Today's technologies empower us to respond better to the people in our lives, to new ideas, and to fresh perspectives on how the world can work. Nokia sought to celebrate this fact and examine how technology can be used for the good of people around the world, to coincide with the launch of a new handset: the Nokia E72.
The Nokia E72 was launched in response of a piece of research that was commissioned to examine the various factors that influence how people respond to various issues and situations. The research revealed that more people rely on email than on traditional phone calls or text messaging when sending and responding to critical information.
The research showed that people are spending an average of five full days per year responding to emails. Some 46% of people choose email over voice or text to send and receive important information. The Nokia E72 aims to allow the owner to be more responsive and communicate how they want, whenever they want and wherever they are.
In a campaign of ambitious scope, Nokia has invited a number of thought leaders from TED to pose provocative questions in a series of short films and then invite the rest of us to share written responses, photos or videos, see how others respond and join the conversation. Their videos are hosted at a central website, http://www.nokia.com/responsiveness. Owners of Nokia smartphones were encouraged to respond to the questions posed via the Nokia Messaging service.
Anthropologist, lecturer and author Kyra Gaunt speaks of her ambition to improve child education in the third world, by campaigning for one laptop per child, raising money one dollar at a time. She asks: "What can you do for your community that has never been done before?"
Other thinkers include Katrin Verclas, who runs Mobile Active, a company which supports the use of mobile phones to promote social change. She asks: "How can you respond to the needs of the world?"
Tin Ho Chow is a design student who is hoping to spread the idea of responsible design. In his video he explains that he is drawing attention to a lack of affordable housing by cycling across America with the charity Bike and Build.
The campaign was kick-started through a blogger engagement campaign that sent out free E72 handsets encased in locked boxes to 20 key contacts. They were set a series of challenges, including cracking the code to get into the box, to see how they responded and worked together. Their experiences were unified on Nokia's news and social media hub, http://www.womworld.com/nokia/.