Nokia's social impact journey in 2025
With COP 30 due to begin next week it is an ideal time to reflect on an extraordinary 2025. This past year marked a pivotal moment in our social impact approach, demonstrating our unwavering dedication to making a tangible difference in communities worldwide.
Through Nokia’s corporate social Impact theme of ‘bridging the digital divide’, we seek to establish a robust and sustainable connection to the digital world for education and workforce development, in communities who otherwise might not have access to such a connection. There are two major sub-themes, and at least one needs to be addressed through a corporate social impact initiative.
Connecting the unconnected:
- Reduce Coverage Gap: Business as usual but focus on additional mobile broadband subscriptions serviced or connected Fiber to the home customers for underserved areas.
- Reduce Usage Gap: Provide internet-enabled digital devices and provide affordable access points
Enable the connected
- Provide digital literacy skills according to relevance for communities
- End User safety and security awareness
- Advanced digital skills to underserved university / colleges
It is this second aspect of enabling the connected to which I want to turn here. In Ethiopia, an innovation hub in collaboration with Digital Opportunity Trust has been opened which aims to enhance the skills of young people for careers in the telecommunications sector. The Digital Skills Center project in Ghana equally aims to advance digital skills and foster innovation, leveraging 5G deployment. Collaborators include NGIC, Plan International Finland, Plan International Ghana, three universities, and CENDLOS. With both initiatives we aim to empower the next generation, promote social inclusion, and encourage digital literacy, especially among girls and young people.
Building long-term resilience
One significant strategic shift in 2025 was to move our focus from immediate disaster relief to building long-term resilience especially when it comes to connectivity in communities. This strategic evolution will allow us to address root causes and empower communities to better withstand future challenges.
We remain deeply committed to bridging the digital divide through enhanced connectivity, equitable digital access, and robust digital enablement. To strengthen our efforts we introduced new and aligned processes for both central and country management, fostering consistency and clarity across our global operations. A key improvement was the introduction of a decentralized donation distribution process, empowering local teams to nominate social initiatives more effectively to regional needs. The response from our regional teams was fantastic and enabled us to for a truly global reach, extending our impact across 5 markets and 17 countries.
Partnerships amplify our reach and effectiveness
Our partnership focus was also paramount, continuing our UN Women collaboration, starting new programs with Save the Children and many others and our engagements with our customers. These collaborations amplified our reach and effectiveness, allowing us to tackle complex challenges together.
I am especially proud of how our contributions went beyond monetary funding, embracing a truly multi-layered approach. We established a robust volunteering engagement model that encourages meaningful contributions, fostering deeper, more sustained involvement from our employees.
Three enablers for impact
As we move into 2026, we've identified three enablers for impact that will build upon our 2025 successes. We aim to Empower Employee Contribution by positioning our people as essential contributors and creating a strategic, impact-driven Volunteerism approach. We will Amplify Impact Through Collaboration by actively partnering with customers and government entities for greater collective good. And finally, we will Strengthen Initiatives with Expertise, not just through donating Nokia equipment and in-kind services, but also by providing our invaluable human networks.
2025 has been a testament to Nokia's dedication to social responsibility. Every initiative, every partnership, and every hour of volunteering has contributed to a more connected and resilient world. I am incredibly proud of our collective efforts and excited for the continued impact we will make together.
