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Microsoft’s Citizenship InitiativeMicrosoft Innovation Centers

Janko CajhenMicrosoft

USAID Regional ConferenceZagreb, May 2006

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 • Corporate Governance• Competition and Compliance• Contracts, Indemnification and Product Liability• Diversity• Environment• Interoperability• Intellectual Property

.• Child Safety • Content  Regulation (including games) • Computer Crimes (including hacking and viruses) • ID Theft and Phishing • Privacy • Spam • Spyware/Adware

        • Value of Proprietary

Software • Local Software Economy • Innovation • Jobs and Skills (Digital

Inclusion) • Economic Growth and

Development

Microsoft’s Global Citizenship Initiative is focused on mobilizing our resources across the company and around the world, to create opportunities in the communities where we do business, and to fulfill our commitment to serving the public good through innovative technologies and partnerships

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What is the Local Software Economy (LSE) Initiative?

The LSE initiative is designed to help a subsidiary engage with localpolicymakers, industry leaders and influential's on the topic of buildingthe local software economy.

What’s the focus of the LSE effort?

The effort is focused on building strong local software economies, andhelping governments, policymakers and influential's in that process.

Local Software Economy (LSE)

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What: Technology centers offering a comprehensive set of programs and services to foster innovation and grow sustainable local software economies.

Why: To connect people and organizations in the innovation ecosystem and give them access to resources, experts and facilities for collaboration and skills development.

Who: Students, entrepreneurs, academics, professional software developers, start-ups, IT professionals, industry/international organizations and local governments.

Outcome: Local centers around the world foster skills and intellectual capital, industry partnerships and innovation.

Innovation/Technology Centres Initiative

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Microsoft Business Technology Center

• Objective:Microsoft Business-technology Centre has the task to provide the infrastructure and resources to help ISVs create innovative new products and services, bring those products and services to market, and build well-managed competitive businesses around those innovative products and services.

• Functions:1. Learning Centre– 1/3 Technology – 1/3 Operations– 1/3 Business 2. Testing new applications on “state-of-the-art”

hardware3. “Show Room” for partners and customers

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Microsoft Business Technology Center

Foundation model• Public-Private Partnership• Project initiated by USAID and MS, under the support of the Prime

Minister of Croatia• Investment totals in 2mil.$ in period of 2,5 years

Partners in the Project:• Microsoft Croatia• USAID • HP • CISCO • T-HT • City of Varazdin

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Expected results over the first 30 months:

• Centre will directly assist a minimum of 100 independent software vendor companies with formal training and technical assistance in process of software development

• Expected a minimum of 200 new employees to be hired by assisted companies

• Establishment of at least 20 new start-ups• Development of minimum 50 new software products and solutions,

registered and brought to market

Microsoft Business Technology Center

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Centre in numbers:

• Officially started working on November 1th, 2005• Results (last update April 21th, 2006):

– Number of attendees: 312– Number of seminars: 31– Number of companies: 116– Countries: 6– Average grades for trainers*: 4,76– Average grades for the environment*: 4,34– Average grades for the equipment*: 4,46

*Average grades based on scale 1 - 5

Microsoft Business Technology Center

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Number of employees in companies (n=116):

– More than 50: 54 companies 46%– from 30 to 50:13 companies 11%– from 10 to 30:30 companies 26%– from 5 to 10: 9 companies 8%– from 1 to 5: 10 companies 9%

Microsoft Business Technology Center

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Microsoft Business Technology Center

• Carefully evaluate local market needs (incl. Gov. priorities)• Don’t start from scratch; Use the momentum and experiences

from others (Croatian Working Model)• Strengthen alliances with International Institutions/Organizations• Stimulate the development of Information Communication

Technology industry across region• Partnership is crucial: facilitate Public-Private partnerships• Deliver knowledge transfer in both technology and business

through classes, workshops, testing and demonstration• Boost new initiatives through Centres (like building Industry

clusters)

Findings, next steps