Broadband key to education for all
As Mobile World Congress winds down for another year, a significant launch took place on Wednesday evening that can transform the lives of millions of people worldwide.
It wasn’t the launch of the latest all-singing, all-dancing smartphone or turbo-speed connection: it was the publication of a report by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development’s working group on education. The report is titled Technology, Broadband and Education: Advancing the Education for All Agenda.
During his speech at the launch, Dr Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), paid particular thanks to the work of the Connect To Learn partnership for the various parties’ input to the report, which was great to hear. In listening to Dr Touré’s speech, I couldn’t help reflecting on the remarkable growth of mobile broadband in recent years, and how this is playing a truly transformational role in enabling education for all. And this transformation will gather pace over the coming years as more and more schools and students gain access to mobile-broadband services.
During Hans Vestberg’s keynote speech on Tuesday, I heard him forecast that there will be 3.3 billion smartphone users and 6.5 billion mobile-broadband subscriptions by 2018. Imagine the impact this can have in schools all around the world that today lack access even to the most basic textbooks and teaching materials. Mobile-broadband access really can support the education for all agenda by opening up access to the best educational resources for all students and teachers – no matter where they reside.
In his closing remarks, Dr Touré highlighted the six main recommendations of the report. One of these is to work to bridge the digital divide among and between countries. On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending the GSMA Mobile Awards at MWC, where Ericsson and Vivo won an award for the Amazon Connection initiative. In their summary the judges praised the partners for their perseverance in bridging the digital divide within Brazil by bringing connectivity, m-health and e-learning to the communities of the Amazon.
With our engagement in initiatives such as the Amazon Connection, the Millennium Villages Project and Connect To Learn, we will continue to promote equality, access and connectivity to achieve the goal of education for all, and through broadband, support all aspects of sustainable development.
Written by Paul Landers
Paul is Program Manager for Connect To Learn at Ericsson. He oversees the development and deployment of Ericsson’s ICT solutions in schools across Africa and in other regions of the world. The Connect to Learn project aims to increase student access to education globally, and builds on Ericsson’s commitment to assisting the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of universal education. With experience in both the public and private sector, Mr. Landers has a studied the potential and implementation of ICT in education for over two decades. He started his career as a public school teacher in Ireland focusing specifically on ICT use in primary schools and the development of teacher training programs. Since joining Ericsson in 1998, he has been deeply involved in the creation of corporate eLearning programs both within Ericsson and as a consultant for supporting business partners around the world.
