Getting all to be IT-savvy

COMMUNITY projects are a big thing at Microsoft Corporation. Over the last 20 years, the company has launched several global programmes aimed at ensuring under-served communities have the same access and opportunity to information and technology.

Through monetary grants, software and technology solutions, curriculum donations and employee volunteer hours, Microsoft supports numerous projects and organisations.

Microsoft Corporation senior director (community affairs) Akhtar A. Badshah said the company's "Unlimited Potential Programme" is to help meet the needs of all members of the society.

The aim is to ensure the individuals ó including the elderly, women or disabled ó are not living without basic information technology skills.

"Without the skills, they may not be able to take part in the new knowledge society," said Badshah who is based in Redmond, Washington.

Since the middle of last year, the company has presented grants of cash and software totalling nearly US$80 million to support 260 projects in 78 countries.

Badshah said Microsoft had also launched a global support network with a Canadian institution, the International Development Research Centre. "This is a five-year commitment from us to create global, regional, sub-regional and national networks so that they (the public) are interacting and integrated," he said when interviewed in Kuala Lumpur recently.

The corporation also has a special training curriculum for first-time computer users, which aims at teaching them Word Processing and Excel programmes and how to access the Internet and do web designing. "Through these programmes, people living in rural areas can have access to information and communication technology," said Badshah.

"For example, in India, through one of our projects, farmers have access to the Internet and are able to get better prices for their commodities. This is because they have access to news and know how to get in touch with the right people to sell their products.

"If we can train 50 to 60 per cent of the public to possess at least basic IT skills, and they can use the skills to their advantage, I'm proud to say that we have made a change." On the involvement of Microsoft employees in the projects, Badshah said: "We want to become a partner with the project's beneficiaries. That's why we spend time working together with our partners to make sure they are comfortable with the programmes to benefit fully from them. "We want to ensure that community projects are not just another tick in our resume and that we are effectively using the company's resources to make a difference in society."


Related Links:

• Go back to category Business to read more reviews and articles.
• Go back to Software Magazine's main page.