PRINTITRESELLER.UK 39 TECHNOLOGY The study of business executives and government officials in ten countries found three out of four leaders believe technology is key to expanding economic opportunity and that AI will help drive progress towards sustainability and social impact goals. Further, business leaders are either already using AI or plan to in the next one to two years for goals such as increasing access to digital education (90%), workforce development (89%) and workforce diversity (86%). “AI’s reach holds great promise to help HP accelerate our sustainable and social impact goals,” said Stephanie Dismore, HP’s Northwest Europe Market Senior Vice President and Managing Director. “From how we responsibly build AI PCs for first-time users to data scientists who use our workstations to help local farmers build more resilient businesses, this is the technology that can move businesses and our communities forward.” The digital divide In its latest Sustainable Impact report HP announced it has accelerated digital equity for more than 45 million people since 2021, bringing the organisation nearly a third of the way to its goal of reaching 150 million people by 2030. The rapid progress is a result of innovative partnerships with key organisations that create tailored solutions for communities. In 2023, HP published a bilingual Welsh-English children’s book in partnership with Wrexham AFC and NABU. The book celebrates the Welsh language and culture within the Wrexham community and promotes bilingual literacy and digital equity through digitally accessible and culturally relevant literature, featuring Wrexham’s local Technology is key to expanding economic opportunity characters and locations. The OEM also supported digital equity solutions developed by ten organisations in Malaysia, South Africa and Mexico with the digital equity accelerator, such as improvements in digital literacy to access employment, access to educational hardware and software in schools and development of digital platforms to support improved health outcomes. In total, the Accelerator reached 6.4 million people in 2023. HP also launched more than 100 digital hubs in partnership with World YMCA to support digital programming and literacy. “Everyone deserves an opportunity to access tools and skills that will allow them to thrive in the digital economy,” said Nancy Powell, HP’s UK&I Sustainability Lead. “As part of our efforts to support local communities and narrow the digital divide, we recently worked with the Tottenham Foundation to supply children leaving care in Haringey with new laptops and digital skills training. Our hope is that by continuing to invest in digital equity initiatives, we can make sure the benefits of digital are open to everyone.” Building skills amid the rise of AI Skills building is a core piece of HP’s digital equity approach. As a result, it is expanding its goal to enrol 2.75 million users in the free skills building program HP LIFE. The program from the HP Foundation has already enrolled and enabled more than 1.2 million users to access economic opportunities or start businesses. Additionally, the company is undertaking new initiatives to expand responsible access and use of AI, the top reported investment area of businesses HP has released the findings of a new global survey that reveals enthusiasm among global leaders to use technology including AI, to advance key impact goals today. Initiatives include expanding on its free Digital Business Skills HP LIFE course by releasing a new course on AI skills later this year; kicking-off the HP AI in Social Impact Award, in collaboration with MIT Solve, which provides technology designed for building and running AI applications to social entrepreneurs and organisations that use AI to advance education, healthcare, and economic opportunities in communities globally; and the launch of commercial and consumer next-gen AI PCs. “HP’s global workplace study, the Work Relationship Index, found that business leaders are far more confident on the benefits AI will bring to employee productivity, than the employees were themselves,” Dismore commented. “Therefore, it’s vital businesses begin investing in AI-based skills training as soon as possible to ensure not only business success, but continued employee growth and engagement at this pivotal moment for technology,” she concluded www.hp.com Stephanie Dismore
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