“One of the insights to emerge is that we’re not good enough at communicating the benefits of education on society,” said Ericsson President and CEO Hans Vestberg. “We don’t have a good measurement and metrics to understand the positive economic impact of education when it comes to using ICT.” He vowed to work with the Earth Institute and Jeffrey Sachs as well as other influencers to try to find measurements for education that are equally clear as measurements on broadband penetration connected to GDP growth.

South Korean success story
Commenting on this subject, Ambassador Young-Shim Dho shared her own personal story of how an enlightened workforce can lead to economic prosperity. She recalled a time in South Korea when small children begged for soap and chewing gum from US marines.

“Fifty years ago we were a very poor country,” she said. “Today we are the 15th largest economy in the world. With no natural resources, education is what has transformed our country.”