Youth & Opportunity
Software
Donation
Nonprofit Technology
Education
Events
Science ,Technology
Engineering , Math
Humanitarian
Response
Working Responsibly
I was recently invited to speak on a panel at an event being hosted by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Australia. The event was themed “Advancing Innovative Development and Aid Strategies in the Asia Pacific: Advancing the Millennium Development Goals”. The conference aimed to stimulate greater international interest in the Asia-Pacific, and enhance the quality of debate around how to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
On reviewing the breadth of speakers at the conference I realized I was one of only a handful of people representing the corporate sector. It was to be my role to convince a group of key decision makers from government, civil society, multilateral and country donors of the important role that private organizations will play in order to achieve the MDGs.
As Community Affairs Lead for Asia, I witness firsthand the issues the MDGs are trying to address on an all too regular basis. Asia is home to approximately 56% of the world’s population and according to estimations by Aid Data approximately 23.92% of the world’s aid was distributed in this region, so to say I feel strongly on this topic and the role of the private sector in an understatement.
There is an amazing amount of work being done by technology companies around the globe to address the MDGs and I jump at any opportunity to celebrate progress and raise awareness of what the future may hold. I would argue there are few companies in our position who offer the breadth of programs and are able to align them with all the MDGs directly (you can read an update on our commitment to the MDGs here). As I walk people through Microsoft’s portfolio it is usually my experience that people are relatively unaware of the work we are doing and very supportive when they learn about it.
This event was also special to me for another reason, I was humbled to be sharing a panel with Professor Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. I read the work of Professor Singer whilst I was studying, and his views on ethics were some of the driving influences for me to move toward the line of work I am in.
As you gaze through the MDGs it is striking how big a task it will be to even come close to achieving them. Being at an event with people who are committed to achieving these results is inspirational and leaves me even stronger in my belief that public-private partnerships are imperative to us moving closer to success.
You can find a recap of the Lowry Institute event here.
You can find out more about the United Nations Millennium Development Goals here.
You can find a summary of Microsoft’s commitment and contribution to the Millennium Development Goals here.
I recently had the honor of learning more about Computacion Olidata in Washington D.C. during the annual Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. Olidata is the winner of our Citizenship Partner of the Year award and exemplifies an exceptional commitment to social responsibility. The Partner awards honor Microsoft Registered, Certified and Gold Certified partners for delivering exceptional solutions and services in a number of categories. Award winners and finalists were chosen from nominations from around the world. There was stiff competition this year with nearly 3,000 entries for 67 categories submitted by partners from more than 110 countries.
It is always incredibly inspiring to read about the great work shared by our partners in the area of citizenship, using their expertise and resources to solve societal challenges and create opportunities. This year, our finalists included Training Camp from the United States and CTTC from Pakistan. Both of these companies should be congratulated for their passion and commitment in supporting economic growth in their respective countries through technology training.
Olidata has a longstanding focus on social responsibility, and that is one of the reasons they were chosen as the overall winner. Along with Microsoft and other local partners, they have supported the technology skills training of more than 600,000 individuals in Chile since 2003.
Their response to the earthquake in Chile in February of this year truly exemplified their commitment to helping their local communities. Olidata supported “ChileConect@Chile” to quickly restore public access to the internet via semi-permanent Community Technology Centers (CTCs), connecting victims with their loved ones through digitally equipped mobile containers (pictured below) placed in some of the most devastated communities. This initiative was carried out under the National Digital Literacy Program executed by the Rural Life Training Foundation (Fundacion Vida Rural) and supported by the Chilean government. The effort provides access, digital literacy skills and expanding opportunities for those impacted by this natural disaster. There are plans to install 50 container CTCs in the earthquake zone.
There is a growing expectation for the private sector to actively engage society to drive positive social and economic change. Judging by the volume and quality of submissions for this year’s Citizenship Partner of the Year award it’s clear that our partners are taking this responsibility very seriously.
Fred Humphries
Vice President, U.S. Government Affairs
This week I am attending Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington D.C. In the past, this conference was focused on Microsoft’s commercial partners – the 700,000 partners who work with us to develop innovative applications built on our technology. This year 10,000 attendees, 60% from overseas and representing 190+ countries have joined us here. While there are plenty of traditional technology partners in attendance, I’d like to highlight some of the non-commercial partners, especially the organizations me and my team support, namely the International Organizations.
We work closely with inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), international financial institutions (IFIs), and regional and bilateral agencies to help them reach their objectives of assisting countries to foster economic growth, promote social development and address environmental sustainability. Development experts, academics and policymakers agree that information and communication technology (ICT) can play an important role in promoting economic growth, and meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Together with these partners, we identify areas where Microsoft’s technology, know-how and resources complement their work and can help them achieve their mandates. Engagement is based on the idea that public-private partnerships can enable more effective program development and delivery through the sharing of mutual expertise, realizing a 1+1=3 model. Our partnerships vary in terms of focus, depth and projects around the world as well as in specific geographies.
Those attending this year’s Partner Conference with us include Dr. Roberto Vellutini, Vice President for Countries of the Inter-American Development Bank, Karen D. Turner, Director of USAID’s Office of Development Partners, Marc Breslaw, Executive Director USA of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and Gianluca Bruni, Chief of IT Emergency Preparedness and Response for the World Food Programme.
Examples of how we work together with our international organization partners include:
Twisted Pair solution for World Food Programme from Microsoft on the Issues Blog on Vimeo.
These are just a few examples of the development-focused work we conduct with these important partners. As aid dispersements grow by a factor of three, natural disasters increase in number and intensity and political conflicts continue to displace people from their homes, the demand for services and support by international organizations continues to grow. Through our partnerships we aim to do our part to help them apply technology to scale both their operations and their reach, as they improve lives around the world. Through developing solutions to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, our work with international organizations illustrates Microsoft’s commitment to helping people globally realize their potential.
For additional information, see Linda Zecher’s blog post on the Official Microsoft blog or visit www.microsoft.com/publicsector.
Frank McCosker
Frank McCosker is the Managing Director of Multilateral and Bilateral Organisations, Public Sector
Editor's Note: Due to a huge response, the webinar is now full, however you will be able to review a recording of the event at: http://bit.ly/ngowebinar
On Tuesday, July 27th 2010 at 11am Pacific time (2pm Eastern) we are co-hosting a free webinar with TechSoup to provide you with advice and information on some of the compelling reasons for upgrading to Office 2010.
The webinar will be hosted by Elliot Harmon from TechSoup, author of What Your Organization Should Know About Office 2010, and an expert from our Microsoft Office team. They’ll cover a range of areas including:
You can download and view recordings of recent nonprofit webinars covering Windows 7, CRM and Online Tools at: http://bit.ly/ngowebinar.
Frank Schott, the global program director for NetHope has written a blog post over on Wired’s Haiti ReWired site about the chronic shortage of local information and communication technology (ICT) professionals in the country.
Frank writes:
ICT can be used to support health, education, economic development and conservation -- telemedicine, distance learning, epayments, mapping for deforestation are all well within reach. ICT solutions are needed to facilitate the rebuilding of Haiti, but there is a serious shortage of ICT professionals in the country.
To address this issue, Nethope is launching a new in-country initiative in Haiti:
NetHope Academy is launching an intern program that will give Haitian computer science students an opportunity to get on-the-job training while working for humanitarian organizations and corporations. Haiti is no different than anywhere else. It’s hard to get hired if you don’t have any work experience. The NetHope Academy can help, but we need your support.
To find out more, read Frank’s post or visit the NetHope Academy site.