors including the matatu’s number of occupants and traffic. The conductor is in charge of alerting passengers and potential passengers of the matatu’s destination. The conductor will call out the window to those waiting and so they know where the matatu is going. 
Figure 5: Example of a matatu loaded with bags of grains and passengers (courtesy satyabratadam.blogspot.com).
The main challenge of the matatu business is that there is no concrete record or logistics infrastructure to support the industry. As a result, it is difficult to ensure trust and transparency between owners, conductors and drivers. For example, there is not a clear system to identify the routes the driver has taken and the number of stops along each route per day. Also, an accurate count of the number passengers in the matatu between each stop may not be reliable as it is communicated by word-of-mouth of the conductors. This is problematic when owners need to understand the usage and the state of their vehicles. It is also a problem when some conductors and drivers are dishonest about their daily routes and revenue. Other potential issues with the matatu business are that at times the driver might skip stops or when the van is not full, the driver will wait to pick-up more passengers to increase profit. Also, the conductor may vary the cost of the ride and often allow more passengers than the matatu’s capacity.
We describe one possible approach to improving the record keeping and logistics of the matatu business. To determine the location and routes of the vehicles, a GPS receiver can be purchased externally or the GPS provided by the GSM shield can be used. To support transparency, the route information and costs can be displayed in real-time within each matatu. The owners can log-in to the GSM shields, which have the capability to act as servers, and receive the data in real-time; or a backend application can be developed to aggregate and display the data for the owners via mobile phone, computer, etc.
The example matatu scenario has the capacity to create new businesses around maintaining and updating the logistics system. This system might also be used to support novel mobile applications for matatus such as enhancing the current method of using cell phone credits for payment. For example, to aid in development and sustainability, Telefonica I+D would partner with Strathmore University and develop the system computer scientists at the college. Many of Kenya’s new mobile applications and related business have been developed by Strathmore University students. Kenya has already distinguished itself as a leader in mobile innovation as exemplified by mPesa, Ushahidi , and Kilimo Salama. The matatu project is therefore expected to receive enthusiastic support and be implemented by very ambitious entrepreneurs. This project and related projects have the potential to greatly improve the business sector in Kenya and increase employment opportunities. It also serves as a premiere model for comparable emerging economies.
3 Next Steps
One of the important next steps is to identify examples where deploying Intelligent Sensors (IS)-- sensors made with the Arduino and shield can be used to empower and create new businesses with and for the NextBillion. For example, combining sensors, actuators, and the Internet (e.g. using the GSM shield) to collect data about a number of parts of the environment, home, etc.
If households, schools, medical clinics and the community in general all have the ability to put together sensors and transmit data that is relevant to their lives, then communities with limited or no resources can be better equipped in potential emergency scenarios. IS have the ability empower communities to determine and identify local environment and health challenges that can be alleviated through IS technologies. This includes detecting water quality from a number of water resources such as local rivers, health of school children, emergencies, and connecting different sub-groups of people.
Rural communities are often small in population size, are spread out over large expanses, and have limited access to resources such as emergency services or even clean waste. The rural nature of these communities means that they are not only poorly served by the emergency services but that their remoteness affects even the response and impact of any available services. This example illustrates how the GSM shield might be used to aid emergency response for firefighting in rural communities in Kenya.
Most housing in rural communities in Kenya is made from locally available material such as wood, bamboo and palm leaves for roofing. While these materials are cheaper than other alternatives, they are also very prone to fire accidents because of their flammability and the fact that no housing safety codes are enforced during construction. Furthermore, most families in these communities use open fires for cooking and heating and these pose extra fire risks.
There is very little government or private infrastructure for emergency response. For example, Kenya with a population of 40 million spread over 47 counties has a total of less than 50 fire stations. There is also no established emergency information system. For example, if a fire starts in a home 50 kilometers from the nearest fire station, the occupants of the house will most likely scream for help. Neighbors who can hear them will rush to the scene and attempt to put out the fire by throwing water or soil at it, or beating it with tree branches. More often, no one will be able to save the house and the occupants might escape with a few belongings. It is unlikely that the fire services will be notified about the fire. Usually the victims are on essentially their own.
Figure 5: Example of different ad-hoc sub-networks that can be dynamically created based on the network and IS installed in a rural community.
There are a number of complex factors causing this poor response to such emergencies but one of them is an information gap. A proposed solution to this information gap using the GSM shield involves reaching more people in the case of an emergency, contacting a government administrator (such as chief, DO- district officer or DC – district commissioner) who might be able to access more response resources, even if not the fire engine necessarily, and potentially detecting the potential for a fire accident before it happens. The shield would be installed in people’s homes and would be attached to a smoke detector. As soon the smoke levels go beyond a given threshold (accommodating “normal” smoke levels associated with open fires) an alert gets sent to the local government administrator (chief) and the cell phones of all the neighbors of the affected home.
The impact of this information system is that more people will get notified about a fire at a neighbor’s house faster, and the likelihood of saving lives and property will be increased. Also, if a government administrator is notified, they are more likely to mobilize the over-stretched government resources to help with the fire. An example is where the chief might order the police to use their vehicles to transport the injured to hospital since there are few ambulances or where the rare firefighting engine might be able to be redirected to the location of a fire because the bureaucracy (and communication breakdown) is reduced by directly notifying a chief or a county governor. A further impact of such a system is that if all the emergency notifications are recorded and pushed to a centralize system, it will lead to a better understanding of the prevalence of fire accidents in any given geographic region and perhaps lead to policy being shaped so that more resources are allocated for such emergencies in future.
4 Potential Partners
To support the introduction and sustainability of new technologies in emerging markets, Telefonica I+D proposes to partner with organizations in the emerging market communities and other research intuitions. This includes academic institutions conducting research on appropriate technologies for developing countries. Potential partners are Fundación Telefónica, Strathmore University Nairobi, Kenya, iHub Nairobi, Kenya, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Accelerating Information Technology Innovation (MIT-AITI), Spelman College, Wellesley College, and International Computer Clubhouses. Lastly, students and researchers have created SANA, http://www.sanamobile.org/
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