Ericsson India is the leading advocate of Technology for Good in India. Our sustainability and corporate responsibility work are divided into three focus areas:
Key programs
Earthwatch
With India facing one of the highest level of pollution across the world, air quality remains a pressing concern as it is also around the world.
It is for this endeavor, we have partnered with Earthwatch for its Citizen Science project that works with, teachers, community members and senior citizens to spread knowledge and awareness on key topics around air pollution. The project is also developing educational resources and experiential learning tools on air quality for young people am disseminating this knowledge though workshops and training programs on monitoring air quality using educational air quality sensors.
Additionally, it promotes incorporating air quality science into school programs teaming up with teachers and students. The students learn about environmental science and data science. In parallel with this learning, they can easily check on the status of air quality and report back data including localized warnings for asthmatics or other sensitive groups, truly embracing the power of citizen science. The project is also encouraging actions for personal behavioral change through a number of initiatives aimed towards parents and children to make better choices to reduce air pollution.
At Ericsson, we believe that only by recognizing the fundamental social transformations required - and by involving our communities in defining the way forward - will we be able to steer towards a better future. Though initiatives such as these, we can surely help India breathe better.
Kaivalya Foundation – partnering to bridge the digital divide
With the onset of the pandemic in India, the ensuing lockdown meant that amongst everything else, government schools had closed down leaving children from underprivileged schools without the means to continue their education online.
Ericsson has partnered with Kaivalya Education Foundation to bridge this digital divide and provide 2200+ children in Gurugram government schools with smart phones. With pre-installed academic lessons, reading, comprehension and mathematics content, children are using these phones to attend online classes, access learning materials and videos to improve their overall academic performance.
This project will support the government to expand outreach of their EdTech initiatives through Avsar and Diksha platforms. Currently, the distribution of devices has been initiated with support from school headmasters and teachers. Parallelly, Kaivalya Education Foundation is training teachers and parents to ensure appropriate utilization and safety of the phones.
These children will also be assessed to measure improvement in their learning levels.
Children are expected to use these phones for the next two years, which will help them come at grade appropriate levels and reduce the learning loss occurred due to COVID-19.
Saahas
Proactive management of issues relating to energy, environment and climate action is a core component of our company strategy and corporate culture. In keeping with this commitment, Ericsson India has partnered with the Saahas NGO for the ‘bE-Circular’ initiative that aims to implement an e-waste management awareness, sensitization, and authorized disposal system project.
Initially the project will be a pilot from Gurugram which will then expand to cover the Delhi NCR region. Key goals that the project seeks to achieve are
- Awareness about e-waste through campaigns (online and offline) and public events
- Piloting sustainable collection system in the city for bulk (residential societies & schools) and non-bulk consumers of e-waste
- Ensure right end destination for collected e-waste by tie ups with authorized recyclers
- Disseminate knowledge through stakeholder workshop
- Showcase a successful model for replication in other cities
This will be done through engagement activities for creating awareness of segregation of e- waste, sensitization for the need of reduce, reuse and recycling of e-waste, and safe disposal through authorized collection partners, thereby reducing dumping and burning of waste in the city through informal channels.
As of October 2021, the project has already seen fantastic traction. Looking forward, the aim is to engage more informed users as volunteers for the region including employees from Ericsson via various digital and social media initiatives as well as public activations.
Partnership with IIT Kanpur for a cleaner future
With an aim to address the increasing need for air quality data in India along with better information on environments and understanding the effects of local emissions, we are partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Kanpur) to support their development of low-cost air quality monitoring networks in India.
In phase-I of this project, IIT Kanpur deployed a network of 30 such air quality monitors across Delhi NCR to generate a dashboard of the city’s air quality data to address the growing air pollution in Delhi. As an outcome of phase-I of this project, better monitoring and analysis of data generated from different parts of the capital was done. By using collected data, spatio-temporal variation among deployment sites were observed. Hotspots for pollution in Delhi NCR were identified and hence coarse information about influencing nearby sources was also obtained. Data was also shared with Earthwatch Institute India and other community-based organizations to use it and raise awareness regarding air pollution and its management.
Along with the successful accomplishment of phase-I, in an extension of this work as phase-II (May 2021-May 2024), IIT Kanpur is deploying air quality monitoring low-cost sensor networks in three more important cities- Jaipur (40 Nos.), Chennai-Kanyakumari (45 Nos.) and Guwahati (40 Nos.). Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RPCB) has also come forward and signed MoU with IIT Kanpur to support this projectExperts from RPCB will also provide their valuable inputs in policy-making using real-time air quality data to be generated in the Jaipur district.
The project is showing a fantastic uptake and is enabling the monitoring of real-time air pollution information, providing key data to empower citizen science in cities by providing them with monitored data.
Collaborations such as these are a crucial part of our resolve towards the environment and our broader objective to supporting the society with technology that can create a positive impact.
Creating leadership in environmental stability
In pursuit of Clean Air : Air Quality Monitoring using Cellular Network in Dense Urban settings
At Ericsson, we believe in proactive management of energy, environment and climate action. We are committed in working to reduce environmental impacts and emissions. Forming a key part of our resolve towards the environment, Ericsson in India has signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur to address the growing air pollution in Delhi. The project aims to empower citizens and policy makers by providing them with real-time air quality data. A network of 30 such air quality monitors will be deployed across Delhi to generate a live dashboard of the city’s air quality data.
As part of the MoU, Ericsson will use locally developed air quality sensors that are capable of sharing environmental data at defined time intervals. This will lead to better monitoring and analysis of data collected from different parts of the capital. The partnership will also include working with community-based organizations to raise awareness regarding air pollution and steps that can be taken to reduce it.
Such initiatives are a testament to Ericsson’s strong resolve in enabling a cleaner future & contribution to reduce environmental impacts and emissions.