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BlackBerry – 2019 SDG Leadership Awards

BlackBerry

Website: www.BlackBerry.com

Industry: Software & Computer Services

Primary SDG Focus

Secondary SDG Focus

How was your primary SDG focus identified and prioritized in the company’s value chain?

BlackBerry is pleased to support 10 out of 10 of the principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and multiple UNGC Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

One of the SDGs we believe our efforts have been and will continue to be the most impactful and beneficial is Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.

BlackBerry believes that humans need connection to prosper.  From day one, our mission has been to advance the worlds ability to connect, while keeping people and their data safe and secure.  BlackBerry invented the world’s first two-way messaging pager and the world’s first smartphone for that reason, transforming how people work and live.  The BlackBerry smartphone enabled workforce mobility, so people could connect with their colleagues, friends and family from anywhere at any time.  BlackBerry Messenger, the worlds first Instant Messaging mobile application, launched in 2005 as the next revolution in connecting people.

Over the past six years we have evolved our technology platform to be software-based and agnostic, so that the entire Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, i.e. any country, any operating system, any type of endpoint and more, can be connected and protected by BlackBerry software.

Our goal is to bring BlackBerry technology to everybody and everything.  It is with this secure connectivity foundation that the Internet of Things can become a reality.  A reality that has vast benefits, from improving the detection and treatment of disease, to enabling developing countries to grow and many more valuable applications that have not yet been explored or defined.

How was your primary SDG integrated and anchored throughout your business?

Today BlackBerry is a software and services company and our technologies are agnostic so that the entire Internet of Things ecosystem, i.e. any country, any operating system, any type of endpoint and more, can be connected and protected by BlackBerry software.

Our goal is to bring BlackBerry technology to everybody and everything.  It is with this secure connectivity foundation that the Internet of Things can become a reality.  A reality that has vast benefits, from improving the detection and treatment of disease, to enabling developing countries to grow and many more valuable applications that have not yet been explored or defined.

We are committed to continuous innovation and employ over 4,000 employees around the world, all dedicated to this goal every day and in everything we do.  Over 1,500 employees are engineers, focused on research and development.  We are committed to continue hiring in r&d, with an emphasis on an inclusive and diverse workforce.  We also hire over 400 student co-ops to enable the workforce of the future in a growing industry.

BlackBerry works with 1,000’s of partners around the world, from SME’s to Large Enterprises, to accomplish our mission and we are dedicated to increasing the number of partnerships we are engaged in.

Did you employ any innovative approaches in your efforts to implement the goal?

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To accomplish our goal some of the initiatives we have employed are given as examples below:

  • BlackBerry employs over 4,000 employees around the world, including over 1,500 engineers dedicated to research and development. We also hire over 400 student co-ops to enable the workforce of the future in a growing industry.
  • We have pivoted our technology portfolio from hardware to software, to enable our secure connectivity solutions to be leveraged by everyone. Our software can be embedded in any endpoint, large or small, or manage and protect any operating system, across the IoT.
  • Additionally, BlackBerry works with 1,000’s of partners around the world, from SME’s to Large Enterprises. We are dedicated to increasing the number of partnerships we are engaged in.
  • To accelerate the development of smart cities and intelligent transportation systems, BlackBerry developed a security credential management system (SCMS) that supports national and transnational deployments. We have made it available for free around the world, to public offices and automakers for smart city and connected vehicle pilots.
  • BlackBerry has an event collaboration and crisis communications product, used during planned and unplanned events to enable people’s safety. We donate this product to the Red Cross who use it during natural and man-made disasters. It is also used by governments, emergency services and other organizations around the world.

BlackBerry recently announced we are helping Indigenous communities across Canada deploy new technologies and education programs, with a view to improving their overall well-being from a health, education, safety and economic development standpoint.

Were any partnerships leveraged or created?

BlackBerry is pleased to partner with 1000’s of SME’s and Large Enterprises around the world.  We believe partnerships drive the economy.  The following is a selection of some of the partnerships we have formed in-line with our goal:

  • Red Cross
  • University of Waterloo
  • Deakin University
  • RMIT University
  • Macquarie University
  • Durham Police
  • Police Scotland
  • Mackenzie Health
  • Melanoma Institute
  • US Army
  • Virginia Tech University
  • Kotei
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Soltare
  • Acerta
  • Bluink
  • Sasken
  • Tritech
  • NATO
  • Smart Ag
  • ASBA Bank
  • Byton
  • TD Bank
  • Verizon
  • LG
  • Karma Automotive
  • Molex
  • Micab
  • Spirit Of Math
  • Mohawks of Kahnawake
  • HSBC
  • Bank of America
  • Samsung

What communications strategy did you employ to share the initiative with your stakeholders?

BlackBerry leverages multiple communications strategies and channels to amplify our progress towards our goals, including but not limited to the following:

  • Internal communications:
    • Our dedicated employee communications page is updated with news daily and is the destination for important news for employees.
    • We also deploy communications by email, regular employee town halls and our corporate policies.
  • In addition to our employees, it is important to us that we are transparent with our customers, partners and the general public. We are also committed to using our voice and platform to raise awareness of important issues. To achieve this we deploy communications, to our customers, partners and the general public, from our Executive Chairman & CEO and other executives across BlackBerry.
  • Other communications channels include but are not limited to:
    • Press releases
    • Social media posts
    • com website
    • BlackBerry events
    • Participation in third party events
    • CSR reporting
    • Participation in industry and related awards

How were KPIs and the levels of success outlined and defined?

Some of the measurements we track and communicate are listed below.

  • Today our technology connects and protects over half a billion endpoints around the world, including over 150 million cars, medical devices, wind turbines, hydroelectric plants, smart meters, the international space station and more.
  • Our customers include 7 of the G7 governments and 16 of the G20, 100% of F100 energy companies, 100% of F100 commercial banks and more.
  • BlackBerry focuses on and tracks YoY growth in channel partners, across SME’s and Large Enterprises. Last year our accredited enterprise channel partners grew 44% and our BlackBerry Technology Solutions channels grew 30%, with growth coming from countries around the world.

What were the key impacts and results?

BlackBerry is pleased to support the UNGC and is committed to continuing to strive towards our goal of a more connected, safe and secure world.

Additional information: