Educational institutions, companies and governments are faced with growing challenges to provide improved access to education, enable lifelong learning and deliver educational services in new ways.

As we move towards a knowledge-based society, educators worldwide face a mounting series of challenges. The first of these is to provide access to knowledge to every member of society, children and adults alike.

Another key challenge is enabling people to upgrade their education continuously. Today's companies require technologically skilled employees with up-to-date knowledge. Moreover, businesses need employees who constantly improve their skills to keep up with new technologies. Lifelong learning has thus become critical for the economic development of all countries, whatever their current level of development.

Delivering educational services is yet another challenge. With larger classroom sizes, teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to offer the individualized attention that students need. Moreover, student populations are often located in areas that are far from teaching facilities. The often-disparate needs of educators and students and educational services, delivered when and where they are needed.

Alcatel-Lucent broadband technologies can help educators meet these challenges, by providing innovative, cost-effective systems for delivering educational services. With shrinking budgets a common problem for many school districts and universities, Alcatel-Lucent’s solutions can help teachers and administrators do more with less.

Broadband technology enhances educational service delivery by offering increased flexibility, easy communications and immediate access to global resources. Broadband is a key driver for the evolution to a multimedia world, which integrates voice, images, data and TV in a single connection; it can therefore reduce the disparity in access to knowledge. This gap, often called the digital divide, can deepen a nation's economic and social rifts, and lead to the virtual exclusion of certain segments of society. On the contrary, providing universal access to education is the means for creating a cohesive, inclusive society that is focused on development.