The way humanitarians interact with the communities in which they work has changed drastically as the information age has taken hold. Reaching out to people in need was historically a very personal thing, and necessarily so, but was also one of the only means of understanding the needs and wishes of communities.

The use of computers and cell phones for communication and statistical analysis has been standard for researchers in the humanitarian fields for the last quarter of a century, but now this ever growing technology is available to populations in extremely rural areas throughout the world. The capability of the smartphone is ever increasing, and their ability to run for long periods on a single battery charge and then be recharged using small solar panels, means that their use in the field is rapidly being recognised.

In 2018, it was estimated that three quarters of the population of sub-Saharan Africa have a cell phone of some sort, almost 750 million people. Of these, 250 million phones are some type of smartphone, capable of enhanced functions. Furthermore, two thirds of the geographical area of the region has cell phone signal which is capable of providing internet access. Altogether, this gives the ability of aid organisations to penetrate this enormous region of Africa at a far more interactive and data-rich level than ever before. It is important that the human face, quite literally, is not omitted from future interactions, but using the cellular network allows a few significant opportunities:

1. Provide appropriate warnings and education for communities. For example, a communally available smartphone can be used to train community leaders on how to recognise the symptoms of haemorrhagic fever diseases, how to keep the patient as well as possible until medical attention can arrive, whilst keeping the aid giver safe from the disease. This can also (in a careful manner) warn communities of active outbreaks and how to secure themselves from the disease.
2. Allow communities to feed back to governmental agencies or NGOs not only in the event of disease outbreak, but when projects are being conducted within those communities. For instance, if a community is to be visited by a nurse, or have a piece of infrastructure completed, a smartphone can be used by that community to feedback on this assistance. This is of critical importance in regions where corruption is deemed to be endemic.
3. Utilise the intrinsic networking ability of cellular devices to enable two way communication between multiple parties. One of the recurring themes that communities cite as causing them to not feel part of a wider, prolonged, aid response is feeling a lack of involvement in the process. Where applicable and appropriate, the use of cell phones to directly communicate with individuals, towns, and villages, can help bridge this gap.

There are, however, barriers to using such devices. Notably is varying rates of literacy and a considerable range of local dialects and languages. This can be overcome again by using the vast capabilities of modern cell phone technology such as voice recognition and real-time translation tools based on the web, and ultimately making use of the built-in microphones and speakers to both listen to spoken word, and speak directly back to the user. Smartphones can also be used to display pictures and video, which can be interactive without the need to use spoken or written language. One such platform being developed is DevelopmentCheck by Integrity Action. DevelopmentCheck uses smartphones to enable community monitoring of projects being conducted by governments or NGOs within their areas. With the continual development of new smartphone technology and a reduction in price of many devices, the use of cell phones as a key tool to facilitate community engagement will only increase.