Ericsson launches Consumer Lab report for Sub-Saharan Africa

With global smartphone subscriptions set to reach 5.6 billion by 2019, smartphones have the potential to bridge digital divide in Sub-Saharan Africa by providing universal access and connectivity to a wider scope of citizens according to the latest consumerlab released by Ericsson.

The ConsumerLab report shows that the mobile phone is the most important piece of technology to 73 percent of mobile users as 56 percent of consumers not using internet on their phones are interested in doing so in future while 62 percent of app users find apps to be more effective than mobile sites.

Ericsson is a world-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 40 percent of the world’s mobile traffic goes through Ericsson networks and we support customers’ networks servicing more than 2.5 billion subscriptions. We are more than 110,000 people working with customers in more than 180 countries.

Founded in 1876, Ericsson is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2012 the company’s net sales were SEK 227.8 billion (USD 33.8 billion).

In the report, the technology aspect has been updated to include dimensions such as 4G, open data, e-transactions and more advanced usage. The results reconfirm and further strengthen the correlation between ICT and societal, economic and environmental development.

The Swedish capital’s top ranking is due to its well-developed ICT infrastructure, with a high penetration of smartphones and high-speed connections as well as advanced usage paired with innovation and development initiatives utilizing ICT as core enabler.

Patrik Regårdh, head of Ericsson’s Networked Society Lab says: “ICT significantly speeds up interactions between various actors, making them more intense and cost-effective. The reduced cost of information exchange and transactions lowers the threshold for new enterprises and collaborations. As a result, a city’s economic development becomes vitalized.”

ICT provides a platform for collaboration in knowledge-intense activities between companies, public sector and citizens, and stimulates specialization and dynamic information services. This enables businesses and institutions to pool resources efficiently, and to offer solutions and services that neither party could otherwise provide independently.

The report cites the way Shanghai’s Environmental Protection Bureau communicates daily air quality information via its website and Weibo as an example. The aim is to spread knowledge about the adverse health effect due to poor air quality among the urban population of Shanghai.

Regårdh said: “ICT enables completely new ways for citizens to interact with their city and its environment. It becomes a platform for collaboration where citizens can share information and more actively engage in dealing with every day issues.

The report advises that cities in emerging economies and in the early stages of ICT maturity could improve their performance by focusing on socio-economic development and incorporate a clear vision of how to leverage ICT in developing public and private sectors. Citizens’ ability to use new technology and gain direct benefits needs to be at the forefront in order to drive large scale and long term output.

The report also singles out collaboration between cities as increasingly important. For example harmonized open data-frameworks, rather than different systems or protocols, could accelerate for innovation.

Regårdh explained that: “An open data solution could for example allow the same public transportation information services to work not just in Miami, but in Jakarta or Mexico City. This would make life easier for tourists and travelers, but also save infrastructure costs for cities, as they could use solutions of scale.”

Even cities with mature economies need to take action to continue to be competitive and stay connected with future generations of technology.

The Ericsson Networked Society City Index has been developed in close collaboration with Sweco, the sustainable engineering and design group.

In addition to the top-three ranking cities, Stockholm, London and Singapore, the following cities are also part of the index: Beijing, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Copenhagen, Delhi, Dhaka, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Karachi, Lagos, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Miami, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Oslo, Paris, São Paolo, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo.