The City of Chicago will open five grades 9 through 14 schools this fall to prepare students with the academic and workplace skills they’ll need for 21st Century jobs. IBM wrote the STEM (Science, Technology, Education, Mathematics) Pathways to College and Careers Schools development playbook, and pioneered the movement with New York’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH).
In the article below, Verizon Wireless – a corporate partner with one of Chicago’s five new schools – shares its perspective on the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) training, and connecting education to jobs.
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In February, a press conference was held where Mayor Emanuel announced his intention to launch five Early College STEM Schools (ECSS) in Chicago. Working together with the Mayor’s Office, Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago and additional postsecondary partners, Verizon Wireless is one of the anchor partners along with Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Motorola Solutions.
Corliss Early College STEM School in Chicago
We have met with our fellow corporate partners to learn about how they are embarking on this program. We have all been introduced to our school principals and faculty. Most of the schools have new teachers. And some (like Corliss – which is the Verizon Wireless school) have a new principal. We’ve toured the schools, and Verizon Wireless invited a group of faculty and staff to visit our offices. We have a new vision for the students’ futures. It’s an exciting time, and we are filled with anticipation for what lies ahead of us.
We have been busy recruiting Verizon Wireless employees to become mentors for the new freshman class. There are approximately 150 students registered to begin classes in September, and we already have more than enough volunteers to mentor them!
We were very happy to discover that we already have a couple of Corliss HS alumni in our midst, and the program is being met with a great deal of enthusiasm. During an employee meeting, a member of our Training Team stepped forward to introduce herself as a graduate of Corliss HS. With that sort of real-life example of how students from Corliss can succeed within Verizon Wireless, we feel that we can inspire the new class of students immediately.
The wireless technology industry is a very dynamic environment. We are constantly adapting to change. Our audience is ever growing, as now more than 50 percent of all Americans own smartphones. The students at Corliss HS are poised to enter a workforce having grown up immersed in technology. They need to understand that they will only be limited by their imagination.
Verizon Wireless employs approximately 2,700 people in the State of Illinois. We see an average tenure of seven years with the company. There are 99 locations that include administrative offices, call centers and retail stores. We hold ourselves to a very high standard of performance, so we are always looking for bright, ambitious people to join our organization. We see a tremendous need for the development of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) competencies. We truly believe that to compete in the global economy, students need a strong foundation in the STEM subjects.
It’s our hope that this new model will empower schools to achieve measureable success. Verizon Wireless remains unequivocally committed to improving education, especially to help underserved schools and communities. It will ultimately contribute to the economic development of Chicago – which benefits all of us here.
Andrea Meyer serves on the Steering Committee for the Early College STEM Schools (ECSS) initiative on behalf of Verizon Wireless.
Related Resources:
Answering the Call for Science and Engineering Education
The Stepping Stone to Global Competitiveness
Exploring Public-Private Partnerships in STEM Education
Download STEM Pathways to College and Careers Schools: A Development Guide
The City of Chicago will open five grades 9 through 14 schools this fall to prepare students with the academic and workplace skills they’ll need for 21st Century jobs. IBM wrote the STEM (Science, Technology, Education, Mathematics) Pathways to College and Careers Schools development playbook, and pioneered the movement with New York’s Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH).
In the article below, Motorola – a corporate partner with one of Chicago’s five new schools – shares its perspective on the importance of science and engineering education.
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As a company dedicated to helping people be their best in the moments that matter, Motorola Solutions and the Motorola Solutions Foundation are committed to helping fill the need for advanced science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in the United States. And that need is significant.
The recent STEM Education: Preparing for the Jobs of the Future by the bipartisan U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee stated that, “Even at the height of the recession, a survey of manufacturers found that more than one-third were experiencing shortages of engineers and scientists – and most of them anticipated greater shortages in the future.” With the unemployment rate hovering above 8 percent, support for STEM education will not only improve the test scores of American students in these struggling areas, but also may help to develop future workforce skills.
Recent studies point to the substantial benefits of an education in science and engineering. As noted in the National Governors Association report entitled Building a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education Agenda: An Update of State Actions:
- At all levels of educational attainment, STEM job holders earn 11 percent higher wages compared with their same-degree counterparts in other jobs.
