Ericsson's continuing commitment to global social development has seen the company co-found Connect To Learn, a powerful new alliance which will use information and communication technology (ICT) to enable global access to primary and secondary education, particularly for girls and young women.

Ericsson is partnered in Connect To Learn by the Earth Institute, Millennium Promise and pop star Madonna.

Focusing initially in the Millennium Villages, the initiative will provide secondary school scholarships for students and utilize ICT to allow them to connect with students around the world via the School To School program. Connect To Learn will become more global later.

The initiative builds on our commitment to the Millennium Villages Project. It aims to support the achievement of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals by 2015, by using telecommunications to help improve health and educational facilities.

Ericsson President and CEO, Hans Vestberg, says the company is proud to support Connect To Learn.

"Broadband is now vital everywhere in the world, and can enable a high quality 21st century education, even at the primary and secondary level,v he says.

"Students all over the world have the possibility to share ideas and learn from each other. It's time for the classroom to go global and go mobile, since mobile networks have started to surpass fixed in many parts of the world – in discussion, social networking, and curriculum design and implementation.

"With the latest communication technology and our global scale, Ericsson is uniquely suited to shaping this new world for future generations."

Ericsson's initial involvement will provide the start-up funding needed to cover planning, key personnel salaries, energy sources, SIM cards, computer software for school computers, content management systems and curriculum/program development.

It will also help provide scholarships to a select number of Millennium Village girls and young women and will support the school to school connectivity.

Ericsson's multimedia solutions, such as eStore and Ericsson IPX, will be used to extend campaign awareness and facilitate charitable donations via the mobile phone to a potential audience of 4 billion mobile users.

Elaine Weidman, Ericsson's vice president of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, says the project is a prime example of how telecom can be used to address social needs and help to end extreme poverty.

"We hope to partner with the world’s leading operators to bring the benefits of connectivity to students and schools worldwide," she says. "By leveraging on our ongoing commitments to the Millennium Villages, we can have an immediate and direct impact."

Hans Vestberg, Earth Institute director Jeffrey Sachs, and Madonna launched the campaign during a visit to the Millennium Village of Gumulera and a bricklaying ceremony at the site of Madonna's future Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, which will be a flagship school of the Connect To Learn initiative. It will open in 2012.