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These novel Internet- and SMS-based collaborative systemscan have an important role in gathering information quicklyand improving coverage and accessibility. They represent adeparture from the careful control, verification, and datainformedactions of traditional structures, but can provideadvantages in scalability, coverage, timeliness, andtransparency. These data do not satisfy the goldenstandard of statistics (i.e. random, representative sample),but its usefulness is undeniable, particularly managing andmonitoring for disease outbreaks, agricultural challengesand natural disasters. 801 For instance, data compiledthrough U-Report has successfully assisted to combat adisease affecting banana trees. 802 Promisingmobile/smartphone applications for health monitoring andinformation sharing have also been put in place, whichenable the general public to report infectious diseaseevents. 803Box 8-3. Getting data through free-SMS servicesThe U-Report is a free SMS-based system that allows youngUgandans to speak out on what's happening incommunities across the country. Participants can enrol inU-report by SMS. Polls are conducted also through a freeSMS service and can attract large numbers of participants.For instance, a poll posted in Jan-2015 asking "During thePolio house to house immunisation campaign, did Poliovaccinators come to your home to immunise all thechildren under 5? Yes/No" received more than 25,000responses. The results are also available geographically.SMS surveys require literate respondents and literacy ratesin some African countries are under 50%. 804,805 But manyother African countries already have literacy rates wellabove 80%. Some SMS data reporting services like Ushahidihave developed the possibility for illiterate users to leavevoice messages instead, but analysis of the “voice data” istime consuming and costly.Cell-phone ownership tends to be biased towards thewealthy, and this can introduce serious bias. 806 But as theseservices become increasingly popular, and statistical toolsare being developed to correct for biases in the sample, thedata will become more and more reliable. To address asimilar problem, replies to surveys conducted onlineelsewhere in the world – also not a random, representativesample - are calibrated to match the population structure.These surveys are reporting results as reliable as othermore institutionalized surveys. 807 More research will beneeded to adapt this correction to cell phone and SMSsurveys. Also, cell phone/SMS surveys are being combinedwith face-to-face interviews for non-connected populations– there are reports that this would still be a lower costoption compared to a full face-to-face interview. 808SMS services are being particularly useful for monitoringadministrative and institutional data. This includes forinstance real-time stock management of essentialmedicines in health facilities (mTRAC 809 ) in Uganda. Birthregistrations through mobile phones and SMS are alreadytaking place in Nigeria 810 and Uganda. 811 RapidSMS is alsobeing used to collect data on facilities and attendance fromschools. 812 For monitoring water and sanitation, mobileapplications like Akvo FLOW (Field Level OperationsWatch) 813 permit collecting and reporting data on anydevice running a modern web browser. The system hasbeen used in 17 countries in Africa since 2010. In 2011, theLiberian government, assisted by the World Bank, usedAkvo FLOW to map 10,000 water points in Liberia. ThemWater service 814 - used by 240 small public-private pipedwater schemes in Senegal, Mali, Benin and Niger – is amobile-to-web platform allowing water-service operatorsto share information with national authorities and financialinstitutions via mobile phone. Text messages provide dataabout water production levels, account balances andservice disruptions.Box 8-4. Using cell phone records to estimate populationflows and design targeted policies against EbolaThe benefits of cell phone detailed records (CDRs) in thecontext of the current Ebola outbreak are clear. The rapidspread of the virus has been driven by local and regionaltravel.815 Epidemiological models of the spatial spread ofEbola rely on estimates of the volumes and flows of trafficbetween populations. This allows modellers to assess thelikely routes of infected individuals between populations,with imported cases sparking new outbreaks or augmentinglocal transmission. Since mobility is not only a major driverof the epidemic, but is also likely to shift dramatically inresponse to the outbreak and be directly targeted bycontrol policies, these estimates are critical. Figure 8-2shows population flows in West-Africa estimated by CDRs.Although CDRs cannot currently capture cross-bordermovements, understanding the potential routes of spreadof the virus within a country are critical to nationalcontainment policies.155