- The top 10 bachelor’s-degree majors with the highest median earnings are all in STEM fields.
- The average annual wage for all STEM occupations was $77,880 in May 2009 – significantly above the U.S.average of $43,460 for non-STEM occupations.
- Over the past 10 years, STEM jobs grew three times faster than non-STEM jobs. STEM jobs are expected to grow by 17 percent during the 2008-2018 period versus 9.8 percent growth projected for non-STEM jobs.
- In 2010, the unemployment rate for STEM workers was 5.3 percent; for all other occupations, it was 10 percent.
So what can we do to help? Where do the biggest needs exist, and how can we answer the STEM calling to help develop the next generation of STEM professionals to respond to this career demand?
Addressing the Need for Science and Engineering Education
It’s only natural for Motorola Solutions and the Motorola Solutions Foundation to support development of the STEM pipeline. After all, we are a technology company with an 83-year history of employing some of the world’s brightest engineers.
As director of the Motorola Solutions Foundation, I have the distinct pleasure of playing an active role in answering our nation’s need for STEM education. Through the Motorola Solutions Foundation Innovation Generation program, we’ve granted $30 million since 2007 to support science and engineering education in the United States – providing funding and volunteers to more than 300 museums, schools and nonprofits. This year alone, our support will provide hands-on experiences to 178,000 teachers and students, with a focus on girls and groups traditionally underrepresented in engineering careers. Furthermore, I am proud to say that 22 percent of our funding this year will go toward initiatives designed to help women and girls enter these rewarding careers. Through our support and partners, our next generation will participate in an estimated 18 million hours of action-packed, hands-on science and engineering programming this year.
How You Can Help
Let’s start by changing the stereotypes about who pursues STEM fields. According to Generation STEM: What Girls Say About Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math by the Girl Scout Research Institute, “Social psychological research shows that the stereotype that girls are not as good as boys in math can have negative consequences. When girls know or are made aware of this stereotype, they perform much more poorly than boys; however, when they are told that boys and girls perform equally well on a test, there is no gender difference.”
At Motorola Solutions, our employees donate thousands of hours each year to STEM-related programming such as the FIRST© Robotics competition, the Girl Scouts of America and more. You can help by encouraging students to pursue their passion for science and discovery. If you are a parent, neighbor or friend, reinforce the importance of science and math to children at an early age. If you are an engineer, become a role model for a child, teaching him or her that engineering and a career in STEM are cool and possible. Regardless of your role or how you choose to get involved, there are many ways that you can help inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.
Matt Blakely is Director of the Motorola Solutions Foundation.
Related Resources:
The Stepping Stone to Global Competitiveness
Exploring Public-Private Partnerships in STEM Education
Download STEM Pathways to College and Careers Schools: A Development Guide
Posted by
Alvin Brown in
Central to the roughly 840-square-mile land mass that is Jacksonville, Florida, sits a downtown area just waiting to take off.
On any given evening, you can see the lights glowing along the Main Street, Hart and Acosta bridges spanning our most treasured natural asset, the St. Johns River, as it meanders through the heart of our urban center. Strolling along our Riverwalk, it’s nearly impossible to feel anything but encouraged about the future of Jacksonville and the city’s potential to be a vibrant center of culture and business for Florida and throughout the Southeastern United States.
In the past decade, there has been more than $1.1 billion in development throughout the downtown area. During that time, the city put forth more than $140 million in incentives to attract private investment for housing, offices and retail. And there has been an additional $686 million invested in new civic buildings, such as our Baseball Grounds, the Main Library, and upgrades to our NFL stadium.
As Jacksonville continues to fight the effects of the recession and put people back to work, downtown revitalization is of crucial importance. We need to find solutions to concentrate more jobs, more residences and more activities in the city’s center. This will help build vibrancy to draw the attention of more companies, business leaders and leisure travelers who can invest in our city.
