Can Mobile Phones Improve Clean Water Access in Developing Country Slums? Sangick Jeon, Ph.D. Candidate, Political Science, Stanford Eran Bendavid, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stanford Joshua Cohen, Professor of Law, Philosophy, and Political Science, Stanford Terry Winograd, Professor of Computer Science, Stanford project Designing Liberaon Technologies – 2012 CS379L/PoliSci337T/Law498 - Spring quarter at the d.school Interdisciplinary student teams, worKing together with students from the University of Nairobi, will create mobile applicaons that can accelerate economic and social development in Kenya. The course will be taught by Joshua Cohen, Terry Winograd, Zia Yusuf, and Jofish Kaye who bring a mix of social science, computer science, and business bacKgrounds. It will bring together students with diverse interests and experiences, including computer science, medicine, anthropology, poli,cal science, law, and business. No special exper,se is required. What you need is simply a passion for design, a commitment to creave problem solving, and an enthusiasm for worKing with interdisciplinary project teams and NGOs innovang in tools for human M-Maji – using mobile phones to improve access to water progress. Apply Now: By January 20 We plan to send some students to Kenya during Spring Break to do ini,al needfinding and collaboraon. There are also liKely to be opportuni,es for travel to Kenya during the summer to con,nue promising projects. 6 students represen,ng 3 teams went this past summer. Admission by applica/on, due by January 20, 2010: hp://hci.stanford.edu/courses/CS379L For more informaon contact [email protected] method problem-solving question intellectual and practical Can deliberate applications of mobile technology to human development challenges yield significant improvements in human well-being, even in low-income, poorly governed countries? m4d? location(s) Nairobi’s informal settlements foundation relationships the problem Water in Kibera is scarce, costly, and contaminated Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya Water in Kibera is scarce, costly, and contaminated • Pop. 200,000 – 400,000. No formal water or sanitation—85% rely on vendors/kiosks. • On good days, takes just under an hour to find water. On bad days, the search can take all day. • Water shortages up to 4x a month, during which time price of water can increase tenfold. Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya • Infant mortality in Kibera more than three times the average of Nairobi as a whole. Kibera lacks consistent access to water, but not to mobile phones… Kibera lacks consistent access to water, but not to mobile phones… Mobile Use in Kenya Mobile Tariffs in Kenya Source: Jack and Suri (2009) Source: CCK, Operators’ returns Kibera lacks consistent access to water, but not to mobile phones… Access to Mobile Phones in Kibera (by village) 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 99.00 98.57 97.30 92.50 93.94 95.00 100 87.18 77.14 77.50 80 60 Percent 40 20 0 GAT KAM KIA KIC KIS LAI LIN MAK MAS RAI SIL SWE SWW Village Source: M-Maji survey of 881 households in Kibera (February 2011) the idea use ubiquitous mobile technology to improve access to clean water Where is water today? Beth Welcome to $$ M-Maji! 1. Find Water 2. Sell Water 3. Complain OK < > Back $$$ $ $$$ $ Samuel use ubiquitous mobile technology to improve access to clean water 2. 1. Vendors Welcome to M-Maji! 1. Find Water 2. Sell Water 3. Complain 3. OK < > Back Buyers 1. Vendors Welcome to 1. Vendors Advertise M-Maji! 1. Find Water 2. Sell Water Use SMS/USSD to notify M- 3. Complain Maji of water availability, location, price, and quality. OK < > Back Buyers Ads collected and stored in a central database in real-time. 2. Vendors Welcome to 2. Buyers Query M-Maji! 1. Find Water 2. Sell Water Use SMS/USSD to find the 3. Complain closest, cheapest, and cleanest water. OK < > Back Buyers Water information verified by M-Maji staff on the ground. Vendors Welcome to 3. Buyers Rate M-Maji! 1. Find Water 2. Sell Water Buyers use voice/SMS/USSD 3. Complain 3. to provide feedback and file complaints about vendors who OK < > Back misrepresent water availability, Buyers price, or quality. This feedback generates “vendor ratings,” which alert future buyers of any negative histories. dial vendors advertise *778# # not Welcome to M- recognized Maji! Enter your Welcome to account phone M-Maji! number or enter 0 to create a new 1. Find Water account. 2. Sell Water 3. Complain OK < > Back 2. OK < > Back Please enter your 1. New Please enter # 4 digit PIN: advertisement water price in Ksh 2. Update per 20 liter jerry recognized advertisement can. 3. Add new kiosk OK < > Back OK < > Back vendors advertise SMS price to 7787 To 7787: From M-Maji: 4 SUCCESS: today you are selling water for KES 4 per jerry can dial buyers query *778# 1. Welcome to Water is available Water is near Choose vendor: M-Maji! in villages: landmarks: 1. 