Bridging the digital divide
Connectivity and digitalization enable us to collaborate, innovate, to help make our industries more productive and efficient and engage with our communities and families. Our solutions can bring more inclusive access to opportunities and help resolve many social and economic challenges the world faces today. Through enhanced connectivity and digitalization, we provide access to basic social services, education and healthcare. We enable human rights and help restore industry productivity and keep workers safe. This is our positive social handprint.
We aim to bridge the digital divide and connect the unconnected through our broadband and innovative connectivity solutions. We further drive the uptake and knowledge of digital technologies and skills.
Our corporate social responsibility initiatives in 2022 reached
direct beneficiaries across the world, including 110 programs in 34 countries
Nokia announced a new program with UNICEF for connectivity and digital skills in Senegal, Africa
By the end of 2022, we had rolled out 96 live 5G networks globally
Our multi-year Smartpur digital village ecosystem program in India reached 90 more villages increasing the number of Smartpur centers to 350 villages across India
We continued to support the Forge Academy in South Africa, a fully inclusive AI laboratory aiming to train students from various backgrounds with the skills needed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Bridging the digital divide key targets
Digital divide
Connecting people and things
We believe the positive impact of our technology far outweighs any potential negative impacts
Despite the acceleration of digitalization during the pandemic, 2.7 billion people around the world remain unconnected in 2022. Nokia's products and solutions can help provide more equal access to healthcare, education and employment, and enable small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in the digital economy.
We aim to be a bridge to enable digital inclusion through our connectivity and digital skill building solutions. Our greatest impact on digital inclusion comes through our broad product portfolio and focused strategies with non-terrestrial providers and other partners. Together, we connect different demographics to broadband level speeds in both fixed and wireless network domains.
As the world digitalizes, no one can be left behind. We continue to build on our training assets, certifications and initiatives. We support digital skill building and help prepare individuals and enterprises for the digital future of work and life.
Collaboration is key. With our customers we connect the world's people, machines and devices. We build critical networks, software and services, and we continue to innovate and reimagine technology to help meet society’s many challenges and opportunities. we strive to make communities smarter and more sustainable, transportation safer, and enterprises more agile, efficient and productive. We believe 5G, combined with other technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Big Data and Cloud, can assist in delivering greater economic and social prosperity, improved equity and opportunity for all people and a healthier planet. These are the technologies of the future workforce and digital living.
Delivering 4G FWA to rural California school district
Providing secure, reliable, high-performance internet access
The school district has five campuses and serves 5,000 residents. It is located in the predominantly rural San Joaquin Valley in California, making this project a key step in closing the digital divide, a problem for millions across the U.S. as emphasized during the pandemic. An estimated 9 million U.S. students lack both adequate devices and internet access, according to a report by Common Sense Media, and as distanced learning became the new normal, these students undoubtably were at a disadvantage. It leverages NDAC and FastMile FWA and this first phase will provide secure internet broadband access to the homes of 2400 students.
Providing secure, reliable, high-performance internet access
The school district has five campuses and serves 5,000 residents. It is located in the predominantly rural San Joaquin Valley in California, making this project a key step in closing the digital divide, a problem for millions across the U.S. as emphasized during the pandemic. An estimated 9 million U.S. students lack both adequate devices and internet access, according to a report by Common Sense Media, and as distanced learning became the new normal, these students undoubtably were at a disadvantage. It leverages NDAC and FastMile FWA and this first phase will provide secure internet broadband access to the homes of 2400 students.
Telus and Nokia brought access to high-speed internet and wireless phone services for the first time to the Lower North Shore residents in Quebec, Canada Families and businesses in this area, stretching along a remote 400-kilometer coastline, can now run their businesses efficiently and students can enjoy remote learning. Thanks to LTE-Advanced wireless technology, and one of the largest microwave radio systems in the world, deployed by Nokia this distant rural region has been opened up with broadband services.
From a network-in-a-box to space-based connectivity
Nokia has set aside Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) kits for expedited delivery to rural service providers in the US. Each ‘network-in-a-box’ kit is suitable for building a network for a town of up to 1,000 homes. In Kenya, we have been working with Safaricom and Unicef to connect close to 90 schools to the Internet. The connected schools are spread across rural and informal urban settlements in Kenya, serving an estimated 32,670 students.
Nokia is also working with AST SpaceMobile, Inc. the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard 4G or 5G mobile devices. This will provide direct to cell phone connectivity from space.
Nokia is working with digital infrastructure provider Liquid Intelligent Technologies and ISP PayGoZo to deploy fibre in the Kayamandi township in South Africa. The initial proof of concept phase, which was launched in September 2022, will see more than 15,000 people connected in the Kayamandi township in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape province in South Africa. This first-of-its-kind initiative is in line with the Government's South Africa Connect program to bridge the digital divide.
Nokia has been selected by Liquid Intelligent Technologies to deploy a next-generation optical transport network connecting Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. As part of the agreement, Nokia is deploying a first-of-its-kind terrestrial network connecting submarine landing stations in Kenya, South Africa and DRC to create a highway with the potential to handle massive traffic across the Sub-Saharan African continent. The new optical transport network will enable Liquid Intelligent Technologies to provide massive capacity to enterprises, hyperscalers and mobile operators.
Nokia is deploying a 10G broadband network for operator Valoo in Finland. The deal includes fiber access nodes for the central office and Nokia’s Altiplano broadband access controller, which includes software defined access networking (SDAN) capabilities. The new network will connect 200,000 homes in and around 30 cities in Finland by the end of 2026.
Connecting the unconnected
We have customers in most countries of the world. With our partners and customers, we connect school districts and local communities through best-in-breed broadband communications solutions that are fast and easy to deploy and manage. Nokia’s Private Wireless solution – Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) with FastMile end user home device can help cities, communities and educational institutions access online learning for students. The same solution will enable broadband connectivity and business continuity for city services, such as community centers, hospitals and libraries. It will also help improve choice for public employees as they can work from home when necessary.
Bridging the divide successfully calls for collaboration, such as the case in El Salvador, where we are working together with players from the public and private sectors to bring El Salvador's public services online. The aim is to have broadband in every school by 2030, as well as extending it to other public services such as medical clinics, hospitals and police stations. This will not only vastly improve internet access, but also help create the foundations for a modern digital economy.
Broadband connectivity translates to improved and optimized productivity, increased access to education, new opportunities in highly skilled areas with jobs in the formal sector. The World Economic Forum for example, reference Digital Skills Opportunity for All, a report from Randstad and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that analyzes more than 400 million job postings published online in the last 10 years. By doing this they highlight the labour market occupations and skills most in demand. Jobs requiring digital skills make up 6-12% of all vacancies posted online in the 10 countries covered by the report and this share is steadily increasing. A quick breakdown of the data shows, for instance, that job postings for digital roles in the US increased by 24% between 2018 and 2021, led by a 116% increase in postings for data engineers.
Fixed wireless access (FWA)
FWA is seen as a more affordable and faster option to deploy than using 5G or the fixed broadband network in certain cases. It doesn’t require new spectrum and there is no need to dig new trenches to lay cabling. This means it can bring high speed broadband access and services to remote communities in developed and developing markets sooner and ensure that communities are included in the digital society and economy.
FWA is seen as a more affordable and faster option to deploy than using 5G or the fixed broadband network in certain cases. It doesn’t require new spectrum and there is no need to dig new trenches to lay cabling. This means it can bring high speed broadband access and services to remote communities in developed and developing markets sooner and ensure that communities are included in the digital society and economy.
To connect everyone and everything at Gigabit speeds, you need solutions fit for any deployment strategy. Even in urban areas it is sometimes difficult to get high speed broadband connectivity. Gigabit Connect brings fiber broadband to multi-dwelling units, (such as retirement homes, social housing in tower blocks and office blocks) and to other hard to reach customers. Find out more
5G backhaul using microwave technology allows fast deployment of high capacity/speed broadband to underserved/rural areas. Ideal for rural applications it can provide flexibility for interference mitigation & spectrum efficiency while delivering high path performance and capacity.
