Community

Posted by Jacqueline Beauchere
Director, Trustworthy Computing Communications – Privacy & Online Safety
 
As a large technology company with a significant online presence, Microsoft believes it’s our responsibility to help make the Internet a safer place for people, including children, to learn, communicate, play and grow. Of the risks facing children online, cyberbullying is a growing concern for both parents and educators.
 
Today, bullies have capitalized on the availability of much more discreet and efficient tools with which to badger their victims, going beyond the intended uses for which they were designed. Sadly, as we’ve seen in recent news reports, there have been a number of examples where youth who were victimized resorted to taking their own lives.

Posted by Scott Pitasky
Corporate Vice President, Human Resources Talent & Organization Capability Group

(Cross-posted from Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential blog)

Today, on Veterans Day, we take some time to celebrate, honor and remember our United States military veterans. At Microsoft, we are especially proud to recognize and thank our colleagues who have selflessly served our country and continue to do so through the National Guard and Reserves.

As greater numbers of men and women return from active duty, we know that these individuals and their families need our support, expertise and resources to help them transition successfully back to civilian life.
From a Microsoft perspective there are two elements to this.

As we announced yesterday our Elevate America veterans initiative is focused on working with a coalition of public, private and nonprofit organizations around the country to contribute expertise, cash and in-kind resources to give US veterans and their spouses the skills and resources they need such as career counseling, technology skills training, job placement and additional support services like childcare, transportation, and housing.

This week, Linda Zecher participated in The Global Forum/Shaping the Future event in Washington DC, an annual event that dives into the economic, political and societal issues in today’s society. Linda, who leads Microsoft’s Worldwide Public Sector business, spoke in separate sessions on Citizen-Centered eHealth and Empowering Women in Technology.

Following her participation at the event, Linda spoke with us on the latter topic. She shared her thoughts on why it’s important for women to consider careers in IT and how Microsoft is working with partners around the world to empower women to develop the skills they need to help build a community of leaders and boost national competitiveness.

Posted by Piotr Marczuk
Governmental Affairs Manager, WSG RG Poland

(Cross-posted from Microsoft.eu)

Global dimensions are changing. To name a few: the shift to a low carbon economy, globalization, technological change, accessible education and an ageing population have all sparked a change in the skills, knowledge base and competencies that the labour market demands. 

We have seen youth embracing some of these exciting new trends during the inspirational 2010 Microsoft Imagine Cup Finals. Indeed, the world’s annual largest entrepreneurial competition in technology took place this year in Poland and brought to the spotlight some of the most innovative ideas that are set to spark job creation and develop human capital in new areas of business.
 
We heard some interesting predictions directly from the young entrepreneurs themselves in the European Parliament earlier this month at the event ‘’Pushing the boundaries of Innovation’’. The students told us what skills will change the structure of the EU labour market and therefore what competencies EU employees, both present and future, should be embracing:

Finalist Adrien Cayrac, France- bronze medal in the Game Design category:
“First and foremost, I believe that in the future, businesses will require their employees to lean more towards collaborative work (according to U.S studies, this could represent approximately 50% of the efficiency within a company).
 
According to me, it is also important for tomorrow’s jobs to ask for more transversal skills. Why would that be? Two major advantages: one would be that the employee would work better with colleagues whose jobs are different from his. The other advantage would be that if the employee wants to change his career path, he’d be able to do so more easily. I also believe that it is important to instill a certain balance of human, scientific and technological culture through teaching and training. Technology helps us work differently, thanks to new devices and software.

Workstations with which we work are no longer limited to a sole computer but now include Tablet PCs, videoconferencing cameras (roundtable), smartphones (WP7), interactive whiteboards, mini-PCs…
 
If these tools are interconnected within a single solution, they constitute unified collaborative communication and foster collective intelligence. We can then exchange information whilst ignoring constraints of location, content, time, media, or availability of one or the other. What better way to improve your skills than through constant learning? None.”

Posted by Linda Zecher
Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector

Last week I had the opportunity to join 500 remarkable educators, school leaders and government officials from around the globe at Microsoft’s sixth annual Worldwide Innovative Education Forum in Cape Town, South Africa.   The Forum is the signature event of Microsoft’s Partners in Learning program and it was impossible for anyone there not to be moved and inspired by the absolute passion of these educators and their amazing commitment to helping our young people realize their full potential.

The week culminated with the announcement of the 2010 Worldwide Innovative Teachers award winners. 13 winners were chosen among the 125 finalists who reached Cape Town and more than 200,000 teachers who participated in national and regional events. Along with the many great education professionals who attended from our Pathfinder and Mentor schools, the event promoted best practice and sharing with the purpose of creating a positive legacy for current and future students across the globe.