2Ksh John, 1. Gatwekera 1. Wema Clinic near Makongen 1. Find Water 2. Kambi Muru 2. Kibera Girls Church 2. Sell Water 3. KisumuNdogo Primary 2. 5Ksh Salome, 3. Complain 4. Makina 3. Tabitha Clinic near Olympic 5. Mashimoni Mobile Recharge Station, purified* OK < > Back OK < > Back OK < > Back OK < > Back buyers query In [village name] water is available SMS village name from: 2Ksh John near Makonngen Church; 3Ksh to 7787 village Samuel near Mashimoni recognized Primary; 5Ksh Salome near Olympic; 7Ksh… To 7787: Currently no water in [village name]. [village name] In [next closest no water in village village] 3Ksh Mama Brian near Kibera Girls; 3Ksh Mwangi near MSF; 4Ksh Tom near AIC church; 5Ksh Vinias near Mboya. village not There is no village recognized in Kibera called [misspelled village]. Please SMS the name of a Kibera village, like Gatwekera, Kambi Muru, Kianda, Kicchinjio, Kisumu Ndogo, Makina, … User A: Water Vendors Dial *778# or SMS 7787 ! Welcome!to!! to create water ad with: M*Maji!! • Location ! • Price 1.!Find!Water! • Quality 2.!Sell!Water! 3.!Complaints!! ! User B: Water Buyers OK!!!!!!!<!>!!!!!Back! Dial *778# or send an GSM Carrier SMS to 7787 to: 1. Access water listings: M*Maji!is!a! FREE!service.!To! • Location find!clean!water! • Price in!Kibera,!SMS! • Quality the!name!of!a! village!to!7787.! GSM Modem and USSD/SMS Gateways For!quesPons! 2. File a complaint call!0716!202! 678!! User C: M-Maji staff Use internet to: Choose!vendor:! 1. Verify: 1.!2Ksh!John,! near!AIC!Church! • Location M-Maji 2.!5Ksh!Salome,! • Price Centralized near!Olympic! • Quality Primary,! Information System • Complaints purified*! 3.!5Ksh!Mama!B.! External Applications and OK!!!!!!!<!>!!!Back! MySQL Database 2. Input water quality data Sample Screenshots 2. Better information will: 1. Vendors 1. Reduce water search costs (time, money) 3. 2. Improve clean water uptake Buyers 3. Encourage vendor accountability 2. Better information will: 1. Vendors 1. Reduce water search costs (time, money) - Aker 2010, Jensen 2007 3. 2. Improve clean water uptake - Jalan and Somanathan 2008, Buyers Madajewicz et al. 2007 3. Encourage vendor accountability - Axelrod 1984, Calvert 1995, Greif 1994, Milgrom, North, and Weingast 1990 Jensen 2007 2. Better information will: 1. Vendors 1. Reduce water search costs (time, money) - Aker 2010, Jensen 2007 3. 2. Improve clean water uptake - Jalan and Somanathan 2008, Buyers Madajewicz et al. 2007 3. Encourage vendor accountability - Axelrod 1984, Calvert 1995, Greif 1994, Milgrom, North, and Weingast 1990 In Bangladesh: • Households notified of well water contamination 37 percentage points more likely to seek out an alternative water source • Households change despite 15x increase in search times Madajewicz et al. 2007 In India: • Households notified of water contamination 11 percentage points more likely to begin purification within 8 weeks • Households that begin purification spend $7.24 more Jalan and Somanathan 2008 2. Better information will: 1. Vendors 1. Reduce water search costs (time, money) - Aker 2010, Jensen 2007 3. 2. Improve clean water uptake - Jalan and Somanathan 2008, Buyers Madajewicz et al. 2007 3. Encourage vendor accountability - Axelrod 1984, Calvert 1995, Greif 1994, Milgrom, North, and Weingast 1990 implementation M-Maji Pilot (2012-2013) Makina Kianda Mashimoni Kambi Muru Laini Saba Kisumu Ndogo Legend Soweto East Soweto West Lindi Kibera Villages Gatwekera Pilot Raila Silanga 1st Stage 2nd Stage • Pilot in 2 stages. - 1st Stage: Preliminary release in 5 villages (Aug. 28, 2012). - 2nd Stage: Expand to all 13 villages (Feb. 11, 2013). - Preliminary release: no water quality testing and no ratings • Led by Umande Trust on the ground. Umande Trust (Kenya) use ubiquitous mobile technology to improve access to clean water Aug 28, 2012 – Present Welcome to M-Maji! 32,163 total transactions 1. Find Water 10,095 users 2. Sell Water 3. Complain 3,946 returning users 134 vendors OK < > Back 1,021 water ads Number of Transactions Per Day Total Transactions Successful Transactions 200 150 100 Num. of TransactionsNum. of 50 0 Sep Nov Jan Mar May Date • 32,163 total transactions (102/day on average) • 16% transactions successful Percent of Successful Transactions Per Day 0.8 0.6 Percent 0.4 0.2 0.0 Sep Nov Jan Mar May Date • average success rate in first 30 days: 4% • average success rate in last 30 days: 36% Number of Ads Per Day 25 20 15 10 NumberAds of 5 0 Sep Nov Jan Mar May Date Histogram of Vendor Usage (Num of Ads Created) 61 60 40 23 Number of Vendors 20 12 7 6 5 4 4 3 0 1 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 10 15 20+ Number of Ads Created Ads & Queries by Village (Percent of Total since