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Blog Post: Community technology centers can provide critical emergency infrastructure

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Guest post by Maria Garrido, Research Assistant Professor, Information School, University of Washington The two-year anniversary of the devastating, magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile offers a unique vantage for grasping the value of investing in community technology. The earthquake revealed that community...

on6 Mar 2012
Blog Post: A Commentary: The Role of Research in Corporate Social Responsibility

Microsoft Citizenship Team

By Christopher T. Coward Technology & Social Change Group, University of Washington Information School Since 2005, the Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) at the University of Washington Information School has been working with Microsoft’s Community Affairs group to study the impact and...

on4 Nov 2011
Blog Post: Consistency and Flexibility are the Foundation of Microsoft’s Community Investments

Akhtar Badshah

Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of blog posts reflecting on the evolution and impact of Microsoft’s Community Technology Skills Program you can find links to the previous entries at the end of this post. If I had to summarize in a few words the most important thing Microsoft...

on24 Oct 2011
Blog Post: Partners with Deep Local Roots Can Make the Difference

Akhtar Badshah

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of blog posts reflecting on the evolution and impact of Microsoft’s Community Technology Skills Program you can find links to the previous entries at the end of this post. When I think of Ren Xuping, I think about rabbits, and the importance...

on20 Oct 2011
Blog Post: Effective Community Investments Require Strong Local Partners and Leaders

Akhtar Badshah

A lot of factors determine whether a community technology skills program is successful. One of the most important is identifying strong community leaders with a deep understanding of community needs, a vision for how those needs can be met, and a willingness to take risks and innovate. Whether it’s...

on17 Oct 2011
Blog Post: Meeting Local Needs is Key to Success of Community Investment Programs

Akhtar Badshah

When Microsoft first began working on strategies to increase access to technology in underserved communities, we assumed that the most successful programs would be those run by nonprofits with a track record of success operating community technology centers and ICT skills training programs. It was...

on13 Oct 2011
Blog Post: Reflecting on Eight Years of Community Investment Worldwide

Akhtar Badshah

As Microsoft approaches the eighth anniversary of its Community Technology Skills Program (CTSP), I have been taking some time to reflect on the opportunities imagined and realized, the amazing things we’ve learned about running a global community investment program, and how all of that will guide...

on10 Oct 2011
Blog Post: Sharing the Microsoft 2011 Citizenship Report

Dan Bross

I'm pleased to share with you the Microsoft 2011 Citizenship Report . The report provides an overview and assessment of our work over the past fiscal year (July 2010 to June 2011) to serve communities and work responsibly. We release our Citizenship Report at the same time as our Annual Financial...

on4 Oct 2011
Blog Post: Just four of 170 million stories

Tim_Dubel

Microsoft's Community Technology Skills Program began in 2003. Since then, 170 million individuals have been touched by the program around the world - individuals who used the Community Technology Centers to brush up on their skills; others who took a more intensive training course and ultimately received...

on2 Mar 2011
Blog Post: Getting Europe online

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Guest post by Sylvie Laffarge, Director Community Affairs, Europe Get Online Week starts today across Europe, running from the 28 th February – 5 th March 2011. As the name suggests, the awareness week aims to get people using the Internet and gaining the skills needed to participate in the...

on28 Feb 2011
Blog Post: “Tvoy Kurs” Gives the People What They Want!

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Guest post by Melissa Pailthorp, Senior Manager Community Affairs, Central and Eastern Europe Tvoy Kurs (“Your Course”) celebrated its first year in Moscow last week, convening project coordinators from the 140+ centers in 82 cities across all of Russia’s 20 regions to discuss progress and share...

on16 Feb 2011
Blog Post: Addressing social and economic issues in Asia

Clair Deevey

There are three fairly standard reactions I receive when I am telling people about the work Microsoft is undertaking with Governments and community partners to improve lives and drive national competitiveness and first up is usually surprise! I find people are generally unaware of the breadth and depth...

on19 Jan 2011
Blog Post: A Mouse, 500 Employees, and the Commitment to Build a Strong Community

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Jon Fine, CEO, United Way of King County In 1983, Microsoft introduced the first version of Microsoft Word, a product that would go on to revolutionize word processing and software interface. The same year, came the Microsoft Mouse, a device we all take for granted now, that changed the...

on17 Jan 2011
Blog Post: Austria´s National IT-Fitness Initiative takes up on a big challenge!

