Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

Friday, January 25, 2013

Telefonica announces plans to make a positive difference in Europe by 2015

Telecommunications giant Telefónica, the company behind the O2 network in the UK, has announced a number of initiatives to develop entrepreneurship in Europe by 2015. Its plans were revealed by the company’s Chief Operating Officer during the World Economic Forum in Switzerland today.

Full details of the company’s announcement are below.


Telefónica states bold 2015 targets to boost positive change in Europe

  • Telefónica joins EC Commissioner Neelie Kroes 'Grand Coalition' to boost digital skills, innovation and entrepreneurship
  • José María Álvarez-Pallete pledges 1,000 start-up companies in Europe by 2015
  • Telefónica announces largest-ever global survey of Millennial adults (ages 18-30)
  • London named as host of Campus Party Europe – world’s biggest technology festival

Telefónica today unveiled sweeping 2015 ambitions to combat unemployment and close the digital skills deficit in Europe, reinforcing the company's long-standing commitment to social change and economic recovery in the region.

Among its 2015 targets, Telefónica pledged to create more than 1,000 start-up companies through its Wayra Academies in Europe; build a Telefónica Think Big community of more than 300,000 young people working to build a more entrepreneurial Europe; enrol 50,000 students in Think Big School, teaching digital literacy such as coding and robotics; and transition 5,000 young people and graduates from education into the workplace via its Talentum programme.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Telefónica Chief Operating Officer José María Álvarez-Pallete said: "We believe the technology industry can and should play a part in addressing issues in the society in which they operate. In Europe, Telefónica is promoting a spirit of entrepreneurialism particularly among young people to contribute to a positive change in the region.”

Álvarez-Pallete added: "The transition to a knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy is accelerating, but skills shortages and gaps are negatively impacting growth, competitiveness, innovation and employment in Europe. We believe that Commissioner Neelie Kroes' Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs is a very helpful catalyst to help European recovery. The private sector has a critical role to play and we will be working actively to build a real momentum across Europe".

Álvarez-Pallete announced that Telefónica is working towards bringing the world's largest festival of technology – Campus Party Europe – to London in September 2013, gathering more than 10,000 of the brightest young minds from around Europe to share digital skills, explore new innovations and encourage entrepreneurship.

Telefónica also announced at Davos that it has commissioned the most comprehensive global survey of Millennial adults ever conducted – with a view to gaining a deeper insight into the hopes, fears and expectations for the future of 12,000 adults aged 18–30 from 27 countries.

In just 12 months, Telefónica has proactively encouraged innovation and entrepreneurialism in Europe through a number of successful initiatives, including:

  • Launching five start-up academies in Europe, providing intense incubation and support for over 60 young digital businesses
  • Training and mentoring 4,180 young people to start their own social projects, with a further 65,000 young people actively participating in these projects
  • Starting a program teaching digital skills, with 1,000 young people taking part so far
  • Becoming the main delivery partner of Campus Party – Europe’s biggest open technology festival, attracting 10,000 people to Berlin to share and explore the new frontiers of digital technology
  • Recruiting 1,400 interns, apprentices and graduates into our own business

With 100 million customers – representing roughly 20 per cent of Europe’s population – and 57,000 employees in six countries, Telefónica is one of the largest digital companies in Europe. In its role as a leading European ‘digital citizen’, Telefónica is strongly committed to regaining the Bloc’s leadership in technology and innovation. To this end, Telefónica has created innovation hubs across the region to encourage entrepreneurial spirit. Key to this has been Telefónica Think Big – an umbrella initiative which includes the start-up accelerator, Wayra; Telefónica’s graduate scheme Talentum; and the Start Up Europe project in partnership with the Lisbon Council.

Print
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Rate this article:
No rating

Categories: Networks and operators, NewsNumber of views: 10341

Tags: uk europe telefonica london wayra

Leave a comment

This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data.
Add comment

Opinion Articles

How mobile phone retailers must embrace technology to diagnose phone faults

Amir Lehr of Cellebrite writes:

Mobile phone faults pose a daily problem for mobile phone retailers. According to mobile diagnostics expert Cellebrite, 60 per cent of cases are software-related issues with the smartphone, and can be resolved within minutes.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Last week at The Fonecast: 12th May 2014

Feelin’ groufie

Mark Bridge writes:

Last week a major retailer with a significant online presence announced plans to release its own-brand smartphone by the end of the year. No, not Amazon. This news came from Tesco.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Smartphone innovation is slowing down, as Samsung struggles to differentiate

Lawrence Lundy of Frost & Sullivan writes:

While the Galaxy S5 is an evolutionary product, there is not enough in there to make people upgrade from the 4. It doesn't push the envelope in any real way; we are in a sort of stasis now when it comes to smartphone innovation.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Welcome to the digitised city

M2M technology transforms parking in Pisa

Jürgen Hase of Deutsche Telekom writes:

The Smart City is on its way. All over the world more and more cities are connecting all areas of their infrastructure. Pisa in Tuscany, for example, aims to improve its traffic management with a machine-to-machine (M2M) solution and a Big Data service provided by Deutsche Telekom.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Last week at The Fonecast: 31st March 2014

HTC goes One better

Mark Bridge writes:

“Hey, everybody, we’re releasing a new flagship smartphone that carries all the hopes of the company with it. If this sells well, we could be saved. If not, it could be disaster.”

“Great. What shall we call our new phone?”

“Oh, we’ll give it the same name as the previous model. That’ll be fine.”

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
123468910Last

Recent Podcasts

Reviewing our 2015 mobile industry predictions... and looking forward to 2016

Podcast - 15th January 2016

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return to review their mobile industry predictions from last year. Which mergers, partnerships and developments did they forecast correctly... and which didn’t work out as planned?

Later in the programme, the team anticipates some of the topics that will be hitting the headlines during 2016.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Podcast from Mobile World Congress 2015

Podcast - 6th March 2015

Mark Bridge learns about the mobile technology trends at Mobile World Congress 2015 by chatting to James Rosewell of 51Degrees, Dr Kevin Curran from the IEEE and Chris Millington of Doro.

They talk about wearable devices, wireless charging, mobile operating systems and much more... including some of their favourite products from the exhibition.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Looking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

Podcast - 27th February 2015

We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

We also talk about the planned BT and EE merger, the creation of two new UK virtual networks, some acquisitions in the mobile payment arena and a new Ubuntu smartphone.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Interview with Chris Millington of Doro about mobile retailing, wearables and technology for older consumers

Podcast - 24th February 2015

In today's programme Mark Bridge talks to Chris Millington, who's Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland.

They discuss the state of mobile retailing in the UK, the future of wearable devices and - as you might expect - smartphones for seniors.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

Podcast - 30th January 2015

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
123468910Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Twitter @TheFonecast RSS podcast feed
Find us on Facebook Subscribe free via iTunes

Archive Calendar

«March 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
26272829123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
1234567

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement