新數據不斷涌入 手機扶貧潛力無窮

Cell phones have become ubiquitous even in the world’s poorest places. Now, researchers are using data collected by the devices to address third-world problems, according to a report provided exclusively to Fortune.

甚至在世界上最貧窮的地方，手機也已經變得無處不在。《財富》雜誌(Fortune)獨家獲得的一份報告披露，研究人員正在利用這些設備收集的數據來解決第三世界的問題。

The report, produced by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in conjunction with strategy consulting firm Cartesian, argues that analyzing mobile data has the potential to improve the lives of the poor in many ways—from expanding access to banking services to tracking the spread of infectious diseases.

這份由比爾和梅琳達o蓋茨基金會(Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)與戰略諮詢機構笛卡兒公司(Cartesian)合作推出的報告稱，從擴大銀行服務的覆蓋面到跟蹤傳染病的傳播，分析移動數據有望從多個層面改善窮困人口的生活。

Nirant Gupta, an author of the report, says research from Harvard and other large universities prompted the Gates Foundation to further analyze cell phone data in developing countries so that the findings could move from research to implementation.

報告執筆人尼朗特o古普塔表示，哈佛大學(Harvard University)和其他大學的研究促使蓋茨基金會進一步分析了發展中國家的手機數據，以便相關發現能夠從研究轉入實施階段。

“As we talked to researchers, we thought they were doing really interesting and exciting things,” he says.

他說：“我們跟研究人員進行了深入交談，我們認爲他們正在從事的研究非常有趣，令人興奮。”

Studying 10 developing countries across sub-Saharan African and Asia, the researchers found that many residents view cellular phones as a necessity, even cutting back on food purchases to pay their phone bills. Although more than 60% of people in the countries studied live on less than $2 per day, the majority of people there own cell phones. In Nigeria and Kenya, for example, 67% of adults own cell phones, while at least 58% do in India, Indonesia and Botswana. Even among people earning $1 a day or less, more than half own mobile phones in Botswana, Kenya and Nigeria.

研究人員研究了撒哈拉以南非洲和亞洲的10個發展中國家，發現許多居民都把手機看成是生活必需品，爲了支付電話費，寧願節衣縮食。這些國家有超過60%的人口每天的生活費用不足2美元，但大多數人都擁有一部手機。例如，在尼日利亞和肯尼亞，67%的成年人擁有手機。在印度、印度尼西亞和博茨瓦納，至少58%的成年人擁有手機。博茨瓦納、肯尼亞和尼日利亞的許多人每天只能掙1美元，甚至更少，但其中超過一半人擁有一部手機。

With the influx of new data, the report suggests new applications for it, such as creating better disaster relief programs. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, for example, several universities looked at data from cell phone towers and SIM cards to see where residents went after the quake hit. Instead of going to the closest “safe” zone, many survivors chose to go to locations where they had traveled to before.

隨着新數據的不斷涌入，這份報告建議爲這些數據開拓新用途，比如打造更好的災難救濟方案。例如，2010年海地大地震爆發後，幾所大學通過觀察手機基站和SIM卡的數據，來搜尋居民在地震發生後的蹤跡。許多幸存者並沒有去最近的“安全”地帶，而是奔赴他們以前去過的地點。

Jake Kendall, another author of the report, said the data could also be used in tracking diseases, for instance. By watching the mobility patterns of cell phone users, researchers can better understand how diseases like malaria spread and aim relief efforts at specific areas.

報告的另一位作者傑克o肯德爾表示，這些數據也可以用來追蹤疾病。通過觀測手機用戶的移動模式，研究人員可以更好地理解瘧疾等疾病的蔓延方式，從而有針對性地在特定區域展開救援工作。

Of course, mobile data collection raises issues of privacy. The report’s authors suggest that phone companies can scrub data of any personally identifiable information before releasing it to researchers.

採集移動數據當然會引發隱私問題。這份報告的作者建議手機運營商刪除所有可識別具體個人的信息，然後再把數據傳送給研究人員。

The data has endless potential to improve conditions in the developing world, far beyond the ways outlined in the report, the authors say. “The real opportunity is to take these tools and apply them more broadly. That would be where you’d make a larger impact,” says Ed Naef, vice president of strategy consulting for Cartesian, and one of the report’s lead authors.

作者表示，手機數據具有改善發展中國家生存條件的無窮潛力，用途遠遠超出這份報告所列舉的方式。笛卡爾公司戰略諮詢事務副總裁、這份報告的主要作者之一埃德o納伊夫說：“真正的機會在於利用這些工具，更廣泛地加以應用，這樣就會帶來更大的影響。”

While the Gates Foundation has not yet announced projects that will implement the findings of the study, Gupta says that projects are in the works, including potential partnerships with the United Nations Global Pulse, a U.N. initiative to use Big Data for humanitarian purposes.

雖然蓋茨基金會還沒有宣佈什麼項目來利用這項研究得出的發現，但古普塔表示，相關項目正處於計劃階段，而聯合國全球脈動(United Nations Global Pulse)是潛在合作伙伴之一。後者是聯合國發起的一個項目，旨在應用大數據來解決人道主義問題。