We have already invested in infrastructure and facilities downtown. It is an area where there are tremendous opportunities to rehabilitate and repurpose historic buildings. And it’s an area with the largest properties in the city – a factor that creates opportunities to supercharge returns on investments to hardworking taxpayers by increasing property values through revitalization.
While it is easy to find supporters of continued downtown revitalization plans in Jacksonville, the issue has also led to a robust debate for the general public, elected officials and members of the local media. One of the most common questions concerns the city’s priorities. Covering more than 840 square miles since a city-county consolidation effort in the 1960s, Jacksonville is considered to be the largest city by area in the lower 48 states. The city contains stretches of beach, charming rural tracts and urbanized streetscapes. Each neighborhood has its own set of priorities. As public officials, our challenge lies in tying those priorities together.
When I came into office in July 2011, I made downtown revitalization a top priority because of its potential to generate economic opportunity. I partnered with the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Jacksonville Civic Council – a nonpartisan group of business leaders – to explore new methods and possible policy changes that would help downtown to grow.
Within my first year as mayor, we rewrote the city’s economic development policies by establishing a Downtown Investment Authority that would focus on jobs, events and cultural activities – drawing incentives from already-established tax incremental finance districts. This represented a major structural step to help put Jacksonville on par with other cities like Charlotte (NC), Kansas City (MO) and Greenville (SC) that have all shown resurgence downtown.
We’re generating momentum. EverBank is relocating 1,500 employees downtown and hiring 200 more. Community First Credit Union just announced a series of family-friendly Saturday morning events that will help draw more people to recreate along the Riverwalk and enjoy all that downtown has to offer. We’ve opened an innovative shared office concept called CoWork Jax, which has been popular with budding entrepreneurs seeking a low cost venue to share ideas and focus on business.
In the past three weeks, it has been a pleasure to host the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge team to gain a valuable outside perspective on what we can do to fold all of our downtown’s potential into an actionable plan for greater success. Personally, I’ve appreciated the business-minded approach the team has taken to develop milestones and data-driven solutions.
Investments Downtown will continue to create the action and energy that will draw new talent, new ideas and innovation to refine Jacksonville’s identity for everyone to enjoy. That’s the biggest importance. Downtown isn’t about any one person, any one business or any one interest group. It’s about everyone in our city.
The Honorable Alvin Brown is the mayor of Jacksonville, Florida.
Related Resources:
Applications Open for 2013 Smarter Cities Challenge Grants
Connecting At-Risk Youth to a Hopeful Future
Team von IBM hilft Dortmund auf dem Web zur smarten City
Why I Was Fascinated by the Smarter Cities Challenge Team
The “Five Cs” of the Smarter Cities Challenge
Laying the Foundation for Nairobi’s — and Kenya’s — Economic Growth
Posted by
William V. Bell in
Durham’s residents are its greatest resources. But when members of our community fail to complete their educations for whatever reason – effectively disconnecting themselves from good jobs and productive lives – our entire city is negatively affected. That’s why I was pleased when IBM selected Durham to receive the first Smarter Cities Challenge grant for 2012. Our challenge: to reach and redirect 4,500 to 6,000 of the city’s disconnected youth from isolation and poverty to hope, achievement, and full participation in our community and in the economy.
Last February, community leaders from government, education, nonprofits and business united to welcome the IBM team of experts that embedded itself in our city to learn about our challenges, our resources, and our successes related to youth. Not only did the Smarter Cities team connect with community leaders, they also connected with young people who articulated their daily struggles and conveyed their perceptions of what they need to reach their goals.
The discovery phase was truly a three-way partnership among community leaders, youth and IBM – resulting in recommendations that the entire community could embrace:
- Creating a common vision among the city’s 1,500 youth-focused groups;
- Developing a service delivery model to address the challenges of a young person’s journey from early childhood to postsecondary education, work and career;
- Creating a Youth Service Care System – including a youth services portal and delivery system – centered on each individual’s journey, and meeting his or her evolving needs;
- Identifying accountable leaders to champion, own and drive efforts to connect youth to education, work and career opportunities;
- Creating an overarching governance body and representative councils, and defining their respective roles and responsibilities in the achievement of results;
- Initiating a fact-based, end-to-end approach to applying data and predictive analytics to track progress, gain insights, and drive results.
