Energy and environment
Technology makes economies more energy efficient, and enables individuals, businesses, and governments to understand their environmental impact and reduce their energy use. Microsoft is developing technologies that let people monitor and improve their use of limited resources such as energy and water. We’re also supporting government policies that promote energy efficiency, incentivise research, and help create environmentally-friendly technology and jobs. Our programs include refurbished PC programs to help reduce e-waste, digital delivery of software to reduce paper use, and products such as Windows 7 which help organisation better manage their energy consumption.
Workforce development
The skills workers need to stay competitive are changing rapidly. Many new jobs - in both traditional and new industries - now require computer literacy. Microsoft partners with governments and non-government organizations to provide free or low-cost technology skills training to help displaced workers reenter the workforce. We also support organisations that offer workers greater mobility and lifelong learning opportunities. An example of our work in this area is the Microsoft Students to Business Program, which prepares students for technology careers. We also offer the Microsoft IT Academy Program is a subscription-based membership program designed to help schools offer students and faculty learning solutions for ICT skills training and certification as well as technology essentials for professionals.
Future of government
We collaborate with governments around the world to improve their day-to-day operations and better connect public services to their citizens. Technology enables governments to serve citizens better, by improving the delivery of public services, speeding and smoothing communication between agencies and citizens, and increasing transparency. One example of this work is our Open Government Data Initiative, a cloud-based collection of software assets that enables publicly-available government data to be easily accessible.
