Citizenship

Unlock new opportunities and advance national priorities from healthcare and education to energy independence and climate control using technology innovations.

Local Impact Map

The Local Impact Map shows how Microsoft and its partners enable social and economic opportunity in communities everywhere. Learn more

With societies facing unprecedented economic challenges, the need for governments to invest in long-term growth to secure the future has never been greater. Information and communications technology (ICT) holds enormous potential to create jobs, increase productivity, and launch a new era of sustainable economic growth. ICT can also help governments become more open and responsive to citizens and provide better public services at lower cost. Microsoft welcomes the opportunity to work closely with governments and other organizations to help achieve important economic and social goals.

Strengthen economies

Innovation has been the engine of global prosperity for decades. It is more important than ever that governments revitalize their capacity for innovation. This effort will require investment in research and development (R&D) by the private and public sectors as well as policy leadership by governments. To remain competitive, economies need a sustained public investment in a science and technology infrastructure as well as a renewed public commitment to building human capital - the country’s next generation of scientists, engineers, and technology workers. Governments can:

  • Create opportunities through technology.

  • Stimulate innovation through intellectual property incentives.

  • Expand incentives for research.

  • Promote a global ICT market.

  • Expand broadband access.

Address societal challenges

Societies today face a number of unprecedented challenges: Improving healthcare and education, retraining workers for the 21st-century economy, achieving energy independence, and addressing climate change. Innovations in ICT, including powerful software, intelligent devices, and Internet-based services, can help societies and governments meet these challenges while also making public services more accessible, transparent, and responsive to citizens’ needs. Technology can help:

  • Improve healthcare.

  • Improve education.

  • Train workers for the 21st-century economy.

  • Address energy and environmental challenges.

  • Make governments more transparent and effective.

Promote a healthy online ecosystem

It is increasingly clear that the Internet is an ecosystem. Like ecosystems in the natural world, the online ecosystem includes many participants - consumers, content creators, online publishers, advertisers, and network operators and service providers - whose activities and fortunes are deeply intertwined. Given the Internet’s important and growing role in all sectors of the economy and society, governments have a strong interest in ensuring that the online ecosystem evolves in ways that promote sustainable competition, innovation, and consumer choice. Governments can help:

  • Promote online competition.

  • Empower users with choice and interoperability.

  • Protect online privacy.

  • Promote a trusted, safe, and secure Internet.

  • Promote free expression.

  • Increase access for people with disabilities.

  • Promote innovative technology offerings.

  • Ensure online intellectual property incentives.