Social responsibility at work

Technology seems to get blamed for everything these days. Hardly a day goes by without a tragic news event being linked to the IT industry. A significant chunk of the population is now convinced there is a link between mobiles phones and cancer, while YouTube seems to be held entirely responsible for the increase in street crime.

What the technology industry needs, perhaps, is to spend some time reminding people how things used to be, before technology came along and improved our lives.

SCH, the pan-European integrator, has sponsored a programme dedicated to raising awareness of the historical impact of science and technology. Millennium Point is Birmingham’s flagship millennium project, built to celebrate and encourage science, technology and education in Birmingham and the wider region. SCH’s chairman, Sir Peter Rigby, was behind the Millennium Point strategy.

SCH has also launched the first virtual museum focusing on the Cold War, at RAF Cosford. The National Cold War Exhibition opened in February 2007 and provides a 440,000-word archive of information relating to the Cold War, which covers a period of more than 40 years, from the end of World War II.

SCH also provides support for larger projects, through the Rigby Foundation, set up more than 15 years ago. Donations from the Trust contribute to local child-related charities in the West Midlands.

These type of initiatives would generally come under the heading of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

Although CSR is not a new term, it seems to be gaining impetus. The government has even set up a web site dedicated to CSR ­ – www.CSR.gov.uk. According to the site, the government sees CSR as the business contribution to the UK’s sustainable development goals. Essentially, it is about how business takes account of its economic, social and environmental impacts in the way it operates.

“Specifically, CSR relates to the voluntary actions that business can take, over and above compliance with minimum legal requirements, to address both its own competitive interests and the interests of wider society,” says a statement on the site.

Telecoms provider Orange is one company that considers its corporate responsibility role to be of great importance. It says the missions of its CSR programme are two-fold. First, to help the business improve its customer experience and second, to get people excited about working for Orange by encouraging responsible corporate behaviour.

Orange representative Mat Sears, told CRN: “The Orange responsibility framework is based on three key aims: safe, green and caring.”

By safe, Orange means it is committed to helping customers and communities to make safe and responsible use of its services, such as its Family Guide for parents. Orange is also involved in The Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum’s communication campaign on prevention of mobile phone theft.

The green aspect centres around Orange’s commitment to cutting the environmental impacts of its activities, such as the introduction of a programme to recycle mobile phones. Meanwhile, community schemes, such as Orange’s commitment to its charity partner Sense, continue to go unreported.

Cisco has different ideas. For the networking giant, CSR is all about citizenship and how companies fit in with the world. Perhaps something that Cisco partners, or indeed all resellers, could emulate?

Bernadette Wightman, head of SME at Cisco UK, said: “Corporate citizenship aims to deliver tangible benefits to our investors as well as society and the world we all share. We see it as a journey and long-term commitment.”

Cisco is not one of those companies that dictates to people, Wightman argues. “We listen and learn from our employees, customers, partners, shareholders and community. Our strength is in our employees ­ their creativity, our culture and our promise to help people collaborate ­ and citizenship activities are driven through grass-root efforts in anticipation of customer and business needs.”

People who buy into the idea of corporate citizenship will no doubt believe in Cisco’s bottom-line theory. Firms with strong ‘triple bottom lines’ (profits, people and presence, according to Cisco) are apparently the most sustainable, responsible and successful.

Profit, the traditional measure of success for a business, only measures financial performance. “People are equally important. Strong relationships with partners, customers, shareholders and the people who work for, with and near us are essential to our business,” said Wightman.

The third bottom line ­ presence ­ measures Cisco’s standing, in respect for and contribution to the communities in which it works. Wightman explains this by reference to Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day. “We’ve been one of Red Nose Day’s key corporate partners since 2001, providing more than a million pounds-worth of Cisco equipment, as well as professional services,” she explained. To Cisco’s credit, it also powers the charity’s data centres and its volunteers help support donations authorised and processed through www.rednoseday.com.

Employees on all Cisco UK campuses are encouraged to get involved on the day through many different types of fundraising efforts.

Cisco has also displayed some creative thinking on the issue of digital inclusion. By identifying that this issue really matters at the moment, it is helping to shape the agenda.

“Without access to the internet and new technologies, the societal gap that disadvantaged groups have to cross will continue to grow,” said Wightman. “Cisco believes education and the internet are the two great equalisers in life, levelling the playing field for people and countries worldwide.”

