Posted by Angela CamachoAssociate General Counsel, Microsoft Latin America
For the second year in a row, Women and Social Inclusion is a key topic area we’ll be discussing over the next two days at Microsoft’s annual Government Leaders Forum – Latin America and Caribbean in Rio de Janeiro.
The event brings together government leaders and other influential thinkers to exchange ideas and discuss experiences on the opportunities that Information Technology enables in the region. Distinguished women leaders from the region, including keynote speaker Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the President of Costa Rica, and the Minister of Women’s Policy for Brazil, among others, will join us on a panel to discuss technology and the economic empowerment of women.
Below is a photo from the event. From left to right: Eleonora Menicucci, Minister of Women’s Affairs of Brazil; Beatriz Paredes Rangel, Ambassador of Mexico in Brazil; Lucia Topolansky, First Senator for the Oriental Republic of Uruguay; Alicia Barcena Ibarra, UN Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and The Caribbean (ECLAC); Orlando Ayala, Chairman of Emerging Markets, Microsoft Corporation.
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Posted by Jeff MeisnerEditor, Microsoft on the Issues
On March 28, approximately 75 leading policy makers and thought-leaders from industry, nonprofit and government engaged in a discussion on how to ensure that U.S. students and schools have what they need to attain the computer science knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to succeed in the global economy.
The @Microsoft Conversations on Education panel, titled, “Computer Science and Underrepresented Communities: Helping Students Realize Their Full Potential,” began with opening remarks from Microsoft’s Vice President of U.S. Government Affairs Fred Humphries. National Science Foundation Program Director Jeff Forbes, who served as moderator for the panel, opened up the discussion with a presentation that emphasized the importance of computer science and include key statistics framing the issue.
Panelists included (from left to right) National Science Foundation Program Director Jeff Forbes, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy Senior Advisor to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer Brian Forde, American Association for the Advancement of Science Director Dr. Yolanda L. Comedy and National Center for Women and Information Technology CEO and Co-Founder Lucy Sanders.
Posted by Brad SmithGeneral Counsel & Executive Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft
Washington State can create and fill 160,000 new jobs and reduce its unemployment rate by up to two percentage points over the next five years by closing the gap between the skills employers need and the skills possessed by potential employees. Doing so would also generate $720 million in additional state tax revenues and $80 million more in local tax revenues annually; and save $350 million in state unemployment costs.
That’s the conclusion reached in “Great Jobs Within Our Reach: Solving the Problem of Washington State’s Growing Jobs Skills Gap,” an important new study conducted by Boston Consulting Group in conjunction with the Washington Roundtable.
A great deal of attention, both locally and nationally, has been paid to this skills gap since the start of the recession – so much, in fact, that we sometimes risk losing sight of the magnitude of the opportunity and challenge we face.
Posted by John Scott TynesImagine Cup Competition Manager, Microsoft
At a time when good jobs in IT are going unfilled, there is a strong desire among parents and educators to improve science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in K-12 schools. The need to embrace STEM skills early is clear: in a 2011 survey commissioned by Microsoft, nearly four in five STEM college students said they chose to pursue STEM while still in high school (and one in five had chosen in middle school), yet the vast majority of those same students reported their K-12 STEM education did not leave them prepared to excel in college.
The time to inspire kids to pursue scientific skills and careers is obvious: early and often. Without that crucial intervention, and the chance for kids to discover that they really can master these skills, they will graduate high school believing STEM is just too hard for them. A recent survey commissioned by ASQ found that the risk of failure has a profound impact on how teenagers perceive STEM skills, with nearly half of them reporting they are uncomfortable pursuing challenging academic studies because they fear failure – and 95 percent of them see STEM skills as a risky course of study.
Posted by Dan BrossSenior Director, Corporate Citizenship, Microsoft
We live in a world of increased and appropriate expectations related to the accountability companies have to operate as good corporate citizens. Consumers expect companies to have a positive impact in communities where they operate. People from organizations such as Microsoft are expected to behave with integrity, all day.
Every day.