With usership crossing the four billion mark, mobile communication increasingly incorporates broad aspects of contemporary human life, potentially impacting not just the work and play of advanced users in developed markets, but also the daily lives of those in the developing world.

At one end of the spectrum, the rapid diffusion of mobile phones in developed countries offer an extended range of integrated functions and applications such as communication, information, entertainment, internet surfing, transactions, and political participation. At the other, there is rising adoption of mobiles in developing countries, both organic and planned, with the pursuit of basic development objectives such as livelihood generation, education, and health.

The Mobiles preconference workshop aims to foster discussions around how developments in emerging markets reflect the trends in mature markets, as well as assess potential for the cross-pollination of information and communications technologies for development and/or empowerment.

The workshop examines innovations in a variety of societal contexts highlighting different phenomena of mobile phone uses. With advancements in functionality and transmission technologies, mobile phones not only serve as a distribution platform, but also enable content production and consumption anytime, anywhere.

Juxtaposed with the engagement of social media, the extent and effects of mobile communications are amplified, for instance through the use of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in U.S. and Iran elections, as well as in the demonstration for religious freedom by Uighur Muslims in China.