No single organization can tackle the problem of disconnected youth. The scale and complexity of the challenge required collective action, and the Smarter Cities Challenge recommendations have provided a framework that stakeholders can use to lead Durham to long-term success. After a recent meeting with community leaders about the next steps for the project, we agreed that we were positioned to follow the IBM roadmap. Some organizations already had data-collection capabilities and maps of current service providers.
The next steps will involve determining how to put the roadmap’s measures into action. For example, how will youth, parents, educators and service providers collaborate to collect and make use of vital information about a young person’s progress? How can community leaders make the best use of existing structures and resources to serve these constituents?
In typical Durham fashion, we’ll start by soliciting public input. The city has created the Durham Youth Succeeding Facebook page to invite comments and suggestions on what our community should do to improve the education, well-being and job-readiness of our youth. We are seeking input on the following questions:
- What should Durham’s vision for youth be?
- What is the best way to coordinate Durham’s youth services?
- What attributes and experiences should potential leaders have to help youth succeed in school, employment, and life?
All of us are familiar with the saying, “It takes a village.” We are true believers in Durham, where community involvement and input – combined with talent, technology, and leadership – are always welcomed. With the Smarter Cities Challenge roadmap, I believe we are now ready to create a new standard of care for a segment of our community whose future depends on us. Addressing their challenges is critical because, quite frankly, Durham’s economic future also depends on them.
The Honorable William V. “Bill” Bell was elected Mayor of Durham, North Carolina in 2001. Prior to serving as Mayor, Mr. Bell served as an elected Durham County Commissioner for 26 years, and as Chairman of the Durham Board of County Commissioners for 12 years. A retired IBM Senior Engineer, Mayor Bell has sought to maximize Durham’s economy, education and other resources, believing that government best serves citizens by partnering with them and the private sector.
Related Articles:
Community Must Pull Together to Keep Youth in School and on the Job
Applications Open for 2013 Smarter Cities Challenge Grants
Team von IBM hilft Dortmund auf dem Web zur smarten City
Why I Was Fascinated by the Smarter Cities Challenge Team
The “Five Cs” of the Smarter Cities Challenge
Laying the Foundation for Nairobi’s — and Kenya’s — Economic Growth
(SPANISH VERSION BELOW)
The IBM Smarter Cities Challenge has reinforced and contributed to the goals of the Málaga II Strategic Plan, whose strong commitment with the Technology has allowed the City to make a significant progress towards a Smart City in different citizen services in the last years. Working with IBM’s Smarter Cities team, the objective was to create a framework for a sustainable economy by developing actionable recommendations to enhance our competitiveness. These include:
- Creating a measurable economic strategy
- Enhancing public-private collaboration
- Reinforcing Málaga’s branding strategy
- Making better use of open data
Málaga’s overarching objective is to attract and retain top talent to our city by advancing our technological development and making our city a better place to live and work. Málaga has a strong base for growth and is well positioned for advancement across multiple industry sectors, and we want to manage our growth intelligently and sustainably. Recent studies reinforce our belief that Málaga enjoys favorable market positioning in TICs, energy efficiency, and e-administration. Málaga also enjoys an international reputation as a model for urban innovation and development. For example:
- IDC ranks Málaga first among Spanish “smart cities.”
- Málaga was the first European host of the MIT Technology Review Emerging Technologies Conference (EmTechSpain) – only the third time the conference has been hosted outside of Silicon Valley.
- Málaga is home to the European Center for Business and Innovation (CEEI), and for the next two years will serve as headquarters for networking companies developing technological innovations in Spain.
- Málaga is the only large Spanish city to make the 40-city list of eligible municipalities for the European Award of Excellence in Local Administration. Cities were chosen from among eight European Union countries.
All of these developments encourage us to remain committed to the strategic policies that are producing such excellent results in our local economy.
Francisco de la Torre Prados is the Mayor of Málaga, Spain.
SPANISH VERSION
Ciudades que aplican la inteligencia
Como alcalde de Málaga, ciudad más inteligente de España según IDC, es una buena noticia la creación de este blog por parte de IBM. Los alcaldes de las ciudades que apostamos con fuerza por la aplicación de las nuevas tecnologías a la gestión municipal para mejorar los servicios y reducir los costes, vamos a tener la oportunidad de compartir experiencias y transmitir las acciones que mejor están funcionando para hacer realidad este objetivo.
Un compromiso decidido y materializado en el II Plan Estratégico de Málaga ha permitido durante estos años avanzar en la puesta en marcha de muchas líneas de trabajo que han fructificado y nos han permitido situarnos en el camino de smart city, recientemente reforzado por el trabajo del programa Smarter Cities Challenge desarrollado por IBM en nuestra ciudad. Su objetivo fue ayudar a la ciudad de Málaga a generar un marco de economía sostenible a través de recomendaciones prácticas diseñadas para mejorar la competitividad: Impulsar una estrategia para el desarrollo económico, optimizar la colaboración público-privada, reforzar el conocimiento y atractivo de la marca Málaga y un mejor uso del “open data”. El objetivo es avanzar en el posicionamiento de Málaga como polo tecnológico y desarrollar y atraer el mejor talento en la ciudad.
Hoy estamos en la primera línea, en la vanguardia. Málaga tiene una sólida base sobre la que crecer. Estudios recientes plasman de forma rotunda el buen posicionamiento de Málaga en el campo de las TIC, en el avance hacia la eficiencia energética óptima, en el ámbito de la e-administración, en la proyección internacional del municipio como sede de la Innovación y en otros muchos pilares sobre los que se puede cimentar la “inteligencia” de la Ciudad. Como ejemplos:
- El primer puesto en el ránking de ciudades inteligentes españolas, ratificado por empresas de primera línea a nivel mundial, tal como muestra un informe elaborado por IDC.
- La reciente celebración en Málaga de EmTechSpain, organizado por el Instituto Tecnológico de Massachussets, a través de su publicación oficial Technology Review, ha sido un hito, dado que es la tercera vez en la historia en que el evento se celebra fuera de Silicon Valley y la primera vez que tiene lugar en Europa.
- Málaga será como mínimo durante dos años la sede de todas las redes orientadas a la innovación y las nuevas tecnologías de las empresas de España. El Centro Europeo de Empresas e Innovación (CEEI) de Málaga es la sede de la asociación nacional de este colectivo y su director, presidente de la misma hasta el 2013.
- La inclusión de nuestra ciudad entre las 40 administraciones territoriales de ocho países comunitarios que seguirán un proceso que les conducirá a recibir el Sello Europeo de Excelencia de la Administración Local, dentro de la Estrategia para la Innovación y la Buena Gobernanza adoptada en marzo de 2008 por el Consejo de Europa. Málaga es la única gran ciudad española incluida en este exigente listado.
Todo esto nos anima aún a seguir trabajando y apostando con firmeza por esta línea estratégica de acción municipal que ya esta dando excelentes resultados en nuestra economía local. Espero remitiros nuevos textos para enriquecer y fortalecer nuestra relación a través del blog de Ciudades Inteligentes.
Francisco de la Torre Prados, alcalde de Málaga.
Related Resources:
Laying the Foundation for Nairobi’s — and Kenya’s — Economic Growth
The “Five Cs” of the Smarter Cities Challenge
Why I Was Fascinated by the Smarter Cities Challenge Team
Team von IBM hilft Dortmund auf dem Weg zur smarten City
Posted by
Emma Grove in
One hundred UK girls recently attended think.IT Camp at the IBM Hursley Development Laboratory in Winchester. The brainchild of an IBM team seeking new ways to get girls interested in technology, the two-day think.IT Camp hosted 12 to 13-year old students from 10 different schools. The camp’s objective was to encourage girls to continue studying Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and eventually consider careers in the information technology (IT) industry.
One of the winning "Technology in Sport" teams.
The girls were teamed with students from schools other than theirs, and tasked with designing and marketing a new Sports Technology product. Then each team had to present its ideas to a panel of IBM executives and Master Inventors.
