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Title
& Description
News Outlet
& Journalist
Date
& Location
MEDIA TYPE
& LENGTH
24 October 2020
Nigeria
Text
800-1500 Words
Fearful and distrustful of corrupt and abusive police forces, Nigerians by the thousands have downloaded locally developed mobile apps like Sety and Aabo to call friends for help during abductions or other emergencies...
22 October 2020
Switzerland
Podcast
Over 15 Minutes
Contact tracing apps have received a lot of attention since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, but researchers caution they should be used in conjunction with other tactics and not be relied on to help on their ow...
4 October 2020
Oklahoma, United States
Multi-Media
800-1500 Words
Oklahoma mental health and police agencies supply free tablets to police departments, enabling officers summoned to a mental health crisis to connect on the spot with a licensed mental health professional. The telehea...
19 September 2020
United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Vote Tripling is a get-out-the-vote strategy where volunteers set up outside of polling places, a safer pandemic option, and ask voters to text three friends with a reminder to vote. A randomized trial showed turnout ...
18 September 2020
San Francisco, California, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Soon after the federal government imposed a second moratorium on evictions, SixFifty, a tech firm, released Hello Landlord, a mobile app for tenants to generate a legally compliant form letter invoking the law with th...
15 September 2020
Brazil
Radio
Over 15 Minutes
Rainforest Connection makes a smartphone app that is part of a system using solar-powered phones in the rainforests of Brazil, Sumatra, Costa Rica, and Peru to stream audio of suspected illegal logging. This system, u...
11 September 2020
Kenya
Text
Over 3000 Words
Mobile banking in Kenya has increased economic mobility for families living in poverty. The mobile money system is not connected to bank accounts, making it accessible to the overwhelming majority of Kenyans who don't...
7 August 2020
Asheville, North Carolina, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Mental health agencies in North Carolina have partnered with a mobile phone carrier to provide data-enabled smartphones to individuals who lack access to technology during the pandemic. Because this doesn't provide a ...
16 July 2020
South Korea
Video
5-15 Minutes
In South Korea, the government is using smartphone technology, including various independent apps and text messaging, to implement contact tracing. This has enabled the country's economy to avoid a full shutdown. Earl...
11 May 2020
South Sudan
Text
1500-3000 Words
To tell the stories of victims of forced displacement, property destruction, and occupation in South Sudan, a team of journalists devised a phone survey to gauge the extent of the problem. By surveying hard-to-reach p...
27 April 2020
Alberta, Canada
Text
800-1500 Words
An Alberta Health Services’ text messaging service called Text4Hope is giving people text messages to help them cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The texts, written by mental health therapists, use cognitive behavioral...
20 April 2020
Jerusalem, Israel
Text
800-1500 Words
The use of mobile phone technology can aid in contact tracing and the collection of public health data. In Israel, the government’s use of GPS phone locations to trace cases of COVID-19 raised scrutiny regarding priva...
14 April 2020
United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
Significant growth in the availability of text-to-911 technology has meant greater safety for people whose speaking ability or dangerous surroundings prevent them from making voice calls to 911. Various states have us...
North Carolina Health News
Anne Blythe
11 April 2020
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
The University of North Carolina's healthcare system is utilizing virtual care centers and mobile communications to more efficiently prioritize potential COVID-19 cases and better track people after they've been teste...
Teen Vogue
Joseph Darius Jaafari
8 April 2020
New York, New York, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Cell phones are being used as a new tool during the coronavirus pandemic to help people who have lost loved ones to process and cope with their grief. Although mobile therapy platforms and online counseling options ha...
7 April 2020
Alexandria, Virginia, United States
Broadcast TV News
Under 3 Minutes
Connecting to a priest—by video or telephone—can offer relief to those dying alone. The Virginia Theological Seminary and General Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, recently launched Dial-A-Priest, a servic...
The Verge
Kim Lyons
23 March 2020
South Korea
Text
Under 800 Words
Governments across the world are using data from cell phones to better track the movement of those under quarantine restrictions during coronavirus. While each country using this containment strategy is implementing i...
2 February 2020
Beirut, Lebanon
Broadcast TV News
5-15 Minutes
Training refugees in digital skills provides them with a path toward self sufficiency. A pilot program developed with the UN World Food Program and the American University in Beirut offers computer literacy and Englis...
23 January 2020
Oregon, United States
Text
Under 800 Words
When students enter many of their classrooms in Oregon, they are asked to place their phone in a pouch, locker, or other container. The strategy is helping students stay focused and break distracting habits and return...
Science Africa
Sharon Atieno
22 January 2020
Nairobi, Kenya
Multi-Media
1500-3000 Words
In partnership with the Kenya Meteorological Department, the Kounkuey Design Initiative is running a project to make weather information timely and accessible to those living in informal urban settlements. Through a t...
2 January 2020
Shanghai, China
Text
800-1500 Words
Data-driven transport can improve access and efficiency if properly implemented. In Shanghai, China, users benefit from customized bus routes designed by artificial intelligence software. Other countries, however, hav...
29 November 2019
Santa Barbara, California, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
California’s Santa Barbara Public Defender’s office is working with the company, Upstart, to use a texting notification system to remind people about their court dates. Upstart costs $20K to set up and then $2 per cli...
25 November 2019
Napa, California, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
From Google's India-focused app Neighbourly to the wellknown Nextdoor app, social media specifically targeted at connecting neighbors is gaining ground. Whether being used to rate neighborhood attractions, encourage b...
14 November 2019
Honduras
Text
Under 800 Words
Mobile phone apps allow NGOs to track public health threats. In Honduras, the medical charity, Medicine Sans Frontiers (MSF) uses GIS technology and mobile phone apps to assist in their efforts against dengue fever ou...
12 November 2019
General Santos City, Philippines
Multi-Media
1500-3000 Words
Efforts to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing also make fishermen safer at sea. Vessel Monitoring Mechanisms (VMM) and electronic catch documentation (eCDT) track the origin of fish headed to ma...
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