April 25, 2016, 22:30 (CEST)

• Public-private partnership supports creation of Networked Society Lab in Brazil
• Lab to focus on smart agriculture, smart water, connected rainforest, disaster prevention and monitoring applications
• Partnership supports at least six of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The Brazilian Government, represented by the Ministry of Communications, and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) have agreed a mutual cooperation to deploy proof-points of the Networked Society in Brazil.

The partnership will create a Networked Society Lab in Brazil to test new technologies and measure the positive impact of Internet of Things (IoT) projects including smart water, agriculture, rainforest protection, disaster prevention and monitoring applications.

André Figueiredo, Minister of Communications, says:

"The Internet of Things is quickly emerging as a very significant agent of transformation as it blends the physical and digital worlds. By cooperating with Ericsson's Networked Society Lab, we will better understand and be at the forefront of how we can sustainably improve agriculture, smart cities, energy and industrial production, among other areas, in Brazil."

Maximiliano Martinhão, Secretary of Telecommunications, says:

"The cooperation with European Union and European companies is an important component of the Brazilian strategy for IoT and 5G developments. Recently, we did a joint statement together with the European Commission for Digital Economy and Society about this partnership and we can already see the fruits of this initiative."

The Networked Society Lab in Brazil will be inaugurated on April 29, 2016 in the presence of the Minister of Communications. The project is part of the Ericsson Innovation Center that works in cooperation with universities, customers, suppliers and development agencies to foster the IoT ecosystem in Brazil and Latin America.

Recently, Ericsson has launched a crowdworking platform collaboration with Telefónica Open Future and Inatel (National Telecommunications Institution). The University of São Paulo (USP), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and Federal University of Ceará (UFC) execute applied research in partnership with Ericsson as part of this ecosystem.

The Ericsson Innovation Center in Latin America employs 460 people and has filed 80 patents (42 in Brazil) related to connected buses and bus stops in Goiânia, as well as the public safety solution deployed in São José dos Campos.

Ulf Ewaldsson, Chief Technology Officer, Ericsson, says:

"This Networked Society Lab illustrates our commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Lab will help bring Brazil one step closer to 5G, where new device and sensor technologies leverage network connectivity to power a variety of use cases, such as smarter solutions in agriculture and natural disaster prevention."

Carla Belitardo, Head of Strategy, Ericsson Latin America, says:

"Enabling innovation is of the utmost importance to secure a more sustainable world and to solve challenges that are particular to Brazil. This is why we have named specific focus areas - such as protecting the rainforest, and preventing and monitoring natural disasters. The combined strength of public and private investments will result in real solutions for our society."

The projects in the Networked Society Lab will also address SDGs such as SDG #2 Zero Hunger, SDG #6 Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG #13 Climate Action and SDG #17 Partnerships for the Goals. For more information about Ericsson's commitment to accelerating achievement of the SDGs, see the Ericsson Sustainability and CR Report 2015.

In the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, 28 billion connected devices are forecasted by the year 2021, more than half of which are M2M and IoT connections. The IoT requires long battery lives (10 years) and better coverage, and includes temperature, air quality and flood water sensors.