Further lessons from the Sekhukhune Rural Living Lab - Mobile web business applications in emerging economies

In the developing world mobiles have revolutionized people´s lives and present a key mechanism for socioeconomic growth in regions that need it most. Almost ubiquitous GSM and mobile device coverage in developing countries are a huge opportunity to provide ICT based services to the benefit of the people. The paper discusses benefits, opportunities and challenges of currently applicable technologies based on SMS and the most promising option for the future - the mobile web. The research was conducted with prototypes and pilots running in a real use case scenario within the Sekhukhune Rural Living Lab in South Africa. Beside the technical and cultural research insights we provide information about the research methodology to come up with appropriate ICT4D tools in an Emerging Economy environment. To conclude we present lessons learned during a three year research project and give an outlook of our future work.