Empowering the young digital generation – Telenor Youth Summit

Press release
Fornebu
6 minute read
Telenor Group has invited 25 young social entrepreneurs from across Asia and Europe to its inaugural Youth Summit. The summit, which is arranged together with the Nobel Peace Center, aims to fuel ideas where mobile phone technology can provide solutions that address societal and economic challenges.
It’s a gathering of youth from the millennial generation – who use technology for social change. All candidates have through passion and commitment developed ideas that they during the summit will get a chance to further enhance in an international setting and in the spirit of the Nobel Peace Prize. The three day event will also include meetings with Telenor delegates and representatives from renowned companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Wikipedia where the participants can seek inspiration and get practical advice.

“I look forward to meeting these 25 unique individuals, selected to join our first ever Youth Summit,” said Telenor Group CEO and President Jon Fredrik Baksaas. “This group represents the voice of a digital generation with strong commitments to drive change in their societies spanning from Asia to Europe. They fully understand how connectivity and access to internet can play a role in improving societies, and we are eager to provide support to empower them in realizing their solutions and help their ideas reach a wider audience.”

Among the candidates we find Safa and Sami, two women from Bangladesh, who were nominated for their mutual idea with the ambition to provide personal security and keep people safe at home and on the roads. Another participant is Benjamin, who was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and is now living in Denmark. He was chosen for his engagement in how digital technologies can be utilised in relief work, and how mobile technologies can help people act via smaller local initiatives with a global impact.

These are just a few of the outstanding young people travelling to Telenor’s headquarters and joining the three-day summit from Dec. 9-11. The selection process throughout the summer has formed a diverse youth group of 13 women and 12 men from across Telenor’s markets in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro. The participants are between 18 and 25 years of age.

“The summit aims to inspire this youth with new innovative ways to get their social voices heard via the use of digital technology,’’ said Baksaas. “We are committed to building a digital future for all people across our markets and believe that mobile internet is a catalyst for development and growth. By enabling young entrepreneurs to develop their solutions we stimulate local content production and create ambassadors that can inspire others to start developing own ideas.”

Below are the names of the chosen candidates.

Detailed presentation

  • Safa Tasneem, 23 years, Bangladesh

  • Sami Tahsin, 21 years, Bangladesh

  • Wong Gwen Yi, 19 years, Malaysia

  • Farah Fauzi, 20 years, Malaysia

  • Onravee Tangmeesang, 24 years, Thailand

  • Prach Panchakunathorn, 25 years, Thailand

  • Awais Imran, 21 years, Pakistan

  • Saad Hamid, 25 years, Pakistan

  • Shikha Pathak, 21 years, India

  • Abhishek Gupta, 21 years, India

  • Lise Lørup, 25 years, Norway

  • Jonas Borchgrevink, 23 years, Norway

  • Robin Liendeborg, 25 years, Sweden

  • Amanda Andersson, 23 years, Sweden

  • Benjamin Nisic, 24 years, Denmark

  • Phillip D. Lerer, 20 years, Denmark

  • Anna Uskova, 20 years, Russia

  • Galina Shchukina, 21 years, Russia

  • Stefani Toneva, 22 years, Bulgaria

  • Valeriya Yordanova, 25 years, Bulgaria

  • Kristóf Kálmán, 23 years, Hungary

  • Filip Marković, 21 years, Montenegro

  • Anton Jurovicki, 23 years, Montenegro

  • Petar Korda, 23 years, Serbia

  • Bojana Stajić, 21 years, Serbia


Energy and creativity will be key during these inspirational days. The summit will be hosted by Telenor Group CEO Baksaas, in collaboration with the Nobel Peace Center, a renowned strategic sponsorship held by Telenor for many years.

Details on the summit

Follow us @TelenorGroup and #TelenorYouthSummit on Twitter.

Media Contact
Meera Bhatia,
Communications Manager,
Telenor Group,
meera.bhatia@telenor.com,
+47 4684 4959.