OMG Visits Mobile Africa Conference
Oct 7th
On September 30th, Enviu attended the Mobile Africa conference in Helsinki (Finland). This event organized by the Mobile Brain Bank is the “Europe’s largest happening on mobile opportunities in Africa”, and as Enviu is currently busy with the Our Mobile Generation project, we thought we had to be there and get the insights from those working in this industry. It was a great event where we met lots of interesting people that will help us bring OMG even further.
The conference gathered almost 300 people from some 24 countries, including start-ups, corporations, policy makers, supranational organizations like the World Bank, students, NGOs.
After the opening keynote of His Excellency, LMS Mngqiaka, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa in Finland, four speaker brought their experiences to the stage, including; Esko Aho (Executive Vice President, Corporate Relations and Responsibility, Nokia), Hossein Moiin (CTO Nokia Siemens Networks), Marlon Parker (Social Entrepreneur, founder of JamiiX), Jessica Colaco (TED fellow, iHub manager, Kenya).
We learned a lot and took many notes during the event. A report with conference notes is available for download. Here we offer you a curated selection of those:
- The key factors that have ensured such high levels of penetration worldwide include: low cost of ownership, infrastructure, and market liberalization;
- Growth potential of mobile industry in Africa is higher than anywhere else;
- A unique aspect of the mobile industry is that it empowers users and “does good” (connectivity means productivity) while making business sense;
- Key drivers for a digital society require the balance of government and business agendas;
- Democratized innovation means that non-western models also apply;
- Areas of consideration for mobile innovation in Africa are: community, relevance, economic, entertainment, education, livelihood, services, health, and maps;
- Mobile content for the African communities is much needed; local content;
- It is a game between operator, OEM, and platform developer. It is a very diverse industry, which makes things quite complex. There is a need for the players to work for the ecosystem, not for themselves.
We would like to thank to Petra Söderling and the Mobile Brain Bank network (http://mobilebrainbank.org) for the support provided, the entire team did a great work and managed to bring a really interesting group of people together.
Let Your Mobile Save CO2 Emissions for You!
Sep 9th
During the manufacture, transportation, product use and recycling of mobile phones green house gases are being generated. For example, according to apple´s calculations the new iPhone 4 generates during its life cycle around 45 kg CO2. To compensate this amount of CO2 4 trees (European Beech) have to be planted. So after purchasing a new mobile phone consider to plant a tree in your backyard or even to join the local guerilla gardening group .
Don´t get me wrong, I love the iPhone! It is fun, brilliantly designed and self-explanatory. But more importantly there are a lot of applications available to make life a little “greener”. For example, the software “GreenCharging” measures the amount of energy used by the mobile phone and tries to optimize it. “GoodGuide” is another application that enables the consumer to scan barcodes and displays the environmental impact of the scanned products. By using “green apps” you can save a decent amount of CO2 in your daily life.
There are a lot of applications that help you to use your mobile phone smartly. Check out www.planetgreen.discovery.com
If you use your smart phone wisely it can be a great eco-gadget!
Please have a look at Challenge “Apps4Sustainability” on this blog, where we would like you to help us evolve some new ideas for green apps.
Our Mobile Generation
Let Your Mobile Save CO2 - Emissions for You!
During the manufacture, transportation, product use and recycling of mobile phones green house gases are being generated. For example, according to apple´s calculations the new iPhone 4 generates during its life cycle around 45 kg CO2. To compensate this amount of CO2 4 trees (European Beech) have to be planted. So after purchasing a new mobile phone consider to plant a tree in your backyard or even to join the local guerilla gardening groupJ.
Don´t get me wrong, I love the iPhone! It is fun, brilliantly designed and self-explanatory. But more importantly there are a lot of applications available to make life a little “greener”. For example, the software “GreenCharging” measures the amount of energy used by the mobile phone and tries to optimize it. “GreenGuide” is another application that enables the consumer to scan barcodes and displays the environmental impact of the scanned products. By using “green apps” you can save a decent amount of CO2 in your daily life.
There are a lot of applications that help you to use your mobile phone smartly. Check out http://planetgreen.discovery.com/feature/green-phone/green-apps-mobile-phones.html[T1]
If you use your smart phone wisely it can be a great eco-gadget!
Please have a look at Challenge “Apps4Sustainability” on this blog, where we would like you to help us evolve some new ideas for green apps.
OMG
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV9rfM9u4pQ[T2]
[T1]The editor of the blog should change it to www.planetgreen.discovery.com. It keeps on changing in word.
