{"id":11133,"date":"2016-09-19T12:02:03","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T16:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/industry\/blog\/?p=11133"},"modified":"2023-05-31T16:35:13","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T23:35:13","slug":"empowering-countries-through-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/government\/2016\/09\/19\/empowering-countries-through-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowering countries through technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the United Nations General Assembly this week we\u2019ll discuss the myriad of ways that country leaders plan to achieve the\u00a0UN Sustainable Development Goals<\/a>\u00a0(SDGs) by 2030. 193 countries signed on to these goals last year, which focus on solving major, global societal issues related to economic, social and environmental challenges.<\/p>\n

We are committed to all 17 goals, but believe that ICT can rapidly\u00a0accelerate progress<\/a>\u00a0on eight. As we focus on these eight, we will leverage our solutions, partners, programs and services as we look to\u00a0empower countries<\/a>\u00a0to compete in a dynamic, global economy.<\/p>\n

\"TTW-18<\/a>We believe technology can be a powerful enabler to solve many of the challenges facing public sector agencies today as they focus on the future of our planet and its people.\u00a0 As it turns out, government leaders also see technology as a very powerful lever to meet government goals. We commissioned a survey with the\u00a0Economist Intelligence Unit<\/a>\u00a0where world leaders ranked their priorities and challenges in relation to the SDGs and outlined the strategies and investments they\u2019re making to accomplish their goals.\"Evolving<\/a><\/p>\n

Government leaders recognize that technology can boost collaboration amongst government agencies and citizens, but also aid in providing citizens access to better jobs and education.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at three areas where we\u2019ve seen technology utilized as a powerful lever to make a difference:<\/p>\n

Spurring Employment and Economic Growth:<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Australian Human Rights Commission<\/a>, people with a disability are almost twice as likely to be unemployed and half as likely to have a full time job in comparison to people without a disability in Australia. Ensuring that people with a disability have the tools and technology that they need to be productive and fulfilled members of the workforce is critical to improving this imbalance.<\/p>\n

With close to 4 million Australians (and 1.2 billion people worldwide) with a disability, we\u2019re passionate about ensuring that our products and services are designed for people of all abilities.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we welcome the recent\u00a0announcement<\/a>\u00a0that Australia will adopt the European standard for the procurement of accessible ICT: Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services. This clears the path for the standard to eventually be embedded into public procurement requirements to improve outcomes for people with a disability working in public sector agencies and helps governments ensure that all of the citizens they serve have equal access to information, services and the political process.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also working hard to ensure that our products comply with emerging global standards. To help ensure organizations have the information they need about our product accessibility, we have for many years self-declared how we meet\u00a0US Section 508 standards\u00a0<\/a>and have recently added conformance statements on how our products meet\u00a0EN 301 549<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0WCAG<\/a>\u00a0standards as well. Read our latest\u00a0Microsoft Accessibility blog<\/a>\u00a0about Microsoft\u2019s support for global accessibility standards.<\/p>\n

Gender Equality:<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Global Gender Gap report of 2015<\/a>, of the 3.5 billion women on the planet, 57% work outside the home, but only\u00a017%<\/strong>\u00a0in a professional job. And in the era of digital transformation, with every one digital job created for women,\u00a020<\/strong>\u00a0jobs typically held by women will be displaced).\"TTW<\/a><\/p>\n

This exacerbates today\u2019s gender gap, creating a digital divide that will displace women in the workforce. To combat this trend, we are embracing a new construct, which we call\u00a0digital diversity<\/strong>. This construct calls for us to be mindful of the impact that digital transformation has on diversity and purposeful about creating opportunities that are inclusive of women and minorities. Further, we will strive to provide access to the skills that will allow women and minorities to land high growth jobs and allow them to prosper in the digital economy.<\/p>\n

We are investing in many ways to increase the pipeline of girls and women in tech roles. We\u2019re building key partnerships with the Anita Borg institute and the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT). We\u2019re providing $75 million dollars in funding for greater access to computer science for under-represented groups through successful programs like\u00a0DigiGirlz<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0TEALS<\/a>. And we\u2019re expanding our Explore Microsoft internship program which has a target of 50 percent diverse candidates.<\/p>\n

Quality Education:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A quality education is critical to creating tomorrow\u2019s doctors, engineers, teachers and leaders. And it lays the groundwork for solving the world\u2019s greatest challenges. A critical part of that education for just about every job and sector today is understanding how to harness the power of technology to transform education and inspire learning to unlock potential everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u00d6zel D\u00fcnya Koleji<\/a>, a primary and middle school in western Turkey worked with Microsoft to introduce a wide variety of new software and services that have helped teachers utilize cutting-edge educational tools and methods. Now when the teacher provides the closing day announcements, she includes directions such as to \u201cbring your tablets for the online lesson\u201d, \u201ccheck your OneNote notebooks for feedback on the last assignment you turned in\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ve sent your parents an email about next week\u2019s class presentations\u201d.\u00a0 Teachers say that using new technology is giving students and parents confidence in the school.<\/p>\n

We believe that, through our innovative cloud technologies and our engagement with political and business leaders, we can play an active role in helping to solve the world\u2019s most pressing problems. There are many ways that you can show your support. I invite you to:<\/p>\n