The United Nations estimates that although only 4.5 billion people across the planet have access to toilets, 6 billion have access to a mobile phone. A World Bank report further reports that of those 6 billion, nearly 5 billion are in developing nations. These are certainly sobering statistics in terms of sanitation and access to plumbing, but the numbers also tell us something very important about how we can use technology to start solving some of the problems that the developing world faces.

It might be difficult at first to see the relationship between mobile phone networks building basic utilities. The connection is not a direct one, but is rather about sharing information and creating greater opportunities for education. There are numerous startups and organizations developing applications for mobile technology that are specifically geared toward helping those in remote areas improve their lives and brighten their futures.

Moving Money

In high-income developed nations, most people have access to a bank account, even if they live in a rural area. For low-income individuals who make less than $2 per day, though, there are a lot of barriers to traditional financial services, and fewer than 23% of those people have an account at a formal institution. Not only does this create hardship on a personal level, it also means that there is less access to business capital, which could make a significant difference in helping to break the cycle of poverty.

In Africa and South Asia, there are dozens of social enterprises that are bringing financial control to anyone with a mobile phone, which means that banking and financial services are now much closer to being inclusive across society. Users of mobile money apps can send and receive money through their phones, pay for goods and services, and even apply for loans.

Services like M-Pesa, for example, allow anyone with a phone to create an account for sending and receiving money or making online payments, all accomplished via SMS messages and PIN numbers.

Digital Education

Literacy and education are two very important keys to fighting poverty, and with the advent of e-reader applications and online classes, many areas in the world are experiencing direct access to schooling for the first time.

A UNESCO study has recently discovered that there are hundreds of thousands of people in developing countries who, because of mobile technology, are now reading in places where books are hard to find, but mobile phones aren’t. This number is likely to grow over time as more people catch on to the trend of reading on a mobile device.

Worldreader, an organization based right here in San Francisco, is one example of how digital technology can be used to bring books to those who would not otherwise have them, across the globe. In addition to providing an app where users can access over 6,000 mostly free e-books, Worldreader also distributes Kindles to classrooms in areas where students might not have a mobile device, allowing even more people to be able to learn to read through technology.

Remote Health Services

Although lack of access to schools is a major issue in many areas, lack of access to health care is even more of a problem. The poor are more vulnerable to disease not only because they can’t always go to the doctor, but also because they are often kept in the dark when it comes to information about health conditions, best practices in the household, proper prenatal and neonatal self-care, and education about sexually transmitted diseases.

In recent years, a variety of mobile health apps have popped up to help bring underserved communities into the circle of those who can receive adequate health care. The Grameen Foundation, for instance, works with various private and governmental agencies in Africa to develop strategies for distributing information and health care solutions over mobile networks.

This insures that people even in the remotest areas can potentially have access to accurate information on a variety of health-related topics, as well as assistance to get them medical care where needed.

Helping Farmers

Farmers in the developing world are at an automatic disadvantage. Not only are wages lower, but often production suffers because they do not have the same access to modern agricultural services as farmers in the developed world.

Luckily, with mobile technology, farmers in some of the world’s poorest regions can now use apps that help them make more well-informed decisions about their crops, which in turn leads to better yields and higher incomes.

Thanks to mobile phones, information about soil and fertilizer can be sent via SMS text message, farmers can network with distributors so that less of the harvest is wasted and profits are maximized, and weather pattern apps can give producers a heads-up before any major meteorological events. This wealth of information not only helps the farmers themselves, but in turn boosts the communities where they live, raising the standard of life for everyone in the area.