The world is at a turning point. Help shape our future by taking this one-minute survey from the United Nations. To mark its 75th anniversary, the UN is capturing people's priorities for the future, and crowdsourcing solutions to global challenges. The results will shape the UN's work to recover better from COVID-19, and ensure its plans reflect the views of the global public. Take the survey here.
Microsoft On The Issues
Microsoft On The Issues offers perspectives from Microsoft on legal, public policy and citizenship topics. Microsoft passionately believes in the power and potential of technology, and that the right tech policies can help underpin innovation, encourage competition and ensure tech innovations continue to benefit everyone. Microsoft shares their point of view and ideas on topics as diverse as privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property, environmental sustainability, education and corporate citizenship. Learn more at Microsoft On The Issues.
Helping 25 million people worldwide acquire the digital skills needed in a COVID-19 economy
July 28, 2020
Around the world, 2020 has emerged as one of the most challenging years in many of our lifetimes. In six months, the world has endured multiple challenges, including a pandemic that has spurred a global economic crisis. As societies reopen, it's apparent that the economy will not be what it was in January. Increasingly, one of the key steps needed to foster a safe and successful economic recovery is expanded access to the digital skills needed to fill new jobs. And one of the keys to a genuinely inclusive recovery are programs to provide easier access to digital skills for people hardest hit by job losses, including those with lower incomes, women, and underrepresented minorities.
To help address this need, Microsoft recently launched a global skills initiative aimed at bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year. This initiative will bring together every part of the company, combining existing and new resources from LinkedIn, GitHub, and Microsoft. Read more on the Official Microsoft Blog.
In January, Microsoft launched a bold new environmental sustainability initiative focusing on carbon, water, waste and biodiversity. We began this work by announcing one of the most ambitious carbon commitments put forward by any company: Microsoft will be carbon negative by 2030 and remove from the environment more carbon than we have emitted since our founding by 2050. We have been working hard to turn our commitments into action and this week announced seven important new steps on our path to be carbon negative by 2030. To read about our seven steps and the details, visit Microsoft On The Issues.
The world is at a turning point. Help shape our future by taking this one-minute survey from the United Nations. To mark its 75th anniversary, the UN is capturing people's priorities for the future, and crowdsourcing solutions to global challenges. The results will shape the UN's work to recover better from COVID-19, and ensure its plans reflect the views of the global public. Take the survey here.
Help shape our future by participating in a one-minute survey from the United Nations. To mark its 75th anniversary, the UN is capturing people's hopes and fears for the world, and crowdsourcing solutions to global challenges. The results of this UN75 survey will help shape the institution's plans and programs and ensure those plans better reflect the views and needs of the global public. Take the survey here.
The Microsoft on The Issues site provides a front-row seat to how Microsoft is thinking about important policy issues. We recently spoke with the director of strategic projects for Microsoft's Defending Democracy program to hear more about a recent election in Wisconsin. Visit the Microsoft On The Issues site to check out the interview and read stories around sustainability, accessibility and other issues.
Visit Microsoft on The Issues for a front-row seat to see how Microsoft is thinking about the future of AI and work; sustainability; cybersecurity and elections; accessibility and more. Check back regularly to watch videos, and read blogs and feature stories to see how Microsoft is approaching the issues that matter most. Subscribe for the latest at Microsoft on the Issues.
We are living in a new world, a world racing online as social distancing forces many of us to work, communicate and connect in new ways. In the United States alone, state and local directives have urged more than 300 million Americans to stay in and, when possible, work from home. As communities around the world adapt to a world with COVID-19, broadband connectivity and access are more critical to our lives and livelihoods than ever before.
To read more on Microsoft's work on rural broadband, visit Microsoft On The Issues.