Find out more: Wavence -Microwave transmission
5G Edge Slicing allows more services to be delivered in a CSP’s spectrum allocation. This means they can offer a larger choice of services with guaranteed quality of service to various customers across common network infrastructure. A slice can be flexibly deployed in just one base station, in a campus area, in a city or a wider area based on the enterprise customer needs. Consequently, it allows greater variety of services to be delivered by CSPs to all sectors of the community.
Find out more: 5G Edge Slicing | Nokia
The World Bank estimates that globally there are 1 billion people without ID. This limits their ability to access healthcare, education, social housing, secure a job or vote. Nokia iSIMSecure Connect SaaS will automate the eSIM and/or iSIM management process. This will mean faster onboarding and management for those trying to establish a digital ID & their place in the digital economy.
Find out more Nokia: iSIM Secure Connect eBrochure
Nokia AVA Network Data Analytics Function, as a SaaS model, enhances network operations with Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) driven closed-loop automation and provides analytics at the network edge. The SaaS-based model enables fast and cost-effective deployment of 5G services, thereby making a wider range of services commercially viable for CSPs to roll out to people who otherwise could not afford them.
Find out more: AVA NWDAF | Nokia
The Nokia Optical LAN solution can be used in education and campus environments to support learning, research and collaboration on a single, unified, ultra-broadband infrastructure. It can play an important role in removing the digital divide at the educational level and support life-long learning to ensure workers’ digital skills remain relevant to the economic environment.
Find out more: Nokia Optical LAN (POL)
Nokia’s AirScale Single RAN radio technology will enable AST SpaceMobile to deliver cellular broadband connectivity to 4G and 5G devices via low earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. In conjunction with local mobile operators, AST SpaceMobile’s aim is to bring cellular broadband to 1.8bn underserved and unconnected subscribers. No specialized hardware is required and subscribers will be able to roam from land networks to space networks.
Find out more: Nokia radio technology to enable AST SpaceMobile’s direct-to-cell phone connectivity from space
Code of Conduct
Enterprise
According to studies by Nokia Bell Labs, in 2021 only 30% of the world’s industry was fully digitalized. Despite the acceleration of digitalization, there remains the risk that small and medium-sized enterprises may well face challenges in developing the future digital skills and knowledge of their employees. We believe our knowledge and the capacity to offer training through partners and collaboration can enable small and medium companies to benefit more fully from digitalization.
We also look to gain the greatest impact on sustainable development through our corporate social programs in collaboration with leading non-governmental organizations. One key focus area for these donation-based programs is connecting the unconnected and digital skills. Read more below under social responsibility programs.
Education
Broadly, digital skills correlate to years spent in education. Those with tertiary education (college, university) are more likely to leverage the potential of broadband and connected devices. Low literacy levels widen digital inequality and often lead to lower incomes. It’s important that mandatory education develops digital skills and competence, but it is equally important to ensure life-long learning and skills development to adapt to workplace demand.
As the world and education becomes more reliant on broadband connectivity, Nokia is working to close the digital divide for students by providing access to broadband connectivity globally through a range of solutions. The objective is that everyone can benefit from access to high-speed broadband internet and devices. It means more than just having the skills to use the internet, but also having access to the world’s best education systems and importantly, staying secure and protecting online data.
We are also helping smaller, more rural districts to drive inclusion. In 2022 we announced the deployment of a fixed wireless access solution for the school district of Dos Palos Oro Loma of California, to provide broadband internet connectivity to underserved students. During the pandemic, the school district found they could only provide coverage for approximately 50% of their students via commercial wireless network providers. This new network will enable secure, reliable, high-performance internet access to the homes of 2400 students.
Multi-stakeholder dialog
Our President and CEO Pekka Lundmark is a UN Broadband Commissioner. We support the 2025 target set by the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development that aims to ‘connect the other half’ in the next five years, calling for national broadband plans that address affordability, access and digital skill levels by region, demographic and gender. It also calls to connect small businesses and extend e-finance services to the unbanked. Read more about the UN Broadband commission
In 2022, we were a member of the EDISON Alliance. The World Economic Forum’s EDISON Alliance is mobilizing commitments globally to accelerate the delivery of digital solutions to unserved and underserved populations, aiming to benefit 1 billion people by 2025.
