Building a phone for a fairer economy
Fairphone’s mission is to bring a fair smartphone to the market – one made entirely of parts produced and utilised without harming individuals or the environment.
Fairphone as a product evolved from an open design project started at Waag Society in 2010, as one of our ambitions is to bring relevant technologies and concepts that have been developed to the market.
The first objective of the Fairphone project was to raise awareness about conflict minerals in electronics and the wars that they fuel and fund in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2013, we established an independent social enterprise to design and produce the first smartphone and take the next crucial steps in uncovering the story behind the sourcing, production, distribution and recycling of electronics.
Fairphone is now a social enterprise working to create a fairer economy and change how things are made. It wants to open up supply chains, solve problems and use transparency to start a debate about what’s truly fair. A similar project for us is the Fair Meter Initiative, in which we collaborate towards a fair, open and smart electricity meter.