Ericsson centre for SA
Ericsson today announced it will establish an innovation center in sub-Saharan Africa to develop mobile applications that will focus on meeting the needs of poor and rural populations. The initiative will focus on solutions in health, education, agriculture and small business development.
The Ericsson innovation center will include three application development hubs, in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. At first, the innovation center will concentrate on mobile applications, such as m-health, where great efficiency gains stand to be made, the company said. These applications will, for example, enable health workers to gather, monitor and share data on things like births, deaths and epidemics, and to use smart mobile decision support tools in their daily work. Other applications will relate to education, agriculture, business development, finance, government services and the overall improvement of communication capabilities.
Jan Embro, president of Ericsson in sub-Saharan Africa, says: "Mobile communication significantly improves quality of life, providing the tools to deliver enormous socio-economic benefits to people in developing countries. Connectivity helps to offset a lack of resources, particularly in rural areas, and provides access to a range of services, including education and healthcare.
"More than 90% of new mobile subscriber growth will be in emerging markets. The innovation center will employ local expertise, and encourage the creation of sustainable business models and applications relevant to Africa and other emerging markets."
A new report assessing m-content in Uganda and India by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), in cooperation with Ericsson, reveals that the demand for services is not being fully met. The report also shows that, in the future, healthcare and job-related services will top the list of in-demand services in Uganda, while internet over mobile, remittances and m-banking may also be in high demand in the coming years.
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