Read more about how we work to promote digital inclusion:
Our approach to Corporate Social Responsibility
Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities are divided into corporate, key regional, and local programs. Our corporate level programs are centrally managed and in 2022, focused on four key themes:
- Increasing digital inclusion,
- Climate and environment,
- Inclusion, equity and diversity,
- Disaster relief.
Key regional programs cover programs in India and China, and local programs are initiated and run by Nokia offices around the world.
One of our key digital inclusion targets is to harness our technology, capabilities and funds to improve the lives of 1,500,000 people through social digitalization projects, digital skill building, and connecting the unconnected or underserved by 2025. In support of this target in 2022, we invested almost EUR 13 million in communities around the world (EUR 7 million in 2021). 91% of the contributions were provided as cash, 8% as employee time and 1% as in-kind non-cash resources. A large share of total donations, 57%, were classified under the theme of Connecting the unconnected. In 2022 as we introduced our refreshed ESG strategy, we also instigated a number of new programs related to protecting the environment and climate change. These programs will be implemented in the early part of 2023. In 2022 we also saw a smaller amount of spend related to empowering diversity at the corporate level.
New programs
Nokia and UNICEF collaborating to help bridge the digital divide
Nokia and UNICEF are working to help bridge the digital divide and provide a dedicated digital education and coding program in select parts of Senegal. The project with UNICEF Finland and UNICEF Senegal will involve teachers, as well as students in underserved areas in Senegal. The focus will be on digital education and training activities so students can develop their digital skills, including coding. The principal intended beneficiaries are more than 100 teachers, as well as more than 10,000 middle school students in underserved areas. The program includes specific sessions on digital skills, as well as upgrading equipment and connectivity.
Nokia supporting Ukraine
Nokia has donated EUR 1 million to UNICEF to help support its humanitarian work in Ukraine, which is focused on the critical needs of children and families. In addition, we have worked with UNICEF to provide a platform for employee fundraising. Thanks to the generosity of Nokia colleagues, we were able to donate a further EUR 33,000 of Nokia employee donated funds to Ukraine through an employee fundraising campaign website. Nokia has also committed to providing 5,000 Beacons to Ukraine to provide Internet access to shelters in schools.
© UNICEF Senegal 2023
© UNICEF/UN0622178/Holerga
Key community programs
Empowering youth in Morocco
In 2021 we launched a two-year program in Morocco where we are joined by UNICEF, the Moroccan government (the Ministry of Youth and the Ministry of Education), Orange Morocco and other key partners to work to empower less advantaged young people (15-24 years), particularly girls, to become resilient young people who engage actively with their families and communities and are increasingly productive through employment or self-employment.
Through awareness raising sessions, workshops/bootcamps and coaching the program equips young people with skills for life and employment and helps them to identify problems and design social and entrepreneurial solutions in their own communities. The program is also designed to raise the youth's awareness on climate change and environmental issues, so that they can become change agents in their communities. The program is based on the UPSHIFT social innovation and venture curriculum, which is featured as part of the World Bank’s Solutions for Youth Employment portfolio.
© UNICEF Morocco 2022
Nokia and UN Women collaborate to promote inclusion and diversity in Middle East and Africa
Nokia signed the Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs) in 2021 and started its collaboration with United Nations Women. The WEPs are a set of principles offering guidance to business on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.
The successful pilots in Nokia’s Middle East and Africa region have been executed with further program cycles in 2022. Furthermore, the same concept has been applied in the Asia Pacific region which will feature similar pilot initiatives from 2023 onwards.
- Kenya: We continued with provision of STEM education for girls and families in school and at home. We continued building awareness on gender-based violence within the environments where girls are active, and we started planning for a new cycle to expand to more schools in collaboration with UN Women and the Kenyan Ministry of Education.
- Saudi Arabia: We worked to increase the number of women at Nokia Saudi Arabia by using a study conducted to better understand the career aspirations of women students in STEM in collaboration with Saudi Arabian universities. The program is planned to scale to other MEA countries with low numbers of female employees.