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Have you ever heard the EU Digital Agenda ? If you are based in or interested in the European Market of almost 500 million people you probably should. This strategic document covers the main directions of the ICT policy of the European Union for the next 5 years. One of its seven pillars talks...

on27 Dec 2010
Blog Post: Microsoft Trabaja Mano a Mano con ONGs para Crear Centros Tecnológicos en México

Microsoft Citizenship Team

2011 marca un año importante para Microsoft Community Technology Skills Program (CTSP) en México. En colaboración con varias ONG locales, el equipo del país está creando nueve Centros Tecnológicos Comunitarios (CTC) para ayudar a mejorar las oportunidades de...

on15 Dec 2010
Blog Post: Microsoft and Partner NGOs Building Community Technology Centers across Mexico

Microsoft Citizenship Team

2011 will mark an important year for the Microsoft Community Technology Skills Program (CTSP) in Mexico. In collaboration with several local NGOs, the country’s team is busy creating nine Community Technology Centers (CTCs) to help improve job opportunities and increase productivity for more than...

on15 Dec 2010
Blog Post: ‘Tech Talent 4 Good’ brings students and nonprofits together

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Wouldn’t it be amazing to combine a passion for technology with a unique opportunity to do something worthwhile for a charitable organization? This week we are celebrating the launch of the “ Tech Talent 4 Good ” initiative in Europe that aims to accomplish just that. For many years...

on2 Dec 2010
Blog Post: The Mary M. Gates Learning Center at United Way

Tom_Murphy

Yesterday in Alexandria Virginia, United Way Worldwide officially opened the Mary M. Gates Learning Center overlooking the Potomac River. The center, which was made possible by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , includes technology provided by Microsoft and gifts from Deloitte ,...

on14 Oct 2010
Blog Post: Toward a New Normal - Vision for Development Leaders

Akhtar Badshah

Last week I was in NY for the Clinton Global Initiative and this week I am in Washington, DC attending the Business Civic Leadership Center Global Corporate Citizenship Conference. There have been many conversations about global development – from the status of the MDGs to the role of capitalism...

on29 Sep 2010
Blog Post: CGI: Guest Post - Helping Girls in Kenya to Give Back

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Linda Lockhart, Managing Director, Global Give Back Circle Imagine you are a disadvantaged girl in Kenya, categorized as coming from the bottom of the economic pyramid. Imagine you grew up sleeping in a hut made from mud and dung, and next to you, in another hut your grandparents kept a cow, some...

on22 Sep 2010
Blog Post: CGI: Supporting skills, content and context in local communities

Akhtar Badshah

A major focus of our global programs is about providing individuals around the world with access to information and communications technology (ICT) – what some still call digital inclusion or “closing the digital divide.” We aren’t a hardware infrastructure provider, so achieving...

on21 Sep 2010
Blog Post: Back-to-school with centers of technology excellence

Andrea Taylor

It’s back-to-school this month for nearly 56 million K-12 students in the U.S. Many will participate in afterschool programs that offer supervised activities for children of working parents or caregivers and providing developmental opportunities to urban and rural youth. Boys & Girls Clubs...

on15 Sep 2010
Blog Post: Announcing Microsoft Elevate America nonprofits grant program

Akhtar Badshah

Today we are launching the Elevate America community initiative , a new grant program that will support nonprofit organizations offering employment services, including technology skills training and job placement, in local communities across the United States. To support this initiative, we are committing...

on2 Sep 2010
Blog Post: Moving from Transactional to Transformational – the Power of Technology

Akhtar Badshah

In the near future when I drive up to a village in Africa, although the roads may be bumpy and dusty, I will see a woman using a tablet PC powered by the latest renewable energy source and connected to the internet giving her information on sustainable and locally proven farming techniques and providing...

on17 Aug 2010
Blog Post: Boys and Girls bringing digital technology to life

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Yesterday in Atlanta I had the great pleasure of attending the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) Digital Arts Festival. This is one of my favorite events of the year where we get to see incredible entries from kids across America who have brought their creativity to life using technology. ...

on23 Jul 2010