Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Telefónica and Nokia Partner to Mobilize Education in Latin America

Telefónica and Nokia have signed a strategic agreement to bring educational content to remote schools in Latin America through the use of mobile technology. The agreement will help expand the current scope of Telefónica Foundation's "Proniño" and "Educared" social programs. The first implementation is planned for Chile, where Telefonica's mobile broadband and Nokia's mobile software will enable isolated schools to have access to high quality educational content. The agreement will be later expanded to other countries in Latin America and will prioritize schools where Proniño works.


During the annual Telefónica Leadership Conference, which is taking place this week in Miami, Telefónica 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, who was a guest speaker at the conference, 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."http://www.educared.nehttp://www.telefonica.es