The Internet of Everything Meets Social Good

The growth of the Internet is resulting in a wave of new online tools that allow for increasingly more interactions between people, process, data, and things. For many years Cisco has used the power of the Internet to make a positive difference in the world. With the spread of the Internet of Everything, we are collaborating more with other people and organizations to multiply our impact. That is why we are sponsoring, speaking at, and attending the UN Foundation’s Social Good Summit supported by Mashable, this week in New York City.

The Social Good Summit is held during United Nations Week from September 22 to 24 and brings together global leaders to discuss the power of innovative thinking and technology to solve the world’s greatest challenges. The conference organizers envision that “the most innovative technologists, influential minds, and passionate activists will come together with one shared goal: to unlock the potential of new media and technology to make the world a better place, and then to translate that potential into action.” More than 1000 people are expected to attend in person, with more than 50,000 watching the livestream during the 3-day event.

During the Summit, Cisco CSR will be connecting with some of our social innovation partners about our collaboration for social benefit work as well as sharing our innovative approach to Corporate Social Responsibility. On Sunday morning, Cisco Corporate Affairs Senior Manager Mary Anne Petrillo will be on a pre-conference panel for the Social Good Master Class series entitled Four Women, One Major Issue: Driving Innovation Today. The panel will focus on how social networks are having an impact on the future of innovation.

On Monday at 6:15 pm, Cisco Corporate Affairs Senior Director Harbrinder Kang is speaking on a panel called The Key is We – Global Collaboration Now led by astronaut Ron Garan. There are literally millions of organizations around the world working to increase collaboration and improve life on Earth. To date, for the most part, many organizations are not engaged in a unified coordinated effort. The result is tremendous duplication of effort, loss of efficiency, and a reduction in the social and environmental good that these organizations could otherwise provide. The panel will look for ways to work together toward one common goal, using technology and digital solutions to advance collaboration. Watch it on the event livestream.

Cisco is pleased to be able to join with so many other organizations and people dedicated to using technology to make a difference in the world. Besides attending the event, Cisco recently became a partner of +SocialGood, a project of the Social Good Summit. Cisco will work with a small group of other global organizations, like the UN Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme, to connect global communities around technology and new media for social change. As Harbrinder Kang so aptly describes, “at Cisco, we believe the power of people, technology, and innovation coming together can multiply the impact of positive change in the world. Our partnership with +SocialGood will help ignite the possibilities.”

Check out the conference agenda and I hope to see you online, collaborating with us for social good!