- South Africa: We executed the 2nd cycle of our program to enable financial independence for underprivileged women who survived gender-based violence. Due to high demand a new program is being planned.
Read more about the UN Women program promoting inclusion and diversity
Social programs in India
We have long-term programs supporting communities in education, environment, inclusion and more as part of our India CSR programs.
Smartpur digital village ecosystem
Smartpur is a Nokia initiative aimed at integrating technology into the daily lives of people living in remote villages in India. The initiative connects people with essential pillars of development (education, health, livelihood, governance and financial inclusion).
The Smartpur digital village ecosystem has been designed with sustainability, scalability, replicability and large-scale impact in mind from the start. Using digital connectivity technology, the project aims to empower local entrepreneurs and provide them with facilities to provide services at the village level through Smartpur centres.
In 2022 Nokia expanded the project to 90 more villages increasing the number of Smartpur centers to 350 villages across India. The initiative connects people with essential pillars of development like education, health, livelihood, governance and financial inclusion, which support villages to be more sustainable and self-reliant.
The Smartpur initiative was recognized for its mass impact. In 2022, Nokia was delighted to receive Bharti Foundation's Silver Award for Social Initiative (India). The Changemaker Awards (CMA) recognize and honor the Bharti Group Companies and Bharti Foundation’s partner corporates for their work in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility. Nokia was proud to receive the award from amongst 67 nominees.
Remedial education
The India team also continue to support education for out-of-school children from migrant communities by providing them with remedial classes in conducive environments.
Research on network robotics and its application towards enhancement of SDGs –IISC Bangalore
Since 2020, Nokia has also collaborated with the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) in Bangalore to establish the Nokia Center of Excellence for Networks. The vision was that the network robotics laboratory would be used by start-ups, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to assist them in carrying out meaningful research on the design of next generation networks and application of AI for solving socially relevant problems.
In the first year, the center focused on research and applications related to Ground Robots - Ensuring Safety of Human Operations in Industrial Environments with network intelligence-enhanced Ground Robot Operations. Further, Nokia’s close collaboration with IISC is looking at expansion and includes the development of Aerial Robots (Drones), Ground Robots for Societal use cases like (outdoor) Disaster Response and Management, the development of a structured plan for translating research outcomes to concrete demonstrations and utilizing the IISC start-up incubation framework (ARTPARK) with support from the Nokia Chennai factory.
Read more about our CSR activities in India in our latest India CSR report
photo credits
Social programs in China
Internet Classroom Program
More than 50 million rural students have no access to computers in China. Meanwhile, many obsolete computers are still in good condition and could be reused after appropriate refurbishment. Having cooperated with NGO Zhonggu since 2011, we have successfully set up 36 internet classrooms in 12 provinces and municipalities, including Yunnan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Gansu, Shanghai, Beijing and Tibet. This is a star volunteering program of Nokia in China running for more than 10 years. In 2022, Nokia colleagues helped build Internet-connected English Audio Classrooms for the 16 rural high schools in the county, benefiting over 10,580 students.
In addition to the internet classroom program, local employees engaged in a number of programs where they for example gave lessons to school children, organized inspirational sessions for Girls in ICT day, and supported poverty alleviation programs.
In China, our employees launched 15 volunteering/ charity programs nationwide. In total, about 502 Nokia employee volunteers in China contributed over 15,659 hours of volunteer service, benefiting over 59,650 people.
Local community engagement
Our employees across our sites are active in organizing activities to support and engage with the communities around them. They carry out acts of support throughout the year through humanitarian and crisis aid projects, such as donating medical material and used IT equipment, collecting and donating toys, clothes and other essential goods. Find below a few examples of community activities in 2022:
ChariTrees 2022, Singapore
Nokia was gold sponsor for ChariTrees Singapore in support of three charities - SOS Samaritans of Singapore, SPD Serving People with Disabilities and #Engage initiative by The Rice Company Ltd.
Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) carries out suicide prevention, intervention and postvention services. The SPD seeks to develop the potential and enable people with disabilities of all ages to be as independent and self-reliant as possible. TRCL’s #ENGAGE initiative provides vulnerable children with digital devices and digital-art programs to equip them with know-how and creative skills.
1st Anniversary of Nokia-IOH-ITS 5G Experience Center, Indonesia
Under collaboration between Nokia Indonesia, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchinson (IOH) and the Institute of Technology Surabaya (ITS) and with the collaboration of Nokia sales team, StrongHer and the ESG team, we successfully conducted:
- Nokia ESG program for ITS students: Educational and research incentive of laptops distribution for the development of youth in 5G Experience Center, alignment of the local content process, Industry 4.0, and to lead the ICT development in Indonesia. It included forum discussions as well as a Nokia Technology Day with more than 200 students attending
Small Action for Planet Forward, Korea
In October 2022, Nokia Korea held an event, where about 40 people voluntarily planted trees at DMZ area in Paju. DMZ stands for DeMilitarized Zone that has seen war, a border between South and North Korea and owes its varied biodiversity to its geography, which crosses mountains, prairies, swamps, lakes, and tidal marshes. Engaging with our communities on the ground during the event, around 200 trees were planted along with donations to the DMZ area. The trees will be cared for by an organization supported by the Korea Ministry of Environment.
Sponsoring SUKA Society NGO, Malaysia
Nokia sponsors an NGO, SUKA Society to create greater access to education for Orang Asli children, by enabling digital access and connecting with teachers. Sponsorship will cover two teachers' monthly stipend for one year, expenses to develop and train teachers to use the syllabus (with the internet connectivity for 12 months for 2 schools),and funds to purchase IT equipment and school supplies. Teacher training planned between February and March 2023 with a CMT visit to the training site.
5G Plastic Free festivals with Chunghwa Telecom
In 2022, Nokia volunteers supported Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) and its ESG activity - 5G Plastic Free Festivals. The initiative aims to reduce plastic usage and marine debris and effectively raise public awareness of environmental sustainability to protect the marine environment. The CHT Foundation arranged a series of activities to promote the concept, including volunteer activities to clean major beaches nationwide, and sponsoring the famous Paper Windmill children troupe performing environmental education shows for kids in Taichung and Kaohsiung. We shared our corporate ESG targets, progress, and commitments and the concept of the circular economy through the Design for Environment case example. Through the introduction of post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic, Nokia has successfully used PCR plastics in the production of ONT products.
Solar for Good with Taiwan Mobile
Nokia sponsored Taiwan Mobile (TWM) “Solar for Good” charity program. Nokia was one of the main energy partners for the sixth Solar Power for Good collaboration in 2022.
The 2022 beneficiary was the Kanner Foundation of Taiwan, which aims to develop supporting systems for individuals with Kanner Syndrome since 2004. This charity program will assist them to build up a solar system on the rooftop of the 3rd party’s building.
The long-term strategy of the “Solar for Good” charity program is helping the disadvantaged organizations obtain stable income from selling the green power generated by the solar panel system back to Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) for at least 20 years. In the past 5 years, those organizations that have received the charity program support have generated revenue of around EUR 277 000 by selling green power, and Taiwan Mobile expects the program to help reduce CO2 by 4907 tons in the next 20 years
Acting together to improve opportunities in technology for underrepresented communities
Nokia launched a scholarship support program aimed at providing greater opportunities for underrepresented communities in the technology industry. Working together with digital talent transformation platform Udacity and the Blacks in Technology Foundation (BiT Foundation), the initiative offers more than 300 tech scholarships, with a focus on underrepresented students and career changers.
During the application period of August – September 2021 we received nearly 26,000 applications. After pre-selection, we invited prospective candidates to take part in a 2-month challenge course which acted as an introductory program. Based on the motivation and learning shown during the challenge course, we finally made the selection of 302 scholarship winners who started their Nanodegrees in January 2022 and completed in June 2022.
