ON - Omidyar Network

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Omidyar Network’s support will enable FrontlineSMS to build and strengthen our organization and service, thus allowing us to reach more users; Increased adoption will accelerate social change in communities around the globe by enhancing civic engagement and improving economic opportunity for millions of people.

— Ken Banks, Founder and Executive Director of FrontlineSMS

FrontlineSMS is award-winning free, open source software that transforms a laptop and a mobile phone into a simple, low-cost means of two-way, group communication.

Why We Invested

FrontlineSMS is free, open source software that enables users to send and receive text messages with large groups of people through mobile phones.  Its adoption is accelerating in the developing world where Internet access is limited but SMS (text messaging) is increasingly accessible.  Omidyar Network’s support will enable FrontlineSMS to reach millions more individuals and foster new services to provide information critical to their health, livelihood, and ability to hold their governments accountable.

More than 7,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across 50 countries have downloaded FrontlineSMS for a wide range of activities.  These applications include promoting government accountability and monitoring elections, providing security alerts to field workers, exchanging agricultural market information, and coordinating healthcare workers and monitoring outbreaks of disease.  The innovative use of the enabling technology and its application in furthering access to information and government transparency on a global scale make FrontlineSMS a natural partner for Omidyar Network.