The Smartphone: A School In Your Pocket – Dan Hodges

How do third world countries escape the cycle of poverty caused by illiteracy and failed governments? When can people in emerging markets leverage the power of mobile to improve education and compete in the global job market?

There are 57 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, where the illiteracy rate is over 20 percent. Countries with highly illiterate populations cannot compete in the global economy and are left behind as countries with educated populations move ahead. The economy for the next generation will require a core group of knowledge workers to be competitive in the global economy. The knowledge and technical revolution requires an educated population that can create, build and scale innovative businesses.

Here is how the world ended up with countries that are rapidly pulling away from one another. Decades of poor leadership, corruption and under-investment in education and infrastructure have left countries without an educated population or infrastructure and educational institutions needed to create jobs and businesses. The Internet disruption followed by the mobile upheaval rapidly accelerated the chasm between the illiterate and literate worlds.

Here is what we can do to reverse these trends. Listen to Steve Jobs' advice: "Let's go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday." Think of the mobile phone as a school in your pocket for the illiterate world. When you begin to see a world of a billion new users with learning devices, you begin to see the seeds of change.

Smartphones with Android operating systems are being produced in Asia for $25. These smartphones have more computing power than the Cray Supercomputer had in the 1980s. Nuance technology, which powers Siri, defines itself as "reinventing the relationship between people and technology." Nuance voice recognition technology working in concert with educational programs delivered on smartphones has the potential to help the illiterate learn and enter the global marketplace. Illiterate people need special tools to become literate. Two-way voice recognition software that can be used with new mobile learning software can be a very effective tool to help the illiterate become literate. Consumers in emerging markets can use their smartphone as a learning tool. Illiterate consumers for the first time in their lives are able to teach themselves, thereby circumventing failed institutions and putting themselves on a pathway to become knowledge workers and job creators.

Voice technology, mobile learning software and a $25 smartphone are game changers. This is especially important in places like India, where there are many tribal languages and little infrastructure to reach people. The "school in your pocket' is just the beginning of the positive and sometimes unexpected fruits of innovations. Those brands and governments that wish to reach the "next billion consumers" would be wise to seize the opportunity to develop the "school in your pocket" opportunity.

Dan Hodges is CEO and Founder, Consumers in Motion LLC. He can be reached atdan@consumersinmotion.com

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