26 000
We received nearly 26 000 applications
302
Nanodegree scholarships awarded
Connecting the unconnected to inclusive digital learning in Kenya
Between 2018-2020 we worked with UNICEF Finland and UNICEF Kenya to build a multi-partner collaboration to bring internet connectivity and inclusive digital learning to Kenyan schools in rural and disadvantaged urban areas across the country. The program particularly focuses on girls and children with disabilities.
The first 10 schools across Kenya were successfully connected in late 2020 using Nokia Fixed Wireless Access solution in collaboration with local Mobile Operators. The solution connects more children in a fast and efficient way with high-speed and high-capacity broadband needed for remote digital education.
Moving from a CSR pilot to commercial rollout, we have together with UNICEF and Safaricom connected 90 primary schools to the Internet across Kenya during 2021.
Read more about the scaling up of Kenyan school connectivity here.
Read more about student stories and earlier achievements of the program.
Watch the video with highlights from the program journey.
Key achievements 2018-2021
- 10 - First schools connected and used by all 1363 students to access digital learning. Read more.
- +42 000 - girls reached directly through the program
- 450 - children with disabilities benefited from the program
- +86 000 - children in total reached directly through the program
- 500 - Teachers trained in the use of digital materials, out of which 290 are female
- +32 000 - more students connected to the internet as we connected a further 90 schools together with Safaricom and UNICEF in 2021
Program awards
Changing Lives Award
Nokia and UNICEF were recognised in May 2021 with the Changing Lives Award at East Africa Com. This award recognizes innovation where ICT meets socio-economic development and digital inclusion. The award celebrates a product, initiative or social enterprise that is having a life-changing impact on individuals or communities in East Africa.
WSIS 2021 Champions prize winner
The Nokia UNICEF shared value project was named in May 2021 as one of the WSIS Champions by the World Summit on Information Society forum. WSIS is a two-phase United Nations (UN) summit initiated (since 2003) to create an evolving multi-stakeholder platform aimed at addressing the issues raised by information and communication technologies (ICTs) through a structured and inclusive approach at the national, regional and international levels. The World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2021 represents the world's largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community. The WSIS Forum is co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD.
Improving healthcare outcomes in Indonesia with UNICEF
Key achievements
- +2.5 million - direct beneficiaries between 2017 and 2021
- +500 000 - children reached using mobile technology
- +900 000 - women reached using mobile technology
- +1 000 - health workers trained to use the new technology to improve delivery of services during 2019-2021
- 40 - government planning officers were trained to update and maintain the SDGs and Health Development Dashboards and use the data to inform planning and budgeting during 2019-2021
Covid-19 donations
Amidst the outbreak of the global pandemic, we set up a Global Donation fund to rapidly support our communities in need. Through the fund, we engaged with local branches of NGOs such as World Vision, UNICEF, Red Cross, and several local hospitals and clinics, in a total of 48 countries.
In India, Nokia supported affected households in Smartpur villages in partnership with Save the Children India (Bal Raksha Bharat) across 160 villages. Migrant populations were provided with essentials with the support of Samridhdhi Trust. Nokia also supported the State Disaster Management Authority of Tamil Nadu by contributing to their Covid relief corpus during their time of need.
At this time, Nokia further supported hospitals with procuring medical equipment such as oxygen plants, Ventilators, ICU machines, PPE Kits, dialysis machines- all of which was essential to support the overburdened healthcare system of the country.
Greenlight for girls
We worked together with international NGO greenlight for girls (g4g) over a number of years. The g4g days are all about showing girls that anything is possible, through interactive workshops held by g4g at Nokia locations around the world, where employee volunteers joined as mentors. By end of 2019, our collaboration with g4g had reached a total of 4964 girls around the world.
Long-term collaboration brings long-term benefits to children in Myanmar
The 5 year collaboration between Nokia and Save the Children produced two major projects, “The Best Start” project from 2015 to 2017 and the “Making Change Happen together” project from 2017 to 2019. Over those 5 years Save the Children and Nokia worked in the communities of three townships to improve early learning and development opportunities for the most marginalized children. A major achievement of this long-lasting partnership was the establishment of 60 community-managed early childhood care and development (ECCD) facilities and 33 kindergarten classrooms.