“Although our mission is simple, we aim to achieve so much more. We introduce students to skills they are going to need in any industry – teamwork, leadership, business awareness, and public speaking.” – Event leaders Anna Bridgen and Caroline Thomas
European Masters 400 meter hurdles champion Jon Tilt kicked off the events with an inspirational presentation on “The Power of Technology in Sport”. The camps continued with brainstorming sessions on marketing and branding. Teams then applied their knowledge by developing business plans, creating logos and slogans, and designing a website. The camp also conducted team-building exercises and presentation skills workshops to help students prepare their final presentations.
The judges recognized two winning ideas:
- Training Buddy (“Work Out How to Work Out”) – a smartphone application that offers advice on nutrition, and injury prevention and treatment, and
- Leaf (“The Personal Best Trainer”) – a silicone earpiece that enables wireless communication between coaches and athletes to facilitate training.
Giving the girls a practical team assignment in a real-life working environment was an exciting way to get them to use their maths skills without even realising it. The results were noticeable after they returned to school – a real “buzz” in the classroom, along with new confidence and enthusiasm.
The girls also participated in several short, fun activities to strengthen their interpersonal and STEM skills. One activity was a competition to build the longest paper chain with limited time and materials. The students also worked on a murder mystery logic problem to learn IT service, support, and product development skills. Finally, each girl learned a role for a short play entitled “Women in Technology: Past, Present and Future”.
Over the course of the short camp, the girls came up with an impressive roster of innovations. They also learned firsthand how the pursuit of a STEM career path could be interesting and fun. The sponsors of think.IT hope the camp experience will influence the participants’ General Certificate of Secondary Education selections, and that someday they’ll want to return to work at IBM.
Emma Grove is an IBM Community Programmes Specialist in Hursley Park, UK.
Related Articles:
Girls Attend Go TechKnow Camp at IBM Research
Posted by
Dorothy Stoneman in
With America’s fastest-growing occupations increasingly requiring education beyond high school, young people from low-income families risk missing the very opportunities that could elevate them from poverty. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that by 2014,
23 of the 30 fastest-growing occupations will require an Associate’s degree – with 15 of
the top 20 fastest-growing fields requiring significant postsecondary training in math and science.
Meanwhile, nearly half of young people from low-income families fail to complete high school. And overall, fewer than 10 percent of young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds earn a postsecondary credential with labor market value.
In an effort to reverse this trend, I founded the first YouthBuild program in New York’s
East Harlem with the advice of neighborhood young people who wanted to break the cycle of poverty. They wanted what all young people deserve, relevant learning experiences and opportunities for unlocking their inherent leadership potential. In YouthBuild programs, low-income young people (ages 16 to 24) who left school, work toward earning their GEDs or high school diplomas while learning job skills by building affordable housing in their communities. There are 273 YouthBuild programs across the U.S., through which 110,000 students have built 21,000 units of affordable housing since 1994.
But it has become clear that earning a GED or high school diploma no longer provides meaningful entrée to the global economy. Students need to be exposed to a wider range of career opportunities, and directed toward postsecondary education in marketable skills. So in 2008, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, YouthBuild USA launched its Postsecondary Education Initiative (PSE). The goal of the initiative was to increase the number of our students who participated in college or registered apprenticeships, or earned other industry-recognized postsecondary credentials.
Through the collaboration of seven YouthBuild programs with various postsecondary institutions, we have increased the college enrollment rate of YouthBuild students from
20 percent to 43 percent. With additional funding from Open Society Foundations and
New Profit/Social Innovation Funds, the PSE Initiative has expanded to 19 locations.
Specifically, YouthBuild is focusing on exposing students to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) concepts and careers – endeavoring to connect the dots between classroom instruction and real-world applications to show young people how they can achieve in these fields. Our Philadelphia PSE location created a health care track that offers Certified Nursing Assistant training through partnerships with other training organizations and local employers. The work has inspired 20 additional YouthBuild locations to add health care to their curricula. In addition, last month we launched new work with the Noyce Foundation to improve career development, guidance and counseling for entry-level STEM careers via new technology platforms that work for low-income students interested in STEM pathways.
