Jonathan Donner

I am a researcher in the Technology for Emerging Markets Group at Microsoft Research India in Bangalore. I'm a social scientist, with a background in Communication Research and Economic Development.   Contact me at jdonner at microsoft  dot com.

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The social and economic impacts of mobile telephony in the developing world

The uptake of mobile telephony in the developing world has been remarkable. I try to track the research literature on the topic, and to contribute to it when possible.

Recent Work

Steenson, Molly & Donner, J. (in press). Beyond the personal and private: Modes of mobile phone sharing in urban India. In S. W. Campbell & R. Ling (Eds.), Mobile communication research annual (Vol. 1). Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Books.

Donner, Jonathan. (2008). Research Approaches to Mobile Use in the Developing World: A Review of the Literature.  The Information Society 24(3). (Updated Slides, May 2007)

Donner, Jonathan. (2008). Shrinking fourth world? Mobiles, development, and inclusion. In J. Katz (Ed.), Handbook of mobile communication studies (pp. 29-42). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Donner, Jonathan., Rangaswamy, N., Steenson, M. W., & Wei, C. (2008. "Express yourself" and "Stay together" : The middle-class Indian family. In J. Katz (Ed.), Handbook of mobile communication studies (pp. 325-337). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Research while at the Earth Institute, Columbia University

Donner, Jonathan, (2007). The Rules of Beeping: Exchanging Messages Via Intentional “Missed Calls” on Mobile Phones. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1).

Donner, Jonathan. (2005). User-led innovations in mobile use in sub-Saharan Africa, Receiver #14 (Vodafone).

Donner, Jonathan. (2005). The social and economic implications of mobile telephony in Rwanda: An ownership/access typology. In P. Glotz, S. Bertschi & C. Locke (Eds.), Thumb culture: The meaning of mobile phones for society (pp. 37-52). Bielefeld, Germany: Transcript Verlag.  (Alternate URL // Reprint)

Donner, Jonathan (2004, June). Innovative approaches to public health information systems in developing countries: An example from Rwanda. Presented at “Mobile Technology and Health: Benefits and Risks”. Hosted by the Department of Economics, Society, and Geography at the University of Udine, Udine, Italy

Interesting Links

• The Center for Mobile Communication Studies at Rutgers University
• Leslie Haddon’s mobile ICTs bibliography
• Nalini Kotamraju’s mobile/SMS bibliography
• Richard Ling’s Homepage
• Information Technologies and International Development (journal)
• ICTD 2006 (conference)