Telia Company ranked 12th among 200 tech companies on digital inclusion
- 2023-03-16
In its latest Digital Inclusion Benchmark, the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) has ranked Telia Company fourth in Europe and twelfth worldwide among 200 tech companies assessed. The benchmark ranks companies in terms of the progress they have made towards improving access to technology, enhancing digital skills, fostering trustworthy use, and innovating openly and ethically.
Sara Nordbrand, Group Head of Sustainability at Telia Company, says: “Digital inclusion will be key for societies to capture the full potential of digitalization. The topic is therefore integrated in our business strategy through which we commit to provide access to reliable connectivity for all and increase users’ digital skills, thereby helping to bridge the digital divides that exist in our markets.”
Telia Company operates in the Nordics and Baltics, where access to connectivity and devices is relatively high but a lack of digital skills contributes to exclusion in various forms. Therefore, in 2021 Telia committed to reaching 1 million individuals through various digital skills building initiatives across its markets by 2025.
Since then, initiatives have been initiated and scaled, targeting vulnerable groups such as seniors, children and small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs). These initiatives have helped women to reskill for careers in tech, immigrants to take their first steps in highly digitalized societies, and SMEs to protect themselves from increasing cyber threats. By the end of 2022, we had already reached more than 1 million individuals.
The latest Digital Inclusion Benchmark highlights Telia’s leading practices in areas such as cyber security, data privacy and children’s online safety. In the area of skills, the report singles out Digital Senior, a program created by Telia to reduce digital exclusion among the elderly. As a result of Digital Senior, almost 13,000 seniors in Sweden have been taught digital skills by young people in close collaboration with municipalities. The benchmark also lists several of the actions Telia has taken to increase digital access and opportunities, including initiatives to reskill women to take up tech careers in order to increase gender balance in the industry.
About the Digital Inclusion Benchmark
The Digital Inclusion Benchmark tracks how companies are helping to advance a more inclusive digital economy and society. All companies are assessed using information that is already public or can be made public. It was developed by World Benchmarking Alliance through a global multi-stakeholder process with inputs from companies, industry associations, governments, academics, and civil society.
Read more about Telia Company’s work on digital inclusion in our Annual and Sustainability Report (page 85-87) and our website.
