IBM Deploys Corporate Service Corps Volunteers to Davao

A team of high performing IBM volunteers recently ended their tour of duty/ assignment with several Davao-based non-government organizations, academe and industry chambers.  Collaboratively, they worked on strategies to develop and implement initiatives aligned to transform and help build a Smarter Davao.  This is part of the IBM's commitment to advance IT and business in growth areas outside of Metro Manila.

 

The IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program, often called the corporate version of the “Peace Corps” was developed to help IBM employees become effective 21st century global professionals and citizens while helping solve complex problems in developing countries like the Philippines.  

IBM considers Davao as an important market and is committed to help the region grow and become globally competitive. The CSC Davao assignments reinforce IBM’s strong focus in markets outside the metropolis which extends beyond traditional business frontiers to the community.  

“IBM has been leveraging the company’s most valuable resources -- its employees -- to help solve some of the world’s toughest problems for the past century,” said Christine Llanto, Marketing Manager for General Business, IBM Philippines. We believe IBM’s strategic and long-term partnership with Davao will generate significant and concrete results in the near future.”

The CSC Davao team is composed of 12 top caliber IBM employees from Spain, India, Japan, United Arab Emirates, USA, and Slovakia.  They officially started their assignments on September 19, 2011.  For a month, the team worked with Department of Tourism, University of Mindanao, Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DCIPC), ICT Davao, Inc., Samal Eco Crafters Association, Inc. and Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. on projects to help their ‘clients’ improve skills in strategic business plan development, software development, project management, branding & marketing and database development.

Since its inception in 2008, the IBM CSC program has already deployed ten teams or around 100 IBM volunteers to support a broad range of SMEs, non-government and government organizations and work on high impact projects across emerging markets in the Philippines.   According to an independent evaluation conducted by Professor Chris Marquis at Harvard Business School, these six-month projects create significant value for the countries, but  also produce more skilled, collaborative, loyal, and culturally aware employees for IBM.  These engagements can also provide insights into new markets, and an enhanced corporate reputation.

For more information about IBM, please visit www.ibm.com/ph.