Nokia and Telefonica are using mobile devices to help education in remote schools in Latin America. Both companies maintain mobile education programmes, which they are combining beginning in Chile.
Telefonica’s Proniño and Educared programs focus on improving education in remote areas. The implementation in Chile will take advantage of these already exiting programs, and will host Nokia’s Education Delivery mobile software on the Telefonica broadband network.
From the release:
Telefonica COO Julio Linares, said: “This agreement fits our Spirit of Progress, which implies that we want to enhance people’s lives as well as the progress of the communities where we operate, by delivering innovative services based on information and communications technologies. Wireless connectivity opens up strong opportunities of development and integration in Latin America”.
Nokia’s CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said: “This partnership demonstrates the significant social benefits that mobile technology can deliver, reaching communities and children who previously had very limited educational opportunity in an inspiring and accessible way.”
What we think?
More and more we’re seeing the mobile device as a method of education and improving quality of life in developing countries. It’s a wonderful use to put mobiles to. It’s not entirely altruistic, of course. Some of the biggest money to be made in the mobile Internet market is in developing economies – and if operators and handset manufacturers can foster these markets, they stand to make a huge profit. Not only that, if they can really use mobiles as a device to burgeon growing economies then the devices will be an integral part of those economies, central to the lives of millions.
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