By providing greater access to educational opportunities through the internet, students are able to learn more. By being seen to provide it, Cisco gets great publicity.

One current Cisco project is Picta, an extension of the Cisco Networking Academy Programme into UK
prisons. The project, created in partnership with the Department for Education and the Skills’ Offenders Learning and Skills Unit, is designed to help prisoners overcome the challenges of leaving prison and to gain worthwhile employment, rather than revert back to a life of crime.

The training provided is designed to suit the education levels of the course members ­ which are typically low ­ and training can continue after leaving prison to allow the participants to continue learning and developing their skills to enhance their job prospects.

Cisco’s Networking Academies are helping the company to spread its influence. If Cisco is using social issues to market itself, as some suggest, it would appear to be pretty good at it. Working with e-skills UK here, supporting Computer Clubs for Girls there ­ Cisco is everywhere.

Software giant Microsoft is also playing its part in being socially responsible. Under its Microsoft IP Ventures programme, the vendor works with venture capitalists to link entrepreneurs and small businesses with Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar R&D innovations. Microsoft also helped develop The Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS), which helps police investigate online child abuse. Microsoft gives this software free of charge to police forces.

“Microsoft genuinely wants to engage in the communities in which it operates and recognises its responsibilities as a corporate citizen,” said Gordon Frazer, managing director of Microsoft UK.

“Corporate social responsibility is more than just a nice-to-have tag; Microsoft is a large organisation that has a great impact on many people’s lives, so we take this responsibility very seriously.

“Our size and influence mean that we can connect societies and help make people’s lives better. Technology has a vital role to play in building the UK’s economic and social prosperity and we’re committed to using our expertise and resources to help do this. We like to take a partnership approach to citizenship work, and across the UK we work with central and local government, RDAs, non-government organisations and other firms to help people,communities and organisations achieve their potential.”

Just recently the software giant launched its Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher programme in Ireland to give PCs to schools and charities.

Another worthy contributor is IT reseller and distributor XMA. Its Business in the Community initiative works with under-privileged children in local schools. XMA sees CSR as being a ‘close to home’ responsibility. Activities include setting up a breakfast club at the school to encourage better social interaction and nutrition, and sponsoring the school children to take on challenges and human endeavours. It also visits the school regularly and staff often take weekends off to repaint the schools or help with maintenance.

Managing director, Tim Beech, said: “We believe it is important to give as much back to the community as we possibly can.”

However, many in the IT industry remain cynical about CSR initiatives and avoid them for this very reason.

“There can be an element of the self-congratulatory to leverage product and it can be a great PR tool if budgets allow,” said Mark Hawkins, PR manager for SMS specialist Dynmark. Despite being one of the UK’s fastest-growing mobile technology vendors, Dynmark is reluctant to ‘hijack’ any good causes in the name of publicity.

“While motives and results sometimes surpass token efforts to be commendable, this requires significant time and effort to deploy as a worthwhile strategy,” said Hawkins.

He suspects that, in big corporations especially, charity work is seen as an exercise in alleviating guilty consciences. There is an element of “keeping up with the Joneses” he pointed out. “X company is doing this, therefore so should we,” he said.

All true, but then, charities need money and IT companies need publicity. And if taking CSR seriously can help provide much-need support for local, national, or international charities and projects, then maybe it is time that more firms became involved.

Contacts

Cisco (0800) 015 3003
www.cisco.co.uk

ComputerAid International (020) 8361 5540
www.computeraid.org

Microsoft (0870) 60 10 100
www.microsoft.co.uk

Orange (0870) 373 1500
www.orange.co.uk

SCC (0845) 351 0979
www.scc.co.uk

XMA (0845) 840 8400
www.xma.co.uk

GapAid appeal to UK IT channel

On Saturday 24 March 2007, channel veteran Ian French’s life changed forever. The former president of Bell Microproducts Europe, and his wife, received a phone call informing them that their daughter Georgia, 19, had been killed in a bus crash in Peru.

Georgia was only two weeks into her gap-year trip of a lifetime. She was travelling with two friends, who were both injured in the crash, as they headed through Peru to the Inca trail on their way to Bolivia.

“We were contacted by many parents concerned that their children were about to embark on a gap year and heading to third-world countries or dangerous areas,” French told CRN. “These kids have little knowledge or experience of these types of countries and don’t realise the lack of help available when things go wrong.”

To provide this help to ‘gappers’, French set up GapAid – a UK-registered charity – and CRN has pledged to help in any way possible. We are now calling on you, the UK IT channel, to help too.

