Jan. 2005 -- World economic leaders have concluded a meeting high in the Swiss Alps, in the village of Davos, where they discussed our planet's most pressing problems.
The annual World Economic Forum is the foremost global community of business, political, religious, intellectual and other leaders of society committed to improving the state of the world.
Over the course of the five-day meeting more than 2,250 participants from 96 countries convened in Davos. The theme of this year's conference was "Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices" and HP executives engaged the decision makers who attended Davos in discussions about how the company can help governments, businesses and individuals meet tough challenges through innovation.
In keeping with its motto - Invent - HP has an overriding commitment to make every process and all content digital, mobile, virtual and personal. HP's Adaptive Enterprise strategy has helped companies and government institutions around the world build a powerful platform for managing and responding to change.
Carly Fiorina, former CEO of HP, led a delegation of HP executives including, among others, Ann Livermore, Executive VP, Technology Solutions Group, and Bernard Meric, Senior VP and Managing Director for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
HP envisions a world where businesses and individuals effortlessly tap into information and services - whenever they want and wherever their day takes them. A world where these services are personal, rich with content, and adapted to human ambition.
"HP is committed to improving the prosperity, security and quality of life through a citizen-centered Information Society," explained Bernard Meric.
Together with governments and companies, HP is helping the world go digital by creating modern online public services, such as e-government, e-health and e-learning, and a dynamic e-business environment.
HP has implemented a wide range of innovative e-government solutions in EMEA, including electronic identity cards in Italy, an education portal in Luxembourg, new passports and ID cards in Bulgaria, and Europe´s first paperless hospital information system in Spain.
Innovations in areas like mobility, security, rich digital media, and management software and services have been pioneered by HP scientists working at HP Bristol Labs in the UK, one of the premier corporate research labs in EMEA.
Information Technology can also be a powerful accelerator of development. Working with HP customers in the new member states of the European Union, HP has found that it can be ten times easier to put a new IT infrastructure in place than to update an old system.
HP forges both public and private partnerships among universities, cultural institutions and other educational organizations, to create innovation in global education and improve long-term educational excellence.
The 'HP Entrepreneurship in Technology Forum' is designed to stimulate an entrepreneurial culture among engineering and science students and to facilitate the creation of technology start-ups and spin-offs. Developed in Lausanne, Bristol, Helsinki, Lyon and Turin, and later extended to London, Berlin, Barcelona, Stockholm and Milan, it was one of approximately 400 education projects involving HP Philanthropy grants taking place across EMEA.
In Classroom 2000 (C2K), the world's largest e-learning project, Northern Ireland has enlisted HP's expertise to give every child in Northern Ireland - from primary school through university level - an Internet address and access to virtual classrooms.
To give African children the skills they need to thrive in the 21st century, HP is taking part in the World Economic Forum's NEPAD e-schools project. The initiative will connect, in the first phase, all secondary (or equivalent) schools across twenty countries in Africa within a five-year period.
HP believes that corporations should exist not only to make a profit, but also to make a difference. With over one billion customers in 178 countries, HP is in a unique position to positively impact the world through programs such as e-inclusion and its environmental sustainability policies.
Through its e-inclusion initiative, HP is seeking to close what is referred to as the 'digital divide' by devising new business models that serve emerging markets. In the process, HP is enhancing its own competitiveness, inventing new products and advancing long-term business goals.
In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, e-inclusion has led to the creation of the Mogalakwena i-community in South Africa and ten Digital Community Centres in EMEA, bringing the benefits of computer access to people in communities as diverse as Tula, Russia and Wahdat, Jordan.
Environmental responsibility
HP's early leadership in thinking about its environmental responsibility resulted in the industry's first Design for Environment program in 1992. Each line of HP computing and imaging products are designed to offer better performance than previous models, to use less energy and fewer materials.
More than 1000 HP products have received the Energy Star certification for energy efficiency and many have also been designated environment-friendly by Blue Angel, Green Mark or IT eco-declaration.
HP's Planet Partners™ Program oversees the recycling of roughly 1.8 million kilograms of computer-related hardware around the world each month. The program offers an environmentally friendly alternative to dumping electronic trash in landfills. The goal is to recycle one billion pounds of electronic products and supplies by the year 2007.
Davos companion
HP is a strategic partner of the World Economic Forum and contributes technology to support its annual meetings. As in the past, HP will loan a Davos Companion (iPAQ h4150) to the participants. In 2004, 650 iPAQs were donated after the Meeting to the Jordan Education Initiative (JEI) and to bridges.org. For 2005 the donations will go to: TechnoServe, to create jobs through developing small businesses; India's Aravind Eye Care Systems to stop blindness; and to BRAC in Afghanistan, which provides health care, education and professional training to Afghan women.
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