Bring together engineers, designers, architects, psychologists, and media experts. Inspire them to shape communication technology to meet the needs of sustainable growth. What you get is fertile breeding ground for ways to enhance virtual communication which can slow the impact of climate change. That’s the idea behind the Centre for Sustainable Communications at Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). Ericsson had a leading role in establishing the Centre in 2006. The Centre will help Ericsson’s efforts to further define how advanced communication technologies help create more sustainable societies.
Funding will be provided by Vinnova, the Swedish government agency for innovation systems, KTH, and industry, for a total annual budget of about 20 MSEK for ten years. The Centre is operational from January 2007, and will conduct analysis and research on the use of ICT in a sustainability context.
By 2009, the Centre is expected to employ 10 to 15 researchers. Ericsson’s know-how and expertise is made available to the Centre.
Academic partnership with China
Also in 2006, Ericsson and the Stockholm School of Economics agreed to create a program aiming to generate in-depth knowledge of Chinese business and economics and its impact on global trade patterns. The program will create a base for a unique competence center at the Stockholm School of Economics. Sustainable economic growth and development are among the key research areas.
China has established itself as a crucial player in the world economy and has emerged as one of the most important strategic markets. China continued in 2006 to be one of Ericsson’s key high-growth markets. The program will bring insight into the complexity of Chinese business and economics and strengthen Ericsson's and Sweden's relations with China.
China’s future economic development will depend crucially on efficient use of natural resources; indeed, how China uses resources like energy has ramifications globally. China is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US. The country committed to a five year plan in 2006 to bring emission of greenhouse gases under control and reduce energy consumption per unit GDP by 20 percent.
The program is being initiated in early 2007 with Ericsson and the Stockholm School of Economics as co-founders and is guided by active input from representatives from Ericsson, the Stockholm School of Economics and the China Center for Economical Research at Peking University.
