-
Building on the success of New York’s Social Good Summit
-
Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg to speak on role of ICT in achieving sustainable development
-
In partnership with UN Foundation and Mashable (#rioplussocial)
-
Live streaming at www.rioplussocial.com (from 8:00am-6:00pm EST, 1:00-11:00pm CET)
To continue raising awareness about the role that technology can play in addressing sustainability challenges, Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC, news, filings) participates in Rio+Social which takes place today in Rio de Janeiro, alongside UN’s Rio+20 summit (June 13-22).
The event brings together the United Nations Foundation, Mashable, the 92nd Street Y, Ericsson, LiveAD, and EDP, to create South America’s first-of-its-kind in-person gathering and global, virtual conversation on the potential of social media and technology to power a more sustainable, innovative, and better future for our world.
“Sustainable Development requires all segments of society, and Rio+Social creates a unique platform to take this message to a broader audience,” says Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson. “Be it climate change, energy consumption, poverty or disaster response, technology holds the potential to tackle some of the world’s major challenges to achieve sustainable development.”
Ericsson will present four topics during the course of the summit, consisting of discussions with public and private leaders in the fields of humanitarian response, the role of technology and social media in sustainable development and education.
Vestberg, António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the World Food Program will talk about the use of technology for a faster, more effective humanitarian response for natural disasters and refugees.
In this field, Ericsson is a partner to Refugees United, with whom it has created a mobile tool to help refugees to search for missing family. To date, more than 120,000 refugees have registered onto the Refugees United platform.
It is also a partner to the World Food Program through its humanitarian response employee volunteer program Ericsson Response.
Vestberg will participate at a keynote conversation with Pete Cashmore, CEO and founder of Mashable, to talk about the power of technology and social media to bring about lasting change.
With smartphones and mobile broadband subscriptions expected to reach three and five billion respectively in 2017, Ericsson believes that the combination between technology and social media holds enormous potential for sustainable development as it allows citizens to take collective actions, make their opinions heard, garner public interest and seek better responses from companies of their governments.
Rio+Social will engage high-level influencers, innovators and bloggers to explore how Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can address some of the world’s most compelling issues today and tomorrow. The event will be streamed live at www.rioplussocial.com and www.ericsson.com. The agenda for the day can also be found there.
Notes to editors:
Technology for Good media/bloggers kit: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/press/mediakits/riosocial
Photos of Hans Vestberg available at: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/press/photolibrary/management
Download high-resolution photos and broadcast-quality video at www.ericsson.com/press
About United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation builds public/private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by global corporations, foundations, governments, and individuals. For more information, visit
About Mashable
Founded in 2005, Mashable is the top source for news in social and digital media, technology and web culture. With more than 50 million monthly page views, Mashable is the most prolific news site reporting breaking web news, providing analysis of trends, reviewing new Web sites and services, and offering social media resources and guides.
About 92nd Street Y
92nd Street Y is a world-class nonprofit community and cultural center that connects people at every stage of life to the worlds of education, the arts, health and wellness, and Jewish life. Through the breadth and depth of 92Y’s extraordinary programs, we enrich lives, create community and elevate humanity. More than 300,000 people visit 92Y’s New York City venues annually, and millions more join us through the Internet, satellite broadcasts and other digital media. A proudly Jewish organization since its founding in 1874, 92Y embraces its heritage and enthusiastically welcomes people of all backgrounds and perspectives. 92Y is an open door to extraordinary worlds.
About EDP
EDP – Engergias de Portugal – is a global energy company engaged in the electric utilities and gas sector. EDP is the thirst largest producer of wind energy in the world and, for the second year running, is the world’s leader in the electricity sector of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. EDP Group today serves as a benchmark in the global energy market, as a result of its solid vision for the company and the sector and also a philosophy of growing integration and the pursuit of excellence that is firmly rooted in the EDP culture.
About LiveAD
LiveAD is a creative agency that believes in the potential of relevant contemporary ideas, enlarging them through the integrated use of digital media and PR. It is currently working with the following brands: Nike, Doritos, C&A, Multishow, Lacoste, Itau, Oi, Ketel One, J&B and Baileys. Recently, LiveAD became a member of the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), a group made up of the world’s key digital agencies.
Ericsson is the world’s leading provider of communications technology and services. We are enabling the Networked Society with efficient real-time solutions that allow us all to study, work and live our lives more freely, in sustainable societies around the world.
Our offering comprises services, software and infrastructure within Information and Communications Technology for telecom operators and other industries. Today more than 40 percent of the world’s mobile traffic goes through Ericsson networks and we support customers’ networks servicing more than 2.5 billion subscribers.
We operate in 180 countries and employ more than 100,000 people. Founded in 1876, Ericsson is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2011 the company’s net sales were SEK 226.9 billion (USD 35.0 billion). Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ, New York stock exchanges.
www.ericsson.com
www.twitter.com/ericssonpress
www.twitter.com/ericssonsustain
www.facebook.com/ericsson
www.youtube.com/ericssonpress
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Ericsson Corporate Public & Media Relations
Phone: +46 10 719 69 92
E-mail: media.relations@ericsson.com
Ericsson Investor Relations
Phone: +46 10 719 00 00
E-mail: investor.relations@ericsson.com
PR Archives: Latest, By Company, By Date