Mobile Digital Skills Alliance
A learning, communications and collaboration network dedicated to the scaling up of mobile digital skills.
What is the Mobile Digital Skills Alliance?
The Mobile Digital Skills Alliance is a learning, communications and collaboration network that brings together global representatives of the mobile and technology industries, international organisations, NGOs and others in response to the mobile digital skills gap in low- and middle-income countries.
Through its informal, open community of like-minded organisations, the Alliance is dedicated to generating and sharing knowledge, disseminating best practices and fostering collaboration that drives the scaling up of mobile digital skills and increases digital inclusion.
Alliance members
The Alliance is currently made up of the below members who share a common goal to improve mobile digital skills in low- and middle-income countries.
atingi | BBC Media Action | BuffaloGrid | Digital Empowerment Foundation | Digital Opportunity Trust | El Media | Google | Huawei | International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) | Internet Society | KaiOS | mEducation Alliance | Millicom | Moana Research | MTN Group | Pro Mujer | Telenor | UN Development Programme (UNDP) | UNESCO | University of Pennsylvania | UN Women | Vodacom | World Bank | Wikimedia Foundation
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Jan Groeneveld
Project Lead
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Katherine Maher
CEO
The challenge
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01The digital divide
Growth in mobile internet adoption continues and is nearly entirely driven by people living in low- and middle-income countries. Across the world, 58% of the population are now using mobile internet. But there is a persistent digital divide.
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02The usage gap
3.1 billion people who live in areas covered by a mobile broadband network do not use mobile internet. This usage gap is more pronounced amongst women and rural populations in low- and middle-income countries.
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03Digital skills barrier
A lack of literacy and digital skills remains one of the top barriers to mobile internet use. Those most likely to cite this as the top barrier are typically women, individuals living in rural areas, persons with disabilities, people over the age of 35 years old, and those from lower-income backgrounds.
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04Mobile digital skills evidence base
Despite the importance of digital skills, a challenge exists in both measuring them and understanding what skills are required by citizens as they progress along the ‘mobile internet customer journey’, from basic mobile usage, to internet adoption, to using it to meet their needs.
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05Mobile digital skills initiatives
Most existing digital skills initiatives do not focus on mobile despite the fact that mobile is the primary way most people access the internet. There is a need to equip people with the skills to be digitally included and to safely and effectively use the internet on their mobile. This requires action by a range of stakeholders based on an understanding of the issue and how to tackle it.
Mobile digital skills resources
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GSMAThe Mobile Internet Skills Training Toolkit (MISTT)
The MISTT uses a ‘train the trainer’ approach and consists of short lessons in a PDF format that can be easily adapted to local needs and languages.
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GSMAHow to Design a Mobile Internet Skills Training Toolkit
This Guide provides a clear and easily adaptable framework for designing and delivering contextually specific training in basic mobile internet skills.
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GSMAPractical considerations for implementing mobile digital skills programmes
Following a discussion by our Mobile Digital Skills Alliance members, this blog highlights the key lessons learned when it comes to implementing mobile digital skills programmes.
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GSMAAdvancing digital skills for greater digital inclusion in LMICs
This policy brief explores the role of mobile digital skills in expanding digital inclusion within LMICs and provides policymakers with recommendations to address the digital skills barrier.
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GSMADelivering digital skills training for impact: Learnings and insights from Sierra Leone
This report provides key insights on the effectiveness of MISTT in improving digital skills acquisition among different underserved groups in Sierra Leone, as well as the socio-economic impact of the training.
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GSMADeveloping mobile digital skills in low- and middle-income countries
This report provides four key steps for developing strategies and interventions to drive mobile digital skills development in low- and middle-income countries, with key insights and learnings from our research.
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GSMAMultiplying the Impact of Mobile Internet Skills Training
This case study explores how digital skills are shared following training, using evidence from a mobile internet skills training pilot by MTN Uganda. Read recommendations for disseminating mobile digital skills more widely and increasing digital inclusion.
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BBC Media ActionIncreasing women’s digital literacy in India: what works
This report shares the results of a landscaping study to review key initiatives that aimed to improve women’s digital literacy in India, to identify what has worked and what has not, and what gaps in evidence exist.
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FinEQUITYEnabling Women’s Financial Inclusion through Digital Financial Literacy
This report aims to help the financial inclusion community understand digital financial literacy and better address this component of the digital financial services gender gap.
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GSMAUnderstanding People’s Mobile Digital Skills Needs
This report examines mobile digital skills needs in two countries, India and Ghana, and explores the dynamics around the development of digital skills, particularly in relation to mobile internet.
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GSMAMTN Data Smart Case Study
This case study provides an overview of the MTN Data Smart campaign and how it has increased mobile internet use among MTN customers in two key markets: Benin and Cameroon.
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GSMAAccelerating Digital Literacy: Empowering women to use the mobile internet
This report aims to analyse the challenges women face when accessing mobile internet with low mobile literacy and digital skills.
Join the Mobile Digital Skills Alliance
Is your organisation working to scale up mobile digital skills in low- and middle-income countries?
If you’re interested in becoming a member of the Mobile Digital Skills Alliance or would like to find out more about what being a member involves, we’d love to hear from you.
Get in touch
This initiative is currently funded by the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through its Global Research and Technology Development Portfolio, and by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), and is supported by the GSMA and its members.