The state of IT`s social conscience

With the notable exception of telecoms operators, a quick scan of who`s who on SA`s corporate social investment (CSI) scene suggests that the technology industry is lagging behind other sectors.

At least, that`s the perception of 75 non-profit organisations working on the ground and 90 top corporates surveyed in Trialogue`s annual CSI handbook, which describes itself as a comprehensive guide to the state of CSI in our backlog-riddled country.

The handbook`s respondents mention only a handful of technology players whom they perceived as active CSI investors last year. These are mostly the Big Three (apologies to late-starter Cell C) on the telecoms landscape, each of them with established programmes, national reach, and large budgets. In fact, among the corporates surveyed for last year`s handbook, Vodacom was rated fifth in terms of "good grantmaking" across all sectors, Telkom ninth and MTN twelfth.

All three are also seen as having some of the biggest CSI budgets in the country, with Vodacom supposedly having the third biggest budget and MTN the fifth biggest. Telkom, whose social investment budget for the past five years totalled R100 million, didn`t actually make it onto the top big-spender list but was "nominated" for this category, along with Ericsson.

Companies like Microsoft and IBM are seen as doing well in education and training, and Siemens in health, but the technology industry as a whole needs a stronger presence. "Bar a few well-known companies, businesses in this sector are notable for their absence in the CSI arena," says handbook author Vanessa Rockey.

Bar a few well-known companies, businesses in the technology sector are notable for their absence in the CSI arena.

Vanessa Rockey, author, CSI handbook

It`s important to point out at this stage that the handbook`s survey measures perceptions only. The reality may be different because, right now, there`s a lot of interesting stuff going on in CSI, with technology companies increasingly targeting "hot" fields like education, HIV/AIDS and the environment.

The days of CSI just being a feel-good addition to a company`s marketing efforts are long gone. While some reluctants have had to be lured into the CSI arena by a combination of licence agreements, the prospect of government contracts and good old-fashioned guilt, companies across the board are starting to see the benefits of getting involved in genuine development initiatives.

Echo Research, an international reputation analysis firm, has no doubt that the practice and communication of CSI plays a critical role in creating value for a company. More than 80% of companies` CSI decision-makers surveyed by Echo believe in the ability of CSI initiatives to enhance corporate reputation as well as attract, retain and motivate employees.

In its second annual report on CSI, entitled "Giving Back 2", Echo CEO Sandra Macleod said the company`s research - which included SA as one of six points of focus - shows increased efforts to manage CSI effectively by big business, "and a greater and more positive profile in the media as a result".

The media increased its coverage of CSI by 52% over 2001 and 2002, as compared to the previous year, according to the report. This coverage, which highlighted the social and environmental impact of CSI, tended to be positive - in contrast to the corporate perception that media coverage of CSI tends to be negative, says Echo, which conducted research in China, France, Germany, SA, the UK and the US.

One factor fuelling the cynical view that the critics have of the IT industry`s CSI efforts is that few companies are prepared to actually come out and say exactly how much they`re spending and what returns they`re reaping.

It`s estimated that by 2005, one million children under the age of 15 will have lost a parent through the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and this number will double by 2010.

Itumeleng Letebele, corporate social investment manager, Cell C

Money, you see, isn`t something that`s usually raised in polite circles. For one thing, the amount spent doesn`t necessarily translate into real, lasting results. For another, those who earn a reputation for having cash to fling about invariably end up fending off endless pleas for assistance from worthy causes (and sometimes blatant opportunists), all of whom have to be sent Dear John letters.

These days, as any company with an established CSI programme will tell you, it`s not wise to let it be known that you might be willing to consider isolated requests from Aunt Agnes` Home for the Aged or the local primary school`s soccer team.

The Vodacom Foundation says pointedly on its Web site that "ad hoc sponsorships are avoided wherever possible". Telkom`s social investment wing, the Telkom Foundation, takes a similar stance, as does the MTN Foundation. The names of all three crop up more often in the CSI handbook than any others in the technology sector.

New mobile entrant Cell C, launched last November, is still a relative newcomer on the CSI scene but it`s moving fast and with a vengeance, homing in on anti-poverty and urban renewal projects like adorning Johannesburg`s bleak inner city with paintings and murals by local artists. Indeed, arts and culture is a common denominator among the three cellular operators when it comes to CSI. While South African corporates in general show little interest in getting involved in arts and culture, which gets less than 4% of annual CSI spend, the financial and telecommunications sectors are among the friendliest, according to the CSI handbook.

Specifically singled out are cell rivals MTN and Vodacom: the former for its Art Institute and local art collection, and the latter for supporting township artists, traditional dancers and promising pianists. Now Cell C is getting environmentally arty, too, as it searches for relevant themes to use as a vehicle for renewal and development.

Slowly but surely, the environment is becoming a focal point in the CSI space, especially with the King II report on corporate governance highlighting environmental responsibility as part of companies` triple-bottom line reporting requirements.

The technology sector is messier than first meets the eye. Apart from obvious visual eyesores like telecoms masts and poles, the sector relies heavily on environmentally unfriendly plastics and chemicals, a lot of which eventually ends up getting tossed onto the country`s scrapheaps.

Plenty of technology companies already have environmental management programmes in place to promote recycling and help them manage junk, but it`s a moot point whether these actually fall into the CSI category. Strictly speaking, say CSI experts, they don`t.

