One of the core values IBMers wrote for themselves is “Innovation that matters – for our company and for the world.” In our approach to corporate responsibility, this draws us to social challenges where we can matter, where IBM’s innovation and expertise can improve communities and lives. For example, we are applying the power of cognitive technology and IBMers’ thinking to challenges in health care and education.
The 2016 IBM Corporate Responsibility Report details these initiatives and large portfolio of other efforts around the world. We actively seek out partners from across civil society and government, often collaborating with both – taking the initiative, approaching complex problems as systemic challenges, and working to create lasting, institutionalized and systemic solutions. We also report each year on how IBM continues its history of operating as a responsible company in our commitments to environmental protection, to inclusion and opportunity in our global workforce, to ethical business practices, and much more.
You can explore our work in the report’s five sections:
Communities ~ We contribute technology, time and expertise to create innovative solutions to social challenges.
The IBMer ~ We help IBMers increase their expertise and engage their professional development.
Environment ~ Our commitment to environmental protection encompasses all our business activities worldwide.
Supply Chain ~ IBM requires its 12,000 suppliers to demonstrate social and environmental responsibility.
Governance ~ IBM has a culture based on ethics and integrity, guided by a rigorous system of governance.
"No one sector – whether government, business, academia or civil society – can tackle today’s challenges all by itself. All sectors must work together, and all must raise their game." On THINK Blog, IBM Foundation President Jen Crozier writes about IBM's longstanding commitments to collaboration, diversity, inclusion and service - commitments shaped by IBM's enduring values, and recognized today by IBM's Number 5 ranking among America's Top Corporate Citizens by Forbes and JUST Capital.
The IBM Corporate Service Corps is IBM's philanthropic program similar to the Peace Corps and allows employees to travel to different countries across the globe, using their expertise to help social entrepreneurs, governments, nonprofits and NGOs increase their impact.
In the largest, most robust, industry-leading and internationally-recognized research of corporate social engagement, CECP: The CEO Force for Good, in association with The Conference Board, found in their annual Giving in Numbers report that IBM is a leader in corporate social responsibility programs.
The IBM International Foundation annouced an exciting development in our ongoing drive to strengthen education at all levels and help prepare the next generation of STEM leaders.
As climate change accelerates, IBM is galvanizing the global science community with a massive infusion of computing resources, weather data, and cloud services to help researchers examine the effects of climate change, and explore strategies to mitigate its effects. IBM pledges to help direct the equivalent of up to $200 million for up to five climate-related projects judged to offer the greatest potential impact, and will then broadly share the experiments' results.
Currently, only about 10% of cancer patients in sub-Sahara Africa receive chemotherapy treatment. More than a half million people are diagnosed with cancer in the region annually, while nearly the same number die from it each year, too. Without intervention, that toll is expected to double by 2030, partly because as people are otherwise living longer, thanks to better malaria and HIV treatments and prevention. But chemotherapy and related drugs are both expensive and tricky to use because there are so many types and stages of the disease.
At IBM, responsibility is integral to our business and draws us to social challenges where we can matter, where innovation and expertise can improve communities and lives. Our approach involves forging sustained partnerships with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, academia and other companies — allied in purpose, focused on results. Our ongoing work across a range of activities is detailed in our 2016 Corporate Responsibility Report.
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