Microsoft YouthSpark is a new companywide initiative to create opportunities for 300 million youth through a range of global programs, delivered in partnership with governments, nonprofits and other businesses.

Microsoft today announced a new global initiative, Microsoft YouthSpark, that aims to create opportunities for 300 million youth in more than 100 countries during the next three years. This companywide initiative includes citizenship and other company programs — both new and enhanced — that empower youth to imagine and realize
their full potential by connecting them with greater opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship.

 Through Microsoft YouthSpark, the company will dedicate the majority of its cash contributions to nonprofits that serve the youth population around the world. In addition, Microsoft YouthSpark will include Office 365 for education, free technology tools for all teachers and students to power learning and collaboration, and Skype in the classroom, a free global community for teachers to connect their students with others around the world.

As part of the initiative, Microsoft is also launching a range of new citizenship programs:

• Give for Youth, a global microgiving marketplace focused on raising funds for nonprofits that support youth causes around the world;
• Microsoft YouthSpark Hub, an online space where people can explore and access all the youth services, programs and resources provided by Microsoft and its nonprofit partners; and
• Microsoft Innovate for Good, a global online community enabling youth to collaborate, inspire and support one another while using technology to make a difference in their communities.

Launching the new initiative, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said, “Through Microsoft YouthSpark we are making a commitment to help 300 million young people around the world achieve their dreams by focusing our citizenship efforts and other company resources on connecting young people with opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship. We believe that working with our partners we can help empower young people to change their world, and we are committed to using our technology, talent, time and resources to do that.”

The company’s youth-focused philanthropy will be conducted in close collaboration with nonprofits around the world. These include worldwide organizations such as GlobalGiving Foundation, TakingITGlobal, Telecentre.org Foundation and the International Youth Foundation, as well as regional nonprofits such as Silatech in the Middle East, The Trust for Americas in Latin America, AIESEC International in Europe, and the ASEAN Foundation in Asia. In the United States, Microsoft is announcing its support of five national nonprofits: Boys & Girls Clubs of America, City Year, Junior Achievement USA, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and Year Up Inc.

“Our next generation of citizenship will focus on the next generation of people,” said Brad Smith, executive vice president, Microsoft. “The global unemployment rate for workers younger than 25 is 12.7 percent, which is double the rate for the world as a whole. This is indicative of a growing opportunity divide between young people who have the access, skills and opportunities to be successful and those who do not. We must work together to close the opportunity divide for youth and help secure the future of this generation and the future of our global economy.”

The International Youth Foundation Opportunity for Action report, published in March 2012, showed that nearly 75 million young people worldwide were unemployed in 2011. As the global youth population continues to grow — there are more than 2.2 billion people between the ages of 6 and 24 today — the opportunity divide is widening.

Microsoft YouthSpark goes beyond philanthropy and brings together a range of global programs that empower young people with access to technology and a better education and inspire young people to imagine the opportunities they have to realize their potential, including previously mentioned Office 365 for education and Skype in the classroom, as well as the following:

• Partners in Learning. A professional development program for government officials, school leaders and educators to help them with new approaches to teaching and learning, using technology to help students develop 21st century skills.
• Microsoft IT Academy. A career-ready education program available to all accredited academic institutions, providing students with 21st century technology.
• DreamSpark. Free access to Microsoft designer and developer tools for students and educators, helping advance key technical skills during the high school and college years, a critical time in a student’s development.
• Imagine Cup. The world’s premier youth technology competition, which challenges students to apply their knowledge and passion to develop technical solutions for social impact, to develop engaging games, and to demonstrate innovation that can benefit others, local communities and the world.
• Students to Business. A program that matches university students with jobs or internships in the technology industry.
• BizSpark. A software startup program, providing young entrepreneurs with access to Microsoft software development tools and connections with key industry players, including investors, to help them start a new business.

A full list of Microsoft YouthSpark programs can be found at the YouthSpark Hub.

The ASEAN Foundation recently announced that it will implement a new ICT training program for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) funded by a US$300,000 grant from Microsoft. The programme will target young entrepreneurs aged 16-25, and focus on the latest ICT applications for SME development. Over the next 24 months, the pilot project is expected to reach more than 20,000 people—youth, students and women—and close to 1,000 SMEs from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.  

