Using technology for good in the Networked Society
We talk a lot about the Networked Society and all of its possibilities. As the world becomes increasingly connected, we have an obligation as a corporation, and as a global citizen, to make sure that technology is a force for good in the world.
One of the best ways to build a sustainable foundation for a Networked Society is to actively promote technology for good to help solve some of the greatest global challenges of our times. Technology can play an absolutely instrumental role in areas such as disaster relief, global poverty, access to universal education and healthcare. Next week, the UN will focus on meeting these challenges at the Social Good Summit in New York – and how technology can be part of the solution.
The five billion mobile users around the globe represent the largest social community in the history of mankind – more than twice the size of the entire internet – covering more than 90 percent of the world’s population.
Here’s an idea of what is happening around the world in just one minute:
- 12 million SMS sent
- 48 hours of video uploaded on YouTube
- 20,000 mobile apps downloaded
- 700 smart phones activated
- 30,000 tweets made on Twitter
While this is happening, a child in Africa dies of a preventable disease like malaria every 45 seconds.
We are on the brink of the Networked Society, and today broadband infrastructure is increasingly deployed, but we haven’t even begun to tap all of the “good” that we can utilize this for. Think of the impact all of this connectivity could have when focused on social good. Children can get access to educational resources, mothers can receive healthcare even in remote villages, and small-business owners can get access to markets.
We’ve been working with an array of public, private and NGO partners to harness the power and scale that ubiquitous mobile phone service offers. The applications developed help to deliver healthcare, education, small business development and safety services.
We’ll be at the Social Good Summit in New York next week to talk about ways in which technology is helping to solve global challenges.
Follow the conversation online at www.ericsson.com.
Written by Elaine Weidman
Elaine Weidman Grunewald is Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson. She joined Ericsson in 1998, and she is responsible for a number of public private partnerships which explore the use of Technology for Good, i.e. the use Ericsson’s core technology to solve some of the world’s most compelling challenges and help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals , including the Millennium villages, Connect to Learn, and Refugees United. She is a leading advocate of Technology for Good and represents Ericsson in a number of external fora including the Broadband Commission for Digital Development and the United Nations Global Compact.