“Kids these days are seeking more and more dangerous places to go, places that simply do not have the same infrastructure that we do in the western world,” French said. “The foreign office is great, but it can only do so much. We want to give these kids an infrastructure that they can plug into if they need to get help.”

GapAid will try to provide help for Gappers who experience problems while travelling and this will include everything from dealing with a lost or stolen passport or ticket to legal difficulties to serious accidents.

A web site is being set up, but what GapAid desperately needs is funding – both personal and corporate. So, it is time for the channel to dig deep.

You can help by:
*Donating money – GapAid accepts personal and corporate donations. Please go to www.gapaid.org for more information on the best ways to donate.

*Helping to put technology to good use – GapAid needs technology to get its database of ‘gappers’ set up. This will include texting services and a helpdesk that kids on a gap year can plug into for help, wherever they are.

*Help make GapAid a long-lasting charity – prevent tragedy in the future, and help to educate school-leavers and university students to the dangers of travelling in certain parts of the world.

*Help CRN to ensure that the death of Georgia French is a lasting memorial to helping others in the future.

GapAid is a registered charity, number No 1119801

Visit CRN’s web site now to download the form to donate or go to www.gapaid.org.

Computer Aid International

When Microsoft’s Vista was launched, it was feared that it would contribute to the pollution problem as millions of PC users would upgrade their machines resulting in the dumping of old computers.

Tony Roberts, chief executive of UK charity Computer Aid International, said thankfully, this has not happened yet, but claims “it is only a matter of time”.

Computer Aid International provides professionally refurbished computers for reuse in education, health and not-for-profit organisations in developing countries. In July, the organisation shipped its 90-thousandth PC; these go to where they are most needed in more than 100 countries across the world.

If the lifecyle of a business PC is four years in the UK, but it can enjoy another four years in Kenya, raising the levels of IT literacy and helping towards combating poverty, pollution and global warming.

As many as 10 million PCs are expected to be discarded within the next two years. Resellers can play their part by getting involved with local businesses and offering to facilitate the recycling of their old machines through Computer Aid, said Roberts.

“The great thing about this initiative is it gives resellers a chance to speak to businesses as a human being, not a commission-hungry salesman. Of course, once they have a rapport with them, they can drop subtle hints about the services they can offer,” he added.

“Some people make five quid on their old computer, but that same PC is worth £250 in educational value,” explained Roberts. “We need partners who can persuade their clients to unlock the real value of IT.”

Not only that, but Computer Aid is a big advocate of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive. In July, the Environment Agency made Computer Aid one of the first organisations in the country to be licensed to handle WEEE under new legislation implemented on 1 July. Following on-site inspections of the systems and processes, the Environment Agency has made Computer Aid an Authorised & Approved Treatment Facility (AATF) for WEEE.

Computer Aid is the first international charity to be licensed to handle WEEE for re-use and to be able to issue the evidence notes that are designed to prove that original IT OEMs equipment are complying with the WEEE legislation.

Microsoft recruits for refurbished PCs

Microsoft again proved its CSR credentials last week, by launching the Microsoft Authorised Refurbisher (MAR) programme in Ireland. The scheme is designed to increase the number of low-cost computers available to charities and schools, while keeping serviceable computers out of landfills.

The scheme was launched at the Rehab Recycle facility in Tallaght and provides companies with a means of disposing unused or end-of-life computer equipment, which can then be serviced, re-conditioned and installed with new software.

These computers can then be donated to a charity or school who might not otherwise be able to afford technology.

Four companies in Ireland are already part of the MAR programme and refurbishing computers: Rehab Recycling; Educom; Fasttrack to Information Technology; and RT Centre. More than 1,000 computers have been routed to charities and schools to date. These eligible firms install a range of software on refurbished computers. To ensure that the machines are useful to charities and schools, the programme requires that any donated machines have a minimum specification.

Microsoft is actively recruiting new refurbishing companies to join the programme so that increased volumes of computers can be refurbished for the benefit of as many non-profit organisations and schools as possible.

Summary

*Successful companies need to work hard to remind the nation that they are not solely about profiteering.

*Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes can focus companies’ employees on their own social responsibilities.

*Cisco leads the way in ingratiating itself with the community and local authorities. Whether or not that success is linked to its marketing achievements is a moot point.

*There are plenty of opportunities for the channel to get involved, one of which is through GapAid.