[T2]I am not sure…I check it on Monday.
Let the co-creation begin!
Sep 8th
We are very excited to announce that our new platform is about to launch. Any day now you will be able to unleash those ideas and engage in creating sustainable solutions. Who knows, maybe these solutions will become an inseparable part of the future telecom industry!
The new online platform for Our Mobile Generation will be unique, because it is designed to bring together the online community and the OMG challenge teams. This creates a podium for synergy where professionals, enthusiasts and any interested people can meet up. Every challenge (Open Source Smart Phone, Add-On Technology, Apps4Sustainability, Sustainable Business Models, 3d Printing and Local Production Models) will have its own team blog and message board. You will be able to get to know the team and things they are working on. They will be able to see what you have to say in the discussions and what your thoughts on their work are. We expect that this interaction will bring forward some productive results that will improve the sustainability in the telecom industry!
So what about this blog? We will keep you up to date on blog.ourmobilegeneration.org. There we will continue to inform you about the progress of the OMG project, things happening on the platform and the new and interesting industry developments. Something to keep you inspired and motivated during this co-creation phase.
We are looking forward to all the input and output from September to March 2011. After March, Enviu will make an analysis of all the outcomes in order to take the most promising ideas and continue development together with you. We will present the outcomes of the project during a final event in May 2011. The new website will be launched on 14 September. Looking forward to your input on www.ourmobilegeneration.org!
A more sustainable mobile telecom industry: let’s make it happen!
Our Mobile Generation team
The new OMG team members
Aug 26th
This week the OMG team has welcomed 5 new members! Is always nice to have some fresh ideas , so let’s meet them!
Thilo Krupp is a German student coming from the University of Oldenburg. Thilo is focusing his research on E-waste, which is an important part of the project, as E-waste is a growing concern in the industry. For the coming months we can expect some nice insights about his research!
Our second new volunteer comes from the far land of South Korea, although living in the Netherlands for a while. Kyungeun Sung, or as she prefers, Ske is going to work on the exploration of new markets, challenges, and opportunities for the mobile telecom industry in the Base of the Pyramid. She is a former student from TU Delft, and we are looking forward to her findings!
Also from TU Delft, but not so new in our team since she is around for a couple of weeks, is Marieke Korthals, one of the brains behind 3D printing. That is surely one of our most amazing challenges, and Marieke is one of our team members that is exploring what we can expect from this technology.
Coming from Sierra Leone we have Uzezi Dia, a student from Rotterdam Business School and Hogeschool Inholland. Uzy, as his friends call him, is very interested in the global business environment and sustainability itself. He will be working on the support team of the project.
Last but not least from Latvia comes Maija Grudule, Media and Entertainment Management student at NHTV Breda. With a diverse background of previous experiences now she is going to work on the communication and management part of OMG project. Maija, together with Uzezi will form the support team and will be working directly with Elmar and Mathijs.
Welcome to the new members of our Team!
And you? Are you ready to make the difference? Please do not hesitate to contact us to see our vacancies, and maybe be part of our team.
OMG Team
“The world is calling”
A little bit more on E-waste!
Aug 20th
Worldwide there are more than 4 billion mobile phone users. On average a cellular phone is only kept for 18 month. But where do all the used phones go? At the end of their lifetime mobile phones often end up in landfills, where toxic chemicals leach into the ground and into the water bodies used for domestic purposes. That´s pity, also because mobile phones contain metals like gold, palladium, tantalum, silver etc. which still have value.
If each of the 4 billion people owning mobiles would hand in just one unused device to recycle, it would be possible to save 320,000 tons of raw materials and reduce greenhouse gases (which are being generated by the exploitation of raw materials and the production of the mobile phones) to the same effect as taking 4 million cars of the road!
http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=123429
Recycling reduces e-waste and prevents potentially harmful substances, including antimony, arsenic, copper, cadmium, lead, and zinc, from leaking into the environment from landfill sites. Furthermore, it extends the life of useful components, reduces the need for energy and raw materials to make new phones.
To recycle you can simply return the unwanted mobile to your network operator or phone retailer. Quite often the remaining value of the phones is donated to charities or other good causes. So by donating that old phone that you are not using anyways, you can really help others!
Enviu Foundation will soon start a collection campaign together with Zonzoo (www.zonzoo.com). By donating your old phone(s) you can help us reach our goals for a more sustainable mobile telecom industry! We will keep you updated via our blog!
