ThoughtWorks and the GSMA Development Fund partnership launch Innovative Mobile and Development Intelligence Platform

13th June 2012 - London, UK - In a bid to increase social awareness and promote business interest in rural communities in the developing world, the GSMA Development Fund has partnered with ThoughtWorks to formally launch an online platform - Mobile and Development Intelligence (MDI).

Following a two-year relationship with the GSMA, MDI was developed and launched within just nine months. MDI will support and encourage entrepreneurs, investors, academics and technologists to share industry and development data in order to remove barriers and accelerate innovations that can help billions of underprivileged people globally.

With the developing world accounting for over 70 per cent of the 6.6billion globally active SIM cards, mobile operators are already proficient at unlocking the potential in developing countries. However, MDI will help stakeholders to exploit publicly available data to support better business decision-making and unlock a unique potential to drive social, economic and environmental awareness.

Selected for its ability to understand and deliver an exceptional user experience, high quality and on-time launch, ThoughtWorks used a Continuous Delivery and Design approach to build and develop the MDI platform. The GSMA had never attempted to create a publicly available database with the broad types of data needed across various domains and so, using the Continuous Delivery approach, changes were regularly deployed throughout the process - with little or no disruption to the platform itself. The ThoughtWorks team, based in India, was able to code, test and deploy the first beta version as a result of a highly collaborative working partnership.

“We are absolutely delighted to continue our partnership with the GSMA Development Fund and build the new MDI platform. Due to the success of our partnership, we have developed a highly innovative, technically creative platform using complex data that can ultimately make a difference to those in the developing world,” said David Tuck, Client Principal, ThoughtWorks.

"ThoughtWorks has been a true partner rather than a vendor. Everyone on the team was considering not just the MDI platform, but also the customers and what they would really need. They would ask me “Do you really need that? What Persona is going to use that? Why do you need that? How important is that? We didn't end up with a huge set of requirements that is expensive and no one is going to use. We got a right-sized product. Other vendors seem to just go along and let things get bigger and more complicated." – David Taverner, MDI Director.

As part of its Social Impact Program, ThoughtWorks collaborated closely with The GSMA’s Development Fund team throughout the project, ensuring it would support the organisation’s long-term objectives.