The potential benefits of mobile microwork services in developing nations: Research opportunities and challenges

Unemployment is one of the main hindrances to socio-economic development in developing nations. At the same time, the prominent adoption and use of digital technologies, especially mobile devices have changed the status quo in Africa with regard to digital divide, communication, and information access. Nevertheless, most parts of Africa and other developing countries are still lagging behind when it comes to the swiftness of implementing technologies that have the potential of addressing pressing issues such as unemployment. On-demand mobile microwork services, which are a subset of the crowdsourcing paradigm, are some of the initiatives that are under-explored, particularly for dealing with issues of unemployment. This research paper explores the potential benefits of such services as one possible contribution for dealing with joblessness in developing nations where mobile devices are easily accessible and used. Furthermore, the paper presents some of the pertinent research opportunities and challenges that need to be considered when dealing with mobile microwork services.