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The Revolution1 as Gone Mobile «

,therewillbe 6.8billion
By mid-2010 humans on this and their patients. j
planet. Accordingto United Nations estimates , there Another revolution isfollowing closeon theheelsof j
alsowillbe five billion
cellphone subscriptions.These the cellphone r .Thisyear
evolution ,thenumber ofmo - -
areastonishing numbers.What isstillmore astonishing, bilebroadbandsubscribers peoplewho accesstheIn¬
and hopeful, isthebreadthof change thisnumber re¬ ternet vialaptops ormobilephbnes isforecast topass
flects. ,up from 600 million
one billion attheend of2009.That
The UnitedNationssays thatrightnow 80 percent number willalmostsurelyskyrocket ,too and thede¬
of the world'spopulationhas available cellcoverage. velopedworldshouldbe doingeverything itcan toen¬
The fastest adoptionof cellphoneuse isoccurringin courageit.
some oftheworld'spoorestplaces. That means increasing thereachand loweringthe
Cellphonesare cheap,theirbatteries can be easily costofbroadbandand pressing forpolitical
and commer¬
rechargedwithsolarpower and theyarecreating noth¬ cialopennessacrossthe Internet . Mobilecommunica¬
ingshortofa revolution :knittingruralcommunitiesto¬ tionand accesstodigital information arepowerfuldevel¬
gether ,sowinginformation,and altering themost basic opment tools and aidsto elf -sufficiency
.,AndWe ,inturn,
.Anyone who have a lottolearnfrom theinnovative way thosetools
assumptionsabouthealthcareand finance
arebeingusedaroundtheworld.
has traveledto Africarecentlycan Vouch for these
changes.
-° Correction
In nearlyeverysizabletown or city,thereare doz
ens of tinykioskswhere phones can be rentedorire-
pairedand subscriptions can be purchased.In regions- An editorial on Wednesday aboutisolated -
,butpoliti;
where communicationsused to be nearlyimpossible, cally potent,missteps by the United Nationspanelon -
eli I
cellphones areessential
tosocial innovation.Thismeans mate change misidentified the journalthatpublished
everythingfrom microfinance and electronic credit ,via Ralph J. Cicerone 'seditorial on credibility
and climate
SMS , tobetternetworkingamong healthcare workers science .Itwas Science ,notNature.