July 7, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Google has started a new effort to help poor Africans gain access to health and agriculture information on their cell phones.
Working with a Ugandan telecommunications company and the Grameen Foundation, Google will offer a text-messaging service that will assist rural Ugandans, who often live far away from markets and health clinics.
Rural farmers can now electronically list their crops for buyers in cities and pregnant women can ask questions about prenatal care via the phone, writes Rachel Payne, Google’s Ugandan country manager, on the blog of Google.org, the company’s charitable arm.
The new effort is an example of Google’s new philanthropic approach.
In April the Mountain View, Calif., company announced Google.org will focus more on involving its computer engineers in developing technology to help social and environmental causes. The move raised questions if technology could make head way in solving long-standing global problems.
Read The Chronicle’s article about the changes at Google.org. (A paid subscription or free temporary pass is required to view the article.)
What do you think of Google’s new Uganda program?
