In September last year, I blogged about the very innovative nGOmobile competition - well, it seems it was a resounding success! I received an email today from Ken announcing that the winners have been chosen and profiled yesterday at the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona. (Sokari blogged earlier about Ken's encounter there with a $20 screenless mobile phone!)

More info, links and photos to come soon on the nGOmobile website, but in the meantime - congratulations to the winners! According to the website, there were over 70 applications, from which the following four winners were selected by a panel of judges:

Participatory rapid response forest management system (Kenya)
This project is working with local communities to promote the protection and sustainable use of environmental resources. They plan to implement messaging services to help with reporting, field communications and to provide an early warning system to help combat poaching and illegal logging

Ask NETWAS a water, sanitation and hygiene question and get an answer (Uganda)
This NGO plans to launch an SMS-based service for rural communities allowing them to ask a range of water-based questions on topics such as sanitation, hygiene, water harvesting, and water technologies

SMS at the service of healthy forests and families and empowerment of women (Mexico)
This project seeks to help rural Central American and Mexican communities solve problems of deforestation, poverty, malnutrition, unemployment and the marginalisation of women using SMS to improve a range of communications and provide market data, training and advice

Count to 5! Campaign (Azerbaijan)
This NGO will use text messaging to help grassroots and politically excluded people understand their human and legal rights, and to engage them further in the political process

February 2008: nGOmobile winners announced

On the eve of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the judges announced the four winners of the inaugural nGOmobile competition, aimed at empowering grassroots NGOs seeking to use mobile technology in their work. Out of a highly competitive field of over seventy entries the winners, who come from Kenya, Uganda, Mexico and Azerbaijan, will be provided with laptop computers, mobile phones, GSM modems, cash and kiwanja's FrontlineSMS software.

The projects chosen will be using SMS to work with local communities to promote the protection and sustainable use of environmental resources; to launch an SMS-based service for rural communities allowing them to ask a range of water-based questions on topics such as sanitation, hygiene, water harvesting, and water technologies; to help rural Central American and Mexican communities solve problems of deforestation, poverty, malnutrition, unemployment and the marginalisation of women; and to help grassroots and politically excluded people understand their human and legal rights, and to engage them further in the political process.

Further details, and profiles of the winners, will be made available on the nGOmobile "Winners" page in the next couple of weeks. Feel free to share this, or post it online, and I’ll keep you posted as soon as additional information is available. Cheers!

Ken Banks Founder, kiwanja.net

"Where technology meets anthropology, conservation and development"