USA Africa Dialogue Series - The impact of the Connected Life over the next five years

Mobile technology is redefining our lives and making it increasingly connected. From health and education to transportation and smarter cities, the proliferation of mobile communication and a connected life is now well established and here to stay.

In this report, we have attempted to give a snapshot of trends that are redefining our lives through mobile technology. The instances cited here only scratch the surface of the impact that mobile devices will have on society over the next five years. Our findings indicate an exciting future for both developed and developing markets.

For instance, in developed countries mobile interventions could help cut healthcare costs by 400 billion USD in 2017, help retain 1.8 million students in the education system, save one in nine lives lost in road accidents, and reduce CO2 emissions by 27 million tonnes annually. Similarly in developing markets, mobile interventions could help save over a million lives in Sub-Saharan Africa, provide education access to 180 million students, save 25 million tonnes of food and encourage over 20 million commuters to start using public transport.

The GSMA and a number of stakeholders around the world provided valuable inputs to this report. A number of secondary data sources were consulted to prepare this snapshot. Our aim is to help generate a dialogue on this important topic and its exciting future. Policy makers within the government, civil society, corporations and individuals will no doubt, find areas that they would like to explore further.