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Vodafone Group yesterday launched its global Firsts programme and announced it will soon be rolled out in Qatar. |
The Vodafone Firsts programme is about inspiring people to do something remarkable for the first time using mobile technology.
For example, Vodafone is working with India’s Olympian boxer Mary Kom to teach young women the mental and physical skills needed to improve their self-confidence and to defend themselves.
Vodafone worked with Kom to build and run a women-only boxing and self-defence camp in her native Manipur. A film of Kom’s inspirational journey, which can be viewed at www.firsts.com, will be part of a self-defence smartphone app currently under development.
For women in India without smartphones, Vodafone is helping Kom create a free SMS service, which will provide access to security and self-defence tips, a nationwide forum and women’s helpline numbers.
Within days, leading big-wave British surfer Tom Lowe will use mobile technology to track down one of the world’s most dangerous waves, the Todos Santos wave at the northern tip of Baja California, Mexico, and also to help him to stay in touch with his family back home in Cornwall in the UK.
Vodafone will help the 30-year-old use a global ocean forecasting system on his tablet to help him locate the wave before jumping on to his surfboard and attempting to ride it. Lowe believes he will be the first European to ride the wave.
Vodafone is also helping South African musician Spoek Mathambo to achieve his dream of creating his first recording using collected audio samples from different cultural groups across South Africa.
Mathambo uploaded his musical collaborations on to the Vodafone Cloud, used the Vodacom network to connect to the cloud service and to contact his colleagues who were mixing the track back in his studio in Cape Town.
The journey of each Vodafone First can be viewed at www.firsts.com. More stories coming soon include the world’s first: crowd-sourced theatre production, colour-conducted choir and singing forest.
