Today's Top Stories The number of mobile health (mHealth) apps is on the rise, doubling in only two and half years to reach more than 100,000 iOS and Android apps in the first quarter of 2014. Revenue generated by mHealth apps reached $2.4 billion last year and is expected to grow to $26 billion by the end of 2017, according to a survey of more than 2,000 mHealth app publishers by research2guidance, Continua Alliance and the Health Information Management Systems Society. Publishers of mHealth apps include traditional healthcare players, such as hospitals and drug firms, as well as helpers, mobile app specialists, connectors and medical and fitness specialists. Based on the survey, the study singled out six factors that distinguish successful mHealth app publishers from less successful firms. Successful publishers, those that make over a million dollars in annual revenue, do these six things: - Employ a service model as their primary revenue generator--services include remote monitoring, consultation and scanned image sharing, which can be charged on a subscription basis or pay-per-use.
- Have a large app portfolio (more than 20 mobile apps), which allows them to leverage cross-selling opportunities and balance risk.
- Have more experience in the market.
- Make greater use of medical and health application programming interfaces, which provide access to general and personal health information databases as well as medical devices and health tracking devices of third-party vendors.
- Make greater use of tools that support app development, performance monitoring and app monetization.
- Use iOS as their number one app platform, which offers better revenue potential than Android for mHealth app publishing.
For more:
- check out the research2guidance blog
- read the full report (reg. req.)
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Mobile app developers will feel the heat from the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) crackdown on children's data collection that violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), according to Jules Polonetsky, executive director of the privacy think tank Future of Privacy Forum. "The smaller mobile players have their heads in the sand, and mobile app developers are the most vulnerable. What [the FTC] have told us is that mobile apps and kids are a major focus" of their COPPA enforcement, Polonetsky tells VentureBeat. Polonetsky adds, "If you're tracking kids across sites, like data analytics and ad network companies, for example, you are collecting personal information on children--and you're doing it without parental consent." The FTC signaled earlier this year that it would begin cracking down on tech companies that violate COPPA, VentureBeat reports. Passed in 1998, COPPA requires that websites and online service operators that collect personal information from children under 13 give notice to parents and get their explicit consent before collecting, using or disclosing that personal information. After implementing an overhaul of the COPPA rules in 2013, the FTC gave certain firms a grace period to comply with COPPA in the mobile space, VentureBeat explains. The overhaul broadened the definition of children's personal information to include "persistent identifiers such as cookies that track a child's activity online, as well as geolocation information, photos, videos and audio recordings," according to the FTC. On its websites, the FTC says that civil penalties for COPPA can reach $16,000 per violation. "The amount of civil penalties a court assesses may turn on a number of factors, including the egregiousness of the violations, whether the operator has previously violated the Rule, the number of children involved, the amount and type of personal information collected, how the information was used, whether it was shared with third parties, and the size of the company," the FTC explains. The VentureBeat report notes that mobile ad marketers, ad retargeters and mobile app developers that collect or sell children's personal information in violation of COPPA could face fines for each app download or login. The FTC is not commenting on whether any enforcement investigations or actions are under way.
For more:
- read the VentureBeat article
- check out the FTC COPPA site
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Enterprises need to appoint a dedicated mobility manager to handle the challenges and opportunities that the flood of mobile devices and data present. That is the advice of Bzur Haun, CEO of mobile management firm Visage. The mobility manager's team should be diverse, drawing on expertise ranging from IT to finance. "So a great mobility team should have a comprehensive understanding of the business. That starts with a solid footing in IT and device management. The team also needs insight into the billing details of employees' plans across multiple carriers and an understanding of each department's mobile needs to make strategic recommendations that benefit the business," Haun writes. The mobility manager should master data analysis in order to gather data about wireless spending and usage and analyze it in order to allocate resources most effectively. Data analysis also helps with carrier contract renegotiation and limiting wasteful spending, such as excessive international data roaming charges and underutilized data pools, he notes. Visage estimates that mobility costs the average enterprise of 738 employees and 1.54 devices per employee $91,000 per month. Employees also rack up hidden costs, such as large roaming bills, redundant paid app downloads, 411 calls and premium text services. "Technology and workforce trends, BYOD, remote working and the explosion of devices and platforms are magnifying the need for CEOs and CIOs to apply the same level of strategic thinking to mobility as their colleagues do for every other key function of the business," Haun concludes.
For more:
- read Haun's column in Information Week
- check out Visage's mobile stats
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