IBM provides training in innovation
IBM sent a team of experts to Chengdu in Sichuan province for four weeks to offer entrepreneurship and innovation training and support to local companies and institutions.
The initiative, which wrapped up in June, involved a group of volunteers and 13 experts from various IBM subsidiaries in different countries, spanning cloud computing specialists, software engineers, data analysts, financial analysts and consultants.
The group was divided into four teams, which provided voluntary consulting services to four local organizations.
One team went to New Hope Group, a Chinese agriculture enterprise, to help them solve problems as part of an entrepreneurship and innovation program. The IBM volunteers provided customized consulting services to support a community platform for mass entrepreneurship and innovation, and food safety and food nutrition.
Food safety and nutrition are the core focus of New Hope Group. The IBM volunteers carried out research and developed a management and operation strategy, which allowed the company to better ensure the quality of food supply.
“IBM is a world-leading enterprise in corporate social responsibility engagement with top human resources, technology and sophisticated management experience,” said Shen Jun, vice-secretary of the group’s Party committee. “We have gained a lot from IBM’s CSR program.”
Another team went to Sichuan Dream Public Welfare Center, a local nonprofit center that is devoted to improving the lives of those with disabilities. The center is petitioning to introduce infrastructure that improves access for those with disabilities, conducting entertainment events and providing job opportunities for those with disabilities.
However, the center needed to improve its business and operation structures. IBM stepped in to help evaluate the current business model and provide a sustainable strategy for the next two years.
“We are moved by the professionalism IBM volunteers have shown,” said Xiong Hongxia, director of the institution. “They provided us with a strategy to turn research into profit, which can also be applied elsewhere.”