In September, YouthBuild and eight additional youth development organizations will bring 400 young leaders together for the second Opportunity Nation Summit. The Summit will provide a forum for discussion and policy recommendations to increase the percentage of low-income young people who earn postsecondary credentials that allow them to succeed in family-sustaining careers, and become leaders in their communities.
YouthBuild is helping low-income young people gain access to the postsecondary education and training that leads to lifelong careers. By marshaling resources and data – and pioneering instructional delivery methods that also provide emotional support – YouthBuild is creating a new and repeatable model for building skills, strengthening communities, and breaking the cycle of poverty.
A 1996 MacArthur “genius grant” Fellow, Dorothy Stoneman is the founder and CEO of YouthBuild USA – a national nonprofit support center for programs that provide construction skills, education, and leadership training for unemployed and undereducated youth, while producing affordable housing for low-income families. Dr. Stoneman also chairs the YouthBuild Coalition, which has 800 member organizations in 49 states. Prior to founding YouthBuild USA, Dr. Stoneman spent 25 years running daycare centers, community-based schools, housing development corporations, and youth programs in East Harlem, New York.
Related Articles:
Exploring Public-Private Partnerships in STEM Education
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter: The 21st Century-Ready Workforce
Today marks the launch of a new IBM Research facility in Nairobi, Kenya. In Kenya alone, IBM has deployed seven Corporate/Executive Service Corps and Smarter Cities Challenge teams to help improve critical infrastructure, spur economic growth, and strengthen the country’s ability to develop and retain top talent in technology.
In the article below, Smarter Cities Challenge alumnus Curtis Clark writes about how his team interviewed more than 80 Kenyan stakeholders en route to developing solutions to Nairobi’s traffic congestion and economic development issues.
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Already an East African economic force, Nairobi, Kenya is on a mission. The city of more than three million residents aspires to become one of the world’s leading urban areas, but to do that, it’ll have to get a handle on critical operational issues – including transportation. Nairobi has some of the world’s worst traffic congestion – a problem that costs Kenya’s capital approximately $500,000 per day in lost productivity and excess fuel consumption.
I was part of a select group of six IBM global executives deployed to Nairobi for a three-week Smarter Cities Challenge assignment. Our task was to evaluate the city’s severe transportation challenges. We interviewed more than 80 Kenyan stakeholders and reviewed in excess of 40 reports, studies and planning documents. We then analyzed the data and developed a comprehensive solution roadmap to improve transportation throughout the region, assure sound investments in the transportation infrastructure, and accelerate the execution of existing plans.
Posted by
Cathleen Finn in
Why should city leaders apply for a Smarter Cities Challenge (SCC) grant? Why, in the midst of dealing with all of the issues cities face – jobs and economic development, transportation, education, environmental sustainability, public safety – should civic leaders invest time in a proposal for outside assistance?
The simple answer is that cities are the most important places on the planet. More than 50 percent of us live in cities, so it is essential that they operate smarter. The more complex answer is that all organizations and entities – especially cities – now face challenges that cannot be overcome alone. Working together with a Smarter Cities Challenge team, civic and community leaders have access to a diverse (often global) group of experts who bring perspectives from a variety of industries. Their job is to listen to you – the people who know your city best – and then collaborate with you on a solution that “cracks the code” for your issue.
After working on two Smarter Cities engagements in the U.S. – in Providence, Rhode Island and in my home city of Boston, Massachusetts – I’ve noticed that the following qualities and characteristics generally lead to successful outcomes:
Challenge – In the face of daunting challenges with limited resources, it is city leaders who nevertheless possess the intimate knowledge of their residents’ needs. Working with experts who bring fresh perspectives from around the world can help local leaders contextualize their cities’ issues and set benchmarks for success.
Catalyst – Often, stakeholders with common interests or complementary resources and expertise connect for the first time during a Smarter Cities Challenge engagement. The cumulative effect of their brain power – combined with the intense focus of a short-term project – is profound. Perspectives are shared, synergies are identified, problems are solved, and changes take place.
