Access to mobile and digital technology is an important driver of social and economic development, both in the developed and the developing world. Mobile phones offer far more than the ability to make calls. Billions of people in the developing world live in remote and rural communities without access to healthcare or education, transport and up to date news - let alone banking or financial services. Mobile phone networks have the potential to transform the delivery of these services and make them available to many more people.

Our business model enables us to reach billions of people, and we have the opportunity to create real change on a wide scale.

To understand which areas we could have most impact in, we commissioned the Centre for Knowledge Societies (CKS) to produce the Mobile Development Report, which studied the effect of mobile phones on economic and social life in rural areas. The study identified several service areas that could be transformed by mobile technology to improve people’s quality of life. These include transport, micro-commerce, finance, healthcare, governance, education and infotainment.

We are currently developing services to address these areas and the CKS research supports our belief in the potential of the work we are undertaking. In 2007 we collaborated with the non-for profit research institute, Instituto Nokia de Tecnologia (INdT), in Brazil to set up research and development (R&D) teams in the Amazon to investigate technology applications. In 2008 we created R&D teams in India and Kenya to explore how mobile technology can serve people in these markets.