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Mobile Games on Climate Change Launched

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Mobile Games on Climate Change Launched

Written by Hilmi Quraishi

Tuesday, 03 June 2008

On the eve of World Environment Day (5th June), Dr. R.K. Pachauri - Director General of TERI and Nobel Peace Laureate 2007 & Shri Kamal Nath - Union Minister of Industry and Commerce, Government of India releases new mobile phone games initiative on Climage Change awareness. The initiative is called Connect-2-Climate, a joint initiative of ZMQ Software Systems and TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute). The initiaitve was released on 31st May 2008 in New Delhi during the 7th TERI Corporate Awards Gala.

Under the first phase of the initiative 3 mobile games are being launched - namely Polar Teddy Quiz, Mission Lighting and DeCarbonator . The program is actively supported by Reliance Communications Ltd., Philips Electronics India Ltd and Intel.

More images of the launch and games can be downloaded from the link: http://www.connect2climate.org/c2c_pics.zip

PRESS RELEASE

ZMQ with TERI launches mobile games on climate change on Reliance Communications · “Connect-2-Climate” - a pioneering mobile games initiative to raise public awareness on climate change

Dr. R. K. Pachauri - Director General (TERI) & Shri. Kamalnath - Union Minister of Industry and Commerce launches the initiative

New Delhi, May 31, 2008: ZMQ Software Systems has developed an innovative methodology to educate people on climate change using mobile devices and gaming. ZMQ has collaborated with TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) - a non-profit autonomous research organization deeply committed towards environment, energy and various aspects of sustainable development, to jointly launch mobile phone games to create public awareness on climate change under the initiative ”Connect-2-Climate”. Dr. R. K. Pachauri, Director General of TERI and co-recipient of 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace and Understanding on behalf of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Shri Kamalnath, Union Minister of Industry and Commerce, Government of India will launched the games in nation’s capital on 31^st May 2008. The games will be made available on leading mobile operator Reliance Communications from 5^th June 2008 - World Environment Day. Connect-2-Climate aims to reach out to common man by using the incredible power of mobile and other Information, Communication Technologies (ICTs) by creating mass awareness about environment, climate change and related issues through games and learning applications. In the first phase of Connect-2-Climate, three exciting mobile games are being launched on Reliance Mobile World, targeting different mindsets, psychology and strata of mobile phone users. The initiative is also in active collaborative partnership of Intel Corporation and Philips Lightings. Reliance Communications is committed to spreading environmental awareness through its mobile platform - Reliance Mobile World and is a pioneer in the field of social causes using mobile devices. The games will be made available exclusively on Reliance Mobile World and will be free for users to download. One of the games, DeCarbonator is an edutainment game encouraging people to reduce their carbon footprint by employing eco-friendly methods in life and developing sustainable habits like using cloth/ jute bags, avoiding disposable items, consuming fewer tetra pack, planting more trees to preserve nature, using public transport instead of personal transport, switching off engine at the red signals, using lead free petrol, opting for renewable energy resources and so on.

Another game, Mission Lighting is an adventure game aimed at common man to make a smart choice by choosing energy efficient products, which can have a direct impact on climate change. The game conveys how energy efficient appliances and CFL bulbs not only saves energy and reduces electricity bills; but also significantly reduces greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, that has an enormous impact on climate change. Human contribution of these gases to atmosphere has increased the greenhouse effect.

The third game, Polar Teddy Quiz is a quiz-based game inviting users who have a bent of mind more towards questioning and reasoning. One of the impacts of Climate Change is melting of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, which is a direct threat to the existence of species that live in cold habitats like bears, penguins, and seals. The user plays a quiz game with Teddy bear and tests his knowledge on Climate Change. The questions are picked from a huge backend database. The user can make use of various lifelines to play the game. The second phase of Connect-2-Climate will launch two serious mobile learning applications on climate change, namely Green Energy Expo – a mobile learning tool about various renewable energies and Climate Change Mobi-book – a mobile handbook to understand climate change, its causes and consequences and how sustainable habits can slow them down. Also, under the initiative in the second phase, the games will be translated into many vernacular languages to reach out to the grass-root communities through Reliance Mobile World. During the launch, Dr. Pachauri, General Director TERI said, “Mobile games on climate change awareness are ideally suited for youth and children. It is from there that the change is going to come”. Speaking during the launch of the initiative, Hilmi Quraishi – Project Director, Connect-2-Climate said, “It is our corporate social responsibility to use latest technologies that enable us to reach out to millions on one click of a button”. “Connect-2-Climate is yet another important initiative through which we hope to spread the awareness of environmental conservation among the vast Indian population. Reliance Mobile World has today become the access point for over millions of unique customers, making it one of the most popular medium in India today. With this reach cutting across more than 4 lakh villages and over 20, 000 towns, we offer a unique opportunity to spread environmental awareness using latest technologies”, remarked Mahesh Prasad, President, Applications Solutions and Content Group (ASCG), Reliance Communications Limited. Commenting on the occasion Mr. Murali Sivaraman, CEO, Philips Electronics India Ltd said, “At Philips, we always try to explore innovative platforms to spread awareness around Energy Efficiency. The mobile game is one such initiative to reach out to the youth in India, who we believe can play an important role in addressing global challenges such as climate change.”

About Partners

ZMQZMQ is a Technology for Development company focused towards providing solutions to empower people and enable sustainable development. ZMQ is also a pioneer in using mobile technology for social good, and has always been a front-runner in developing global value educational and gaming solutions. Some of the other social mobile technology campaigns of ZMQ have been Freedom HIV/AIDS – creating awareness on HIV/AIDS and Mobile Mahatma – an innovative concept to promote philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.

TERI

TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) is a non-profit autonomous research organization deeply committed towards every aspect of sustainable development. TERI has been actively involved in educating the youth on environment issues and disseminating relevant information to a large cross-section.

Reliance Communications

Reliance Communications Limited founded by the late Shri Dhirubhai Ambani is the flagship company of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. Reliance Mobile World has gained popularity as a virtual one-stop-shop for entertainment, communication, gaming and m-commerce.

Intel Corporation

Intel is a leading technology company. Intel is also involve din Intel’s voluntary program where 80% of Intel employees volunteer their time in the country on a range of issues. Environment is a key focus area and Intel volunteers will be taking these games to children in their surrounding communities and educating them on climate change issues.

Philips Electronics India Limited

Philips Electronics India Limited is a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics, is a leader in Consumer Lifestyle, Healthcare and Lighting Systems. Philips has an unmatched range of internationally acclaimed products backed by superior design and technology and an excellent distribution and after-sales service network. Philips has been operating in India for over 75 years and employs over 4,000 employees around the country. Philips India has been consistently working with industry bodies, government and non-government organisations to address India’s power crisis through promotion of energy efficient lighting in India. In 2007 alone, it sold energy saving products, which contributed to a reduction in installed load of more than a 1400MW. Philips has been at the forefront of numerous innovations in the lighting segment. Philips recently embarked on a School Contact Program to enhance awareness among school children on energy efficiency. Released by:

Hilmi Quraishi

Project Director – Connect-2-ClimateZMQ Software SystemsCell: +91-9871981960Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ; This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Website: www.connect2climate,org

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