AI & Technology

Yesterday Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, Vice Chair of the U.S. Water Partnership’s National Executive Committee, announced the U.S. Water Partnership (USWP)’s commitments to the White House Water Summit. Ambassador Dobriansky joined with USWP partners Blue Legacy International, Global Water Challenge, The Water Council and Xylem Inc. to announce collective actions intended to promote new technology solutions and engage stakeholders across the country to elevate water as a national priority.

You know that sick feeling when you look at a smokestack belching noxious gases into the air? Well, what if you knew that the gas waste coming from that smokestack was getting turned into a usable, liquid fuel? That’s the technology that an MIT professor, Gregory Stephanopoulos, and his colleagues are working on and so far, the results have been quite promising.

Today, I am thrilled to stand with Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo as she leads an initiative to bring computer science education to every public K–12 school across Rhode Island. The governor’s focus on computer science provides Microsoft Philanthropies with a great opportunity to partner in helping to achieve our own mission to expand digital inclusion and empowerment for everyone. An important element of that mission is to enable all young people to learn computing skills. We believe that computer science will be a foundation for most future jobs and careers, and for participating fully in society.

If a business wanted to cut its energy use in a significant and impactful way, it easily could by tapping into a vast array of energy-efficient technologies currently available in the market. But reduce its water use? That might prove a bit more challenging.

“I grew up in Seattle and chose to attend a small, undergraduate university in my hometown because of the biomedical opportunities found among Seattle’s many research institutions and hospitals.

JetBlue (Nasdaq: JBLU), New York’s Hometown Airline™, recently began accepting applications for its business mentoring program – BlueBud (buddies + budding new companies). Now in its second year, JetBlue’s BlueBud program is once again offering innovative and socially responsible food and beverage companies a unique opportunity to learn what it takes to potentially get their products onboard commercial aircraft.

Kohler Co. has shipped the first order of its ceramic filtration system, KOHLER Clarity, to Water Mission, a nonprofit organization that provides sustainable safe water solutions to people in developing countries and disasters. Water Mission plans to distribute the filters in small communities in Haiti, Honduras and Peru.

Even a modest 8-ounce steak represents 3.5 pounds of consumed grain. That’s a lot of plants, and therefore a lot of farm land, dedicated to our collective love of red meat.

The 15th Annual Charities@Work Best Practices Summit on Employee Engagement in Corporate Citizenship, held on March 28-30 at the New York Marriott Marquis, will showcase the latest advances in employee engagement, workplace giving and corporate social responsibility (CSR), including the use of virtual reality technology to build empathy and deepen the connection among a nonprofit’s donors. Conference participants will even have an opportunity to individually test drive virtual reality technology through the use of Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets. Charities@Work registration closes at the end of day on Wednesday, March 23, so register today.