In the third part of our interview with Ken Banks, founder of Kiwanja.net and FrontlineSMS, we continue our discussion about FrontlineSMS. This time we discuss about projects such as FrontlineSMS:Medic and FrontlineSMS:Credit which are specific applications of FrontlineSMS to ‘vertical’ scenarios such as medicine and informal banking.

In the first part of the interview, Ken gave us some of his background and how he came to get involved with mobile technology and how the FrontlineSMS project began. In the second part we talked about SMS technology and more FrontlineSMS.

Let’s continue the discussion…

Afrinnovator.com: There are a few ‘offshoots’ of FrontlineSMS out there FrontlineSMS:Medic, FrontlineSMS:Credit. Tell us a bit about these.

Ken Banks (FrontlineSMS, Kiwanja.net): The ‘offshoots’, as you call them, have been very interesting to watch. Inspiring, even. FrontlineSMS was originally conceived as a general messaging tool, in that it wasn’t a solution designed to fix a specific problem in a specific sector. It’s this flexibility which has been its strength, I think. But clearly certain types of users have different needs, and Josh Nesbit was the first when he identified an opportunity for FrontlineSMS to be adapted to healthcare settings in the developing world.

It was his initial project in Malawi which lead to collaborations with other friends and students – initially Isaac Holeman and Lucky Gunasekara – and they created FrontlineSMS:Medic which now has a growing team of paid and volunteer staff building an SMS-driven patient record keeping system.

For me, the way FrontlineSMS:Medic has managed to leverage the core FrontlineSMS brand has been particularly interesting to watch, and I think it helped them get a little more traction early on than they might have got if that had called it something entirely neutral.

Other people have since followed their lead, and we have Ben Lyon who’s running FrontlineSMS:Credit, building mobile payment functionality into the software, and Brendan O’Keefe who has adapted it to anti-bullying campaigns through FrontlineSMS:Bullyproof.

Others are on the horizon. What’s particularly exciting about these approaches is that they’re totally open and transparent examples of true collaboration. Rather than build a messaging tool from scratch, they’ve built on and adapted something already available, and believe me that’s quite revolutionary in a mobile world which even to this day is seeing people re-invent wheels. Collaboration is an incredibly over-used term, but I feel what we’re seeing here, and what we’re seeing happening between end users, too (where they increasingly reach out to each other) is how we need to be. There’s only a certain number of SMS gateways or data collection tools that we need. At some point we need to stop building more and concentrate on making the ones we have better.

Afrinnovator.com: Are they also part of FrontlineSMS or are they run as separate projects by third parties?

Ken Banks (FrontlineSMS, Kiwanja.net): These ‘offshoots’  are independent entities, managed and run by other people – incredibly talented people, may I add. We provide any core support that they may need, control over the URL and email addresses. They do the rest. It’s been an interesting approach, and I’ve been asked (and in some cases criticized) for ‘risking’ the FrontlineSMS brand by allowing other people to take it on board. I don’t really see it as a risk – you only have to meet the likes of Josh, Ben and Brendan to know that these are incredibly talented, driven individuals.

I’d say it’s been a huge honor to have connected and be working with them. The relationships are totally supportive, too – we all gain from publicity from one another, and we can share contacts and donors. It’s great, for example, to be able to direct any mobile health questions to Josh or Isaac, or any mobile payment enquiries to our resident mobile payments expert, Ben. The model is evolving and we’re all growing into it. It’s exciting to be part of something which we all believe strongly in, and something which could go in many directions.

Afrinnovator.com: In your opinion, in what other ‘verticals’  – such as mhealth (FrontlineSMS:Medic) or microfinance (FrontlineSMS:Credit) – does FrontlineSMS have real potential application?

Ken Banks (FrontlineSMS, Kiwanja.net): Well, we’ve mentioned three verticals already. There’s also a lot of activity around FrontlineSMS in agriculture, and a growing number of rural radio stations around the world using the software for audience engagement and feedback. There’s been a fair amount of election monitoring done with it, too (mostly in conjunction with Ushahidi), although it’s worth pointing out that none of these are our projects – the end users decide how they deploy the tool.

There are discussions going on around the use of FrontlineSMS in media, agriculture, education and mobile giving, so expect to see more ‘offshoots’ this year and beyond. Which one comes next depends entirely on the end users – we’re here when they’re ready. I think we’re proud to be a needs-based organisation, so we don’t actively try to set these things up until people show there’s a need, and show that they understand how to service it, and show us that they’re ready to take over a ‘vertical’.

Clearly, Josh’s medical background was essential for FrontlineSMS:Medic to have credibility, as was Ben’s understanding and experience in mobile payments for FrontlineSMS:Credit. Anyone can’t run these projects – understanding the needs of the end user is a critical starting point.