New Report: Lessons Learned from the Get Mobile Forum on Mobile Technology for Community Engagement

This is a blog post by Beatriz Solis, Program Director at The California Endowment Healthy Communities (South Region), and Geoffrey Cowan, Director of the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy. At the 2014 Get Mobile Forum, we invited technology leaders and local community organizers to learn from each other, exploring how organizations can use mobile technology in their efforts to engage and empower the communities of Los Angeles. Today we’re excited to announce the release of our report: Lessons Learned From the Get Mobile Forum on Mobile Technology for Community Engagement. Download the report: High resolution PDF (5.9……

CCLP cell phone initiative discussed at Africa conference

GRAHAMSTOWN, South Africa – A CCLP initiative to define minimum capabilities of cell phone handsets for health care, public safety and other public services was a focus of discussion at a forum here at Rhodes University on Sunday. "What a good question!" said Daudi Khamadi Were, Innovation Coordinator at Making All Voices Count, part of Kenya's global Ushahidi group. Were said that cell phone service for illiterate users should be a key issue. "Mobiles need to be voice-enabled for those who cannot type as fast," agreed Bomasanto Ndulovu, Strategic Executive Director for South Africa's capital city, Tshwane (still known as……

CCLP and The California Endowment Host Conference on Mobile Technology for Community Engagement

In partnership with The California Endowment, the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy hosted the Get Mobile Forum on April 2nd, a conference that brought together local community organizations to explore how mobile technology can empower communities and increase civic engagement. Watch videos of each presentation and see more event photos at the Get Mobile Forum website. Jerlene Tatum from EYCEJ shakes hands with Mari Lopez from Vision y Compromiso, Inc. Over thirty invitees attended the forum on Wednesday, April 2 at The California Endowment for a day packed with presentations, Q&A sessions, mobile app demos and networking……

Australia debates whether cell phones reduce need for a fiber data network

SYDNEY – Critics here are sniping at the Australian government's plan to build optical fiber links to almost all homes here, at an estimated cost of $43 billion. The criticism is that the plan is going forward according to a plan devised years ago – a plan which assumes personal computers would be the way Australians connect to the Internet. At the time, that was correct. But now, with the unexpected surge of mobile devices as a primary medium and with the rise of smart phones as the way people reach the Internet, critics are saying the project could……

Millions of Africans use cell phones for health news and information

WASHINGTON – Millions of Africans now receive critical health information on their cell phones, according to speakers at a CCLP forum here yesterday, with the Voice of America alone reaching tens of millions of Africans a week. "VOA's African Health Network is a multimedia initiative in thirteen languages that reaches 50 million people a week," said Nancy Coviello, the AHN's Project Manager. "Literally no one else is doing this – not the BBC, Deutsche Welle, not anyone that we can find."……

NEA challenged by artists working in new formats, small screens

WASHINGTON – The National Endowment for the Arts is racing to keep up with artists who are creating in new formats and for smaller screens, according to speakers at a CCLP forum here on Friday. And that means the agency must prepare to review programs and proposals in new ways. "One of the challenges all of us face is keeping up with what is going on," said Alyce Myatt, NEA's Director of Media Arts, adding that is due both to the proliferation of formats and to a greater volume of arts being created. But one challenge is the migration……

USC Annenberg report reveals mobile as new battleground in fight against sex trafficking

November 13, 2012 – Mobile phones and devices are now being used to traffic minors for commercial sex in the United States. They are among numerous digital channels – including popular social networking sites and online classifieds – facilitating the exploitation of children, according to a newly published report from the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The Rise of Mobile and the Diffusion of Technology-Facilitated Trafficking is the latest CCLP research report on the intersection of technology and human trafficking, and the follow-up to CCLP's……