The primary audience of this handbook is USAID staff, although much of the content is relevant to anyone interested in integrating mobiles into development projects more effectively. Most of the examples highlighted are from Southeast Asia, although the relevance of the content is global. Since the mobiles for development space is evolving rapidly, the handbook is intended to equip readers with a set of questions to ask when using or considering mobiles, rather than providing a prescription for how to use mobiles in a given country or sector.
The handbook is divided into two sections. The first section entitled Understand includes two chapters—Understanding Mobiles for Development and Understanding the Mobile Ecosystem—and is meant to be an in-depth guide of everything you might need to know about mobiles. The second section is entitled Implement, and includes three chapters: Project Design, Procurement, and Monitoring Implementation and Program Evaluation. This section provides practical tips and information related to integrating mobiles into a project in practice.
This handbook includes tools and resources that guide planning:
- Guiding Questions for Meeting with Key Partners
- Principles for Technology in Development
- Mobiles for Development Checklist
- M4D Evaluation Template
The resources section also includes a Glossary of Terms and an M4D Inventory and list of USAID Projects using mobiles, which provide an overview of the many different mobile services and applications being used in development programs in Southeast Asia.
Why it helps with planning: Written in 2014, the handbook complements and builds on the content in the mHealth Planning Guide and is particularly useful for navigating USAID procurements. The tools provided in the resources appendix support partnership development, concept development, landscape analysis, solution design, and planning for implementation and evaluation.