Curiosity – We’ve all had the experience of being so close to a problem for so long that we could no longer analyze it objectively. Cities have the same issue, and almost always can benefit from an outside perspective. Answering new questions can lead to the creation of new approaches to solving stubborn problems.
Champions – A follow-on benefit of Smarter Cities Challenge participation is the creation of champions who will evangelize your city. Smarter Cities team members come from all over the world, and when they return home they take with them the fond memories of your city’s people and culture, along with working knowledge of your initiatives. By working with a global Smarter Cities team, you create a group of influencers who know why your city is now a better place to live and do business.
Commitment – The famous cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” When you identify the right challenge and address it with a potent mix of committed people, relevant skills, and intense focus, you have everything you need to affect positive change.
If you are willing to commit to overcoming one of your city’s toughest challenges, then a Smarter Cities Challenge engagement could be right for you.
Cathleen Finn is IBM’s Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs Manager for New England.
Related Articles:
Applications Open for 2013 Smarter Cities Challenge Grants
Why I Was Fascinated by the Smarter Cities Challenge Team
Team von IBM hilft Dortmund auf dem Weg zur smarten City
New York’s Covenant House is the largest privately-funded charity in the Americas serving homeless, trafficked and runaway young people. IBM’s involvement with Covenant House dates to 1989, when former IBM World Trade Corporation chairman Ralph A. Pfeiffer, Jr. became chairman of the board of the charity. Mark Loughridge, IBM’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Finance and Enterprise Transformation, served on Covenant House International’s board from 2007 to 2009, and Mark J. Hennessy, IBM’s General Manager of Global Business Partners & Midmarket, currently serves on the board. In addition, IBM employees have donated nearly half a million dollars to the charity over the past 25 years, mostly through the company’s annual Employee Charitable Contribution Campaign.
In these challenging economic conditions, discussion of the ways policy makers and the general public can help young people who have nowhere safe to sleep at night has never been more important. To raise awareness of this issue – and to illustrate that at-risk young people can survive and succeed with society’s help – Wiley will publish Almost Home: Helping Kids Move from Homelessness to Hope this October. Covenant House president Kevin Ryan and I co-authored the book, which has a foreword by Newark, New Jersey mayor Cory Booker. Almost Home describes the journeys of young people grappling with issues such as family violence, prostitution, teen parenthood, rejection based on sexual orientation, and aging out of foster care without a family.
In this chronicle of succeeding against all odds, you’ll read about Benjamin – who overcame a childhood of abuse and abandonment, made up nine years of school work in a single year, found success and dignity as a college athlete, and now teaches and counsels at-risk youth; Muriel – who escaped to Covenant House and is now enrolled in college after a lifetime of addiction, depression, and sexual exploitation; and Paulie – a successful kick boxer and community volunteer whose life as a wandering, homeless teenager seemed beyond hope. These young people and others were able to salvage and rebuild their lives with the help of strangers from all different walks of life, many of them at Covenant House. Through their stories, Almost Home encourages a closer look at homeless teens – a group that often remains invisible to the public, even as its numbers reach 1.6 million each year.
Among our recommendations:
- States should extend foster care to age 21, and improve child welfare systems so that abused and neglected young people can find permanent homes quickly
- Various non-profits should provide support for families whose children are sexual minorities to keep them from becoming homeless
- Pimps and users of underage prostitutes should be subject to firmer law enforcement and tougher judicial response
- Philanthropists and community groups should fund enhanced programs to encourage young fathers to be involved in their children’s lives
- Mentors should be available to help guide homeless young people through the challenges of adolescence and early adulthood
Finally, we describe specific ways in which individual citizens can help. Sometimes, having just one person who believes in a kid can make a world of difference.
Tina Kelley, a former New York Times reporter who shared in a Pulitzer Prize for the paper’s coverage of 9/11, is a staff writer at Covenant House. Almost Home: Helping Kids Move from Homelessness to Hope is available for pre-order, with all author proceeds going toward the outreach and shelter services of Covenant House. The charity operates shelters in 17 cities throughout the United States and Canada.
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