While profit remains the fundamental target of any business, IT companies the world over are also tapping their core expertise to fulfill their responsibilities as good corporate citizens.
For example, Satyam Computer Services' corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm, Satyam Foundation, leverages the outsourcing company's core strength--the use of technology and processes--to transform the quality of life for India's underprivileged. The company looks at how IT can be deployed to bridge the "digital divide" and open new opportunities for success and prosperity.
India's largest corporate volunteering program, Satyam Foundation hails its successful incubation of the country's "1-0-8 Emergency" as the company's "technological triumph".
The free emergency management service was initiated in 2005, when Satyam's founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju, his brothers and their families, contributed land worth 200 crore rupees (US$42 million) and 120 crore rupees (US$25 million) as seed funding. Their vision was to provide free emergency response services--similar to 911 in the United States--for medical, police and fire emergencies across India, with the aim to save 1 million lives annually by 2010.
Today, the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) delivers the service through state-of-art emergency call response centers located across Indian states Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Goa, Chennai, Rajasthan and Karnataka.
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Venkat Changavalli, CEO of EMRI, said in an interview that during the first two years of operation, the emergency service was predominantly funded by the Raju family. The Institute's achievements have since encouraged state governments to now pay for the running costs, while Raju continues to serve as an advisor.
According to the EMRI, over 4,500 emergency calls are handled daily, resulting in more than 108 lives saved each day, and 99.8 percent of calls are answered within the first two rings. Its ambulances, which are equipped with GPS (global positioning system) capabilities, take an average of 14 minutes to reach an emergency scene located in urban areas and 22 minutes in rural areas.
One aspect of EMRI's education drive includes life-saving techniques, which are taught to "first responders" such as police officers as well as members of the general public.
Changavalli told ZDNet Asia: "Satyam employees, too, volunteer as first responders and they provide assistance to the education program in colleges and schools."
The IT vendor also brings its technology partners and staff together to develop software that include databases, voice logs and maps for EMRI, as well as integrate its computers and telephone systems, Changavalli said.
Expertise for emerging markets
Another IT company that leverages its core expertise to help society is IBM.
Judy Lee, corporate citizenship manager at IBM Singapore, said the creation of IBM's Corporate Service Corps (CSC) lets the company fulfill some of its responsibilities by providing much-needed skills, talent and expertise, aimed at increasing global economic growth and societal development.
CSC, which runs as a volunteer program, is part of IBM's Global Citizen's Portfolio announced by CEO Sam Palmisano in 2007. The initiative aims to develop leadership skills while addressing socio-economic challenges in emerging markets, Lee said in an e-mail interview.
At the same time, the program gives promising IBMers a chance to develop their leadership skills as they perform community service in developing countries, she said.
The CSC brings IBM employees and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) together, to work in select developing and emerging markets for one month, on "some of the world's toughest societal problems" such as environmental challenges and access to educational resources.
Lee added that IBM provides the resources, manpower and senior management support required to host the participants in the recipient countries. Employees contribute their leadership and project management skills, as well as expertise.
Any full-time IBM staff with at least two years of service, who has demonstrated a sufficiently high level of performance at work, may apply for the CSC. Applicants are evaluated rigorously by regional review committees comprising representatives from IBM's Corporate Citizenship and HR sections, various business units and its corporate headquarters, Lee explained.
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