Cisco to do well by doing good in Mexico

Ben Franklin's advice to "do well by doing good" seems to run counter to popular sentiment these days. Still, some companies make an effort to combine profit and altruistic motives. A case in point is yesterday's announcement that network technology developer Cisco Systems signed a set of agreements to combine forces with the Mexican government to foster socio-economic development in Mexico.

At a meeting held at the official presidential residence, Los Pinos, in Mexico City, in the presence of President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers signed collaborative memoranda of understanding with Secretary of Education Alonso Lujambio Irazabal, Secretary of Economy Gerardo Ruiz Mateos and Secretary of Social Development Ernesto Cordero Arroyo. The memoranda outline a series of steps to help improve Mexican economic competitiveness, and deepen the country's technical talent pool. Not incidentally, these agreements are seen to promote digital communication infrastructure development, which can only be good for Cisco, one of the leading providers of equipment for information-technology infrastructure development.

"Today's collaboration with President Calderon's administration underscores the importance that Cisco places on Mexico," said Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers. "With business and government working together we can make a positive impact on education, facilitate greater effectiveness in government, and further extend broadband to rural areas. With the network as the platform, we have the potential to bring even greater opportunity to Mexico and its citizens."

Cisco says the memoranda align with its globalization strategy of supporting sustainable growth, innovation and talent development in key global economies.

Among the goals which Cisco plans to pursue in the collaboration described in the memoranda are:

• Cooperation with the Secretaria of Public Education to establish two pilot programs to help improve the teaching of 21st-century skills in basic and middle education by increasing the competency, productivity and professional development of educators.

• Establishment of a co-operative Education Center of Excellence within Mexico, incorporating leading universities, global education experts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and other leading non-governmental organizations. Its objective will be to help carry out the transformation of Mexico's education strategy.

• Support for a 21st-Century collaboration environment with education leaders worldwide through the Cisco® 3.0 Leadership Program and a Cisco TelePresence™ for Education Network with key universities around the world.

• Establishment of a Center for Competitiveness and Globalization together with the Secretaria of Economy to share best practices and to support the government in the design and implementation of programs aimed at providing government services more efficiently using digital infrastructure.

• Development of a "one-stop solution" for maximizing collaborative work among government agencies to achieve substantial improvements in competitiveness.

• Development of programs for rural connectivity in collaboration with the Secretaria of Social Development, international multilateral agencies and private companies focusing on deployment of infrastructure to provide access to voice, video and data services for rural populations at sustainable economic levels.

• Support for preparation and implementation of a business model to design and prototype an inexpensive and scalable wireless network solution to bring affordable broadband connectivity to rural communities in the region of Yucatán, Mexico.

"We're pleased to work together with the federal government in Mexico to implement these initiatives that should bring about swift economic change," stated Jaime Valles, vice president of Cisco Latin America. "The ability to help educational and governmental institutions around the country take advantage of the network to promote 21st-Century learning skills and develop collaborative work in government is a tremendous opportunity. We're pleased that the federal government in Mexico shares this vision and is committed to implementing these programs."

We hope that more companies will resist pressure to separate profit-motivated activities from altruistic aims. When you're doing something to help raise the tide for everyone, there's nothing wrong with making sure your boat gets a boost as well. It's good business.

It's also good social policy. Instead of eyeing private companies as predators whose only motive is selfishness, government officials and social activists should view them as potential allies. By helping