Dr Makarim Wibisono, ASEAN Foundation Executive Director, remarked, “Our vision for this ICT programme is that it will not only help increase growth and competitiveness among micro-entrepreneurs in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, but that its success will also lead to the future implementation of similar projects in other ASEAN countries. Through our long-standing collaboration with Microsoft, the ASEAN Foundation stands ready to help people across the region realize greater opportunity through improved access to information technology.”

Tracey Fellows, President of Microsoft Asia Pacific, added, “I am delighted to launch this grant, a first for Microsoft in the region in its scope and breadth, and the next exciting step in our long-term partnership with the ASEAN Foundation. SMEs are the lifeblood of most countries in this region. Through this partnership we want to enable the next generation of young people to start their own business or create their own opportunities. This grant reflects our belief in the power of technology to help transform lives, and the social and economic development of every nation.”

The launch of the program is a key milestone in tackling rising jobless rates among young people. According to a paper released in early September by the International Labor Organization titled “Global Employment Outlook: Bleak Labour Market Prospects for Youth”, youth unemployment rates in Southeast Asia & the Pacific are forecasted to rise from 13.1 percent in 2012 to 14.2 percent in 2017.

The new programme will see close collaboration between non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia and organizations from the public and private sectors, working together to help young entrepreneurs realize their full potential through activities such as:

* Development and delivery of ICT curriculum tailored for the needs of micro-entrepreneurs, helping them understand how they can use technology most effectively to sustain and grow their businesses;

* A ‘Train the Trainer’ series to help communities extend the reach of this curriculum across the region; and

* The selection of one entrepreneur for an E-Business Incubation program, which will provide mentorship and assistance as they implement ICT marketing tools into their business operations. 

The programme will be implemented in the following eight locations:

* Indonesia: West Sumatera, West Java (Bandung Area), South Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara
Partner organization: SOS Children Villages Indonesia

* Thailand: Bangkok, Chiang Mai
Partner organizations: The Research Center of Communication and Development Knowledge Management (CCDKM) and Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University

* The Philippines: Metro Manila
Partner organization: Go Negosyo

* Vietnam: Hanoi
Partner organization: Vietnam Chambers of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)

The project announced today expands upon the ASEAN Foundation’s partnership with Microsoft, which began in 2005 and has resulted in the development of ICT curriculum for farmers in rural areas, and delivery of ICT training to more than 50,000 people in Indonesia.

Microsoft Thailand and the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a well-known NGO in Thailand, has kicked off the ’Chumchon Dot Net’ project to establish 20 Community Technology Skills Centers for villagers in Thailand’s Northeast region.

Started in March, the project aims to provide information technology (IT) access and training to villagers—allowing them to learn new IT skills and boost their income opportunities. Approximately eight million people in Thailand live on less than two dollars a day. They reside mainly in the Northeastern part of Thailand, also known as the Isan Region. Over 80 percent of these people are rice farmers who depend on good weather for a fair harvest, resulting in erratic income.

The poverty situation is worsened by the increasing migration of people from these regions to urban centers, especially Bangkok. This has resulted in less able-bodied men and women available to tend the crops, thereby perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

The project will train more than 1700 farmers and youths. A web portal was designed to link at least 10 websites created and maintained by the villages to provide information that will facilitate the buying and selling of goods in the surrounding communities. Microsoft and PDA aim to increase the villagers’ income by at least 20 percent after the first 12 months.

An organic farmer, Mr Wanchai Soiprapai, is one of the participants of the Chumchon Dot Net project in his village. He had moved from Bangkok to the Nongkratum village in Buriram to become a farmer after suffering health problems while working in the city. "I have been interested in computers and IT for more than 20 years and IT is a tool to for me to succeed in organic farming. I need to have access to information such as effective fertilizer-soil formula, right plant species and updated information from agriculture agencies,” he said.

Through this project, Microsoft strives to boost the IT capabilities of the people in the region, facilitate e-commerce and expand market opportunities to help alleviate some of the economic hardships endured by the villagers.