Web Standards Body to Promote Mobile Internet Services

The WC3, the body which develops guidelines for the internet has announced its intention to set up an interest group devoted to the idea of “making the Web available to all” via mobile devices and has issued invitations to participate in a new group reports Cellular News. The Mobile Web For Social Development (MW4D) Interest Group will study the issues that rural communities and underprivileged populations face in accessing information and communication technology.

“Study after study has highlighted the positive impact of mobile technologies in developing countries,” said Ken Banks, co-Chair of the MW4D Interest Group and founder of kiwanja.net. “Mobiles are opening up
financial services to the poor, creating employment opportunities, and providing access to health care and valuable information services. We do need to solve important challenges such as lack of standards in end-user devices, network constraints, service cost, issues of literacy, and an understanding of the real
information needs of rural communities. To do so requires an multidisciplinary approach, a step we take through the creation of this new group.”

According to the GSMA and ITU (GSMA Report 2006, 2007 ITU Report), at the end of 2007, more than 3 billion people had access to a mobile phone and 80% of the global population was covered by a GSM network. The W3C says that these figures make a strong case for using mobile phones as the platform for health, education, business, and government services in rural environments. However, there remain significant challenges to providing access to these communities and in leveraging local content and application development.

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