Posted on 09/01/2002 8:30:31 PM PDT by LostTribe
HP Supports Johannesburg World Summit 2002 as Technology Partner Sunday September 1, 9:03 am ET
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 1, 2002--HP (NYSE:HPQ - News) today reaffirmed its commitment to global corporate citizenship with its support and sponsorship of the Johannesburg World Summit 2002.
"We are honored to be the summit's technology sponsor and to participate in dialogue among key stakeholders that focuses on leveraging the assets of both the public and private sectors to solve critical global issues," said Carly Fiorina, HP chairman and chief executive officer. "HP's global corporate citizenship objective and e-Inclusion activities resonate strongly with the themes of the summit -- People, Planet and Prosperity."
HP's e-Inclusion program is a strategic, long-term commitment to leverage technology and intellectual capital to enable sustainable development. The program seeks to provide people access to greater economic and social opportunities by closing the gap between technology-empowered and technology-excluded communities.
e-Inclusion is about a future where technology is accessible to everyone in the world as a means to learn, work and benefit from information. e-Inclusion is not about imposing technology on a community or importing solutions.
"Only solutions that are community-driven can be sustainable over time," said Debra Dunn, senior vice president, HP Corporate Affairs. "We work with community leaders to understand the challenges the community faces and develop products and solutions that address their needs.
"While our participation in the summit showcases HP's world-class products and service solutions through various venues, we also share in the common goal of building a better world by enabling important dialogue through our sponsorship and active participation."
As the summit's lead technology sponsor, HP has partnered with The Johannesburg World Summit Company to provide infrastructure technology, support services and Web site solutions to integrate the summit's 39 venues and create a rich virtual environment for the dissemination of news and dialogue via http://www.josummit.com/.
HP is providing workstations, printers and consumables, digital cameras, servers, notebooks, scanners, HP iPAQ Pocket PCs, switches, storage, security software, HP Network Node Management and HP OpenView software. The company will have an interactive exhibit as part of its e-Inclusion and social responsibility efforts in the Ubuntu Village public expo area.
About HP
HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its merger transaction involving Compaq Computer Corp. on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.
,,, talk about a sermon to a market segment. Barf.
Yep, too bad they don't stick with Bidness and forget the activism. This isn't the stunt for their CEO. Too bad she isn't as concerned for the HP employees as she is for being seen as one of the global enviro-cognescenti.
{Make that} "This isn't the first such stunt for their CEO."
I figure they just want to open a wider market for their products. A corporation has no soul, higher profits is their notion of spiritual evolution and their continued business viability is the most noble expression of society. Unfortunately, that's the dark side of capitalism which occupies the same space as the dark side of any other system. 
"Hi, there! Do you know me? I'm currently running a Fortune 500 company into the ground because I don't understand either the company's own internal culture, or the political climate of the country at large!"
Ms. Fiorina really needs to be thinking about more practical matters.
Regards, Ivan
HP just made it onto my permanent boycott list, joining Sony (for their aggressive repressive "digital rights management" -- including CDs that don't play in some players), and General Mills (for their support of leftist wacko groups).
20 years ago I worked for a competitor of theirs. In that job I reverse-engineered a competing project -- in particular an expensive high-power (ECL) circuit that was replicated 32 times in the instrument. I was shocked to find that the functions of my 1.5 IC/channel design was performed by 4(+?) ICs/channel in theirs!
Their implementation was simple brute-force, and slow to boot. But they didn't have to worry because engineers never got much resistance when they specified HP gear, even though better performance could be had at lower prices.
BTW, do they still gold-plate all traces, even under the solder-mask?
Arrgh! "product"
How does HP expect to run its new line of crappy Third World printers without stable First World electricity?
That's probably true, and I could be comfortable with that. But believing that HP is being used as her personal political playground at the exense of the fine reputations of Mr. Hewlett and Mr. Packard is what burns to me. Along with involuntarily associating the hundred thousand(?) HP employees with her pet political causes.
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