Data collected from mobile phones in Kenya could be used by telecom companies to help predict trends, said Dr. Bitange Ndemo speaking at the Mobile East Africa 2014 in Nairobi.

Ndemo, who is the honorary chairperson for the Alliance for Affordable Internet, told telecom companies to take advantage of user data currently in their systems to generate additional revenue models.

“The data that the telecoms have is more that could help us predict some trends. We need to get data from the government and from the private companies,” Ndemo said.

He added that this data could even be used to predict inflation trends in the country.

Ndemo; however, said that if this is to be done, then it must be done anonymously by not revealing private details of the users.