70 OpenSpace Workshops Thursday 27.10.2011 11:00-12:30 WorkSpace #1 OpenSpace Workshop Investing in Innovation in the Developing World Open Format Session #4 Can Mobile End the Reign of Cash? Thursday 27.10.2011 09:00-10:30 OpenSpace Thursday 27.10.2011 09:00-10:30 WorkSpace #2 The Big Question: should and could mobile technology replicate all of the functions of cash in a digital context? Mobile telephony is the first truly global, network technology where there is a nearly one-to-one relationship between a chip/phone number and an individual. It is also a highly sophisticated and multi-functional technology which may well represent the next step in the evolution of money. In most cases, incremental steps have been taken in the move from bank-based payments to mobile handsets. However, there are also examples of where cash-based economies are leap-frogging over checks and cards straight to digital currency. M-Pesa in Kenya is the most well-known example of cash becoming digital. However, Kenya has become the exception that proves the rule as incumbents and regulators in many markets are protecting the status quo. Can mobile provide for all the roles of money as a unit of accounting, a means of exchange, a store of value and a mechanism for deferred payment? This workshop is open to anyone who is fascinated by the mobile future of money and would like to explore how mobile technology is changing our lives in fundamental ways, including regulators or policy makers who need to better understand the dynamics that mobile introduces into economics and monetary policy. Participants will share knowledge and experience whilst collectively brainstorming the possibility and potential impact of cash being rendered redundant within our lifetimes. This is a facilitated, delegate-driven meeting in a fully open format that generates collaboration and creativity. Participants themselves create the agenda, pose questions, raise the topics they think are important, join the breakout sessions they are most interested in, and co-create the conversation. OpenSpace Workshop OpenSpace Workshop