As a country, we see education as an important business. Educated minds are more informed, more discerning and more involved in government and foreign affairs. This is especially true at Qualcomm, a company rooted in education not only by the investments we make in this area but also by the principles that we hold true—after all, several of Qualcomm’s founders began their careers as educators.

Tomio Hasegawa needs advanced health services to keep his blood pressure under control. The fact that he lives in a remote region of Japan where access to these services is lacking doesn’t prevent him from getting the daily care he needs. That’s because Tomio uses 3G wireless technology to measure his blood pressure at home, send the data in real time to doctors and nurses located hundreds of miles away and get their timely feedback.

Since the inception of our pilot project in Palembang, Indonesia, I have witnessed the power that opportunity can have in people’s lives, and more specifically, the influence of wireless connectivity. In May 2010, we completed a project with SRA International, Inc., that offered 1,000 prepaid tuition vouchers (all of which were redeemed) to economically disadvantaged students. The goal of the voucher program was to build awareness and interest in new wireless technology services within middle-mile communities – communities that connect a small town to a larger metropolitan area, where it then interconnects with major Internet carriers, providers and services.

Do you believe in giving people second chances? We do. We also value education. That’s why Qualcomm, through our Wireless Reach™ initiative, is collaborating with Renaissance Academy, a private correspondence high school in Japan, on a pioneering project that leverages 3G technologies to help high school dropouts re-engage in learning and earn their diplomas.

As a milestone marking the success and growth of the Wireless Reach Application Laboratory (AppLab) project, Bakrie Telecom invited me to participate in the launch of a new mobile phone that has a unique application package called “Usahaku.”