One company that has come up with a novel way of marrying waste management with CSI, in the form of support for babies with HIV/AIDS, is Lexmark.

Each year, corporate SA uses enough of Lexmark`s printer toner and cartridges to produce 56 tons of waste plastic. Rather than add to the already overflowing rubbish dumps, Lexmark has started its Cotlands Recycling Initiative for Babies (named "Crib"). Through Crib, customers are asked to return their used cartridges directly to Lexmark, which for every cartridge received, makes a donation to the Cotlands home for babies with HIV/AIDS. The size of these donations varies, depending on the kind of cartridge returned, but Lexmark prefers to talk about its donations as "baby days" instead of in rands and cents.

A baby day, says Lexmark marketing manager Cathy Steyn, is what it costs every day to feed, house and clothe one Cotlands baby. That could range from R100 to R170 a day, depending on whether a baby is still reasonably healthy or in a hospice on oxygen and medication. It`s tear-jerking stuff and has touched the heartstrings of members of the public and companies alike. Since launching Crib in April, Lexmark has collected well over 1 100 baby days, while also attracting a stream of unsolicited cash donations from charitable cartridge-users, many of them anonymous, who clearly have more than ink in their veins.

Another reason for Crib`s growing success, says Steyn, is that Lexmark is making it truly easy for users to return their old cartridges or toner. "Each inkjet cartridge we sell comes in a bigger package, which tells the Crib story and includes a pre-addressed, prepaid plastic envelope. All the customer has to do is pop the cartridge in the bag and post it back to us."

Lexmark also caters for bulk cartridge and toner users by placing disposal bins on their premises and arranging batch collections. All this waste is then carted off to Benoni for recycling, finally emerging as plastic chips that are then sold back to plastic companies.

With HIV/AIDS on the rampage, decimating businesses` workforces and customer bases, this is another CSI hot-spot to watch. What makes this field additionally compelling for CSI spenders is the newly tax-deductible status of donations made to public benefit organisations that care for or counsel people with HIV/AIDS. Other tax-friendly organisations are those catering for abused, neglected, abandoned or orphaned children, destitute people over the age of 60, and pre-primary schools with approved programmes.

Babies with HIV/AIDS aside, there`s growing attention on the plight of HIV/AIDS orphans, with Cell C being among the latest to unveil a plan to support child-headed households.

Cunningly timed to coincide with the start of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, where poverty eradication has been a focal point, Cell C`s plan includes a R500 000 donation for HIV/AIDS orphans in the care of the Heartbeat Centre for Community Development. This centre offers financial support to child heads of households while empowering communities to help care for orphans.

Says Itumeleng Letebele, corporate social investment manager at Cell C: "It`s estimated that by 2005, one million children under the age of 15 will have lost a parent through the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and this number will double by 2010."

Of all the many possible avenues for technology CSI spend, education and training remains the top choice. It`s here that the technology skills squeeze is hurting the most.

We are not just dropping PC boxes in schools and then returning three months later to discover that the equipment has gathered dust.

Godfrey Kyama, applications project manager, GautengOnline

Just about any technology company you care to name is somehow involved in supporting education, especially maths and science at schools, as well as Internet connectivity. The latter has been a favourite for years throughout Africa, which as a continent boasts around 200 projects, run mostly by private companies and non-governmental organisations. In SA, the Internet project tally runs into scores, ranging from tiny single-school projects to national ones like the Telkom Foundation`s, which says it has provided Internet connectivity, PC hardware and software to over 1 000 disadvantaged schools over the past five years.

Flavour of the moment, though, is certainly GautengOnline, a partnership between the Gauteng Department of Education and the private sector, and certainly one of the most ambitious - and collaborative - school connectivity projects yet.

The plan is to create a networked public schooling system that will link all 2 500 public schools in the province to the Internet by 2006, giving every learner access to the Internet, as well as to a personal e-mail address. Given its budget commitment of R500 million, the department has opted not to put all its eggs in one basket by locking itself into one solution from the outset. Instead, it invited private sector players to collaborate in forming consortia for a 30-school pilot project - at their own cost.

In all, six consortia, led by Mecer, MGX/Sun Microsystems, IBM, NCD, Sahara and Unisys, took part in the pilot. Each consortium was allocated five schools and given the flexibility to implement their own solution, based on installing 25 networked computers at each school. With the pilot project done, and declared a "resounding success", Gauteng`s Department of Education is now assessing the various solutions in action, planning to use the performance results for the next phase of roll-out, involving 700 schools.

While every red-blooded Gautenger is rooting for the success of GautengOnline, it`s early days yet as to whether it`ll fly in the long run. The department is confident that it will.

As GautengOnline`s applications project manager Godfrey Kyama said recently: "We are not just dropping PC boxes in schools and then returning three months later to discover that the equipment has gathered dust. We are rolling out an integrated networked education system which will change the way our children do and perceive things."

Talking of perceptions, it`s quite possible that CSI stakeholders` views on the CSI performance of the technology industry might have changed by the time Trialogue publishes the fifth edition of its CSI handbook, due out later this year. The publisher says it has had many requests for guidance from technology companies wanting to enter the arena.

Meanwhile, given the amount of money IT companies spend on public relations (PR) every year, perhaps their PR companies could also add some genuine value - beyond banal product press releases - by helping to change perceptions among key players in the CSI field.