In order to help create the applications
and start the business dynamo that unleashes their potential, the people
at the bottom of the pyramid need to have reliable, affordable access to technology and to learn computing skills.
— C K Prahalad, author and professor at the University of Michigan

Ask Pamela Passman, corporate vice—president and deputy general counsel of global corporate affairs at Microsoft Corp, what she finds exciting about her globe—trotting job as the point person for the technology company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme (www.microsoft.com/unlimitedpotential), and she cannot stop talking about the excitement of watching people use Microsoft's technology in ways the company and its software engineers never imagined. This is what Bill Gates calls the magic of software.
Passman was in KL in December for the Global Knowledge Conference, where she was a speaker. During her brief stay here, she also attended some events where Microsoft, as part of its Unlimited Potential programme, extended its support to some women—based non—governmental organisations.
Commenting on the assistance in terms of software and grants, Datuk Ramani Gurusamy, deputy president of the National Council of Women's Organisation (NCWO), says: "This latest round of grants will help our organisation enhance the employability and livelihoods of many women in Malaysia over the next year. The IT skills accumulated will give these women a competitive advantage, ensuring their participation in the knowledge economy while upgrading their position with the creation of more opportunities not only for them but also improve the social and economic livelihood of their families."
Passman is used to hearing such wholesome praise for the efforts Microsoft puts into helping equip society with the right tools to allow them to tap their full potential. "The intellect and imagination are natural resources that all countries have in ample supply. Our technology is just an enabler to help amplify, scale and share that intellect and imagination with others," she says.
While Passman gushes about the impact of various Microsoft CSR programmes — "we just got an award from the Russian Media and Communications Ministry for our Innovative Teachers Programme (see sidebar) where in just two years it became this incredible community building tool with 14,000 teachers connected and sharing ideas, experiences and best practices" — she also acknowledges that Microsoft learnt a number of years ago to help explain what motivates it as a company to undertake these initiatives as a number of people try to characterise the company in a certain way.
"As a company of 82,000 employees operating in 100 countries, we feel that technology plays an important role in society and that we have a role to ensure our technology is broad, relevant and useful to broad segments of society."
She says Microsoft staff are really excited about the role technology can play in promoting development in education and in social priorities.
Its staff in the US actually put their money where their mouth is. Last year, she estimates that Microsoft staff and the company donated close to US$80 million (about RM263 million) for philantrophic activities. "It's extraordinary," she says.

Working with NGOs
Much of Micsrosoft's CSR efforts, where it donates cash and software, are channelled via NGOs. When asked if she saw much difference between how NGOs in developed countries operated versus those in developing countries, Passman says the main difference is in the levels of infrastructure, resources and best practices sharing. "For instance in China, it is very challenging as there are few NGOs for us to work with but Malaysia has an active NGO community," she says. Passman's first trip to Malaysia was about 25 years ago when she met some NGOs in Penang while she was an academic.
While the US has an active corporate culture of supporting NGOs, Passman has seen how many in the developing world struggle with even basic operations.
"How do you help alleviate this? I think the big PC manufacturers should do more and I do push my counterparts there to do so. Also, the telcos. On our own, Microsoft can't deliver end—to—end solutions as we are a software company but we are a catalyst for others to do things."
In the US, Microsoft, together with Cisco, Adobe, Symatec and other tech players, started something called www.techsoup.org. Any non—profit organisation in the US can go to the website and order hardware and software that they need. Passman says the aim is to take that programme global.
Another interesting programme revolves around the key challenge of ensuring software and hardware donated is used to the maximum so that users gain the full power of technology. But Passman acknowledges that this can be a real challenge. She cites the initial Unlimited Potential curriculum, which had eight modules. Microsoft wanted to add more modules to the next version but found that its NGO partners found the first version too challenging. "In response, we created the Digital Literacy programme in February 2006 to make it simpler."
Besides making it simpler, Microsoft also wanted to provide NGOs with a resource to help them upgrade their tech skills. While this is one of the goals of its telecentres and help desk, in the US, Microsoft went one step further and created an organisation called Npower.org, which acts as a technology service provider for NGOs. "Any NGO that has more than 30 people needs an IT guy if it wants to maximise the full power of technology but this is a huge challenge and we are still grappling with it," Passman admits.
Npower is now in 12 cities in the US and has an inclusive model where Microsoft works to get local corporations to support Npower and sit on the board. "This is very important but it's hard to get local corporations to step up in a consistent way and support NGOs. While it's tough here in the US, I know it's very tough in Malaysia where most of the support comes from foundations and not corporations," says Passman.
She acknowledges it will take time and hard work to change this but this is where she feels the whole CSR movement is important. "It is important that your CSR is grounded in your business and the good thing is that it puts pressure on others in your industry to step up too and that's good for all."
Putting things in perspective, while technology is not water, electricity or healthcare, it is important and very exciting for people. In an increasingly connected world, it is quickly becoming a basic utility that one needs to live one's life. Microsoft wants to make sure as many as possible are able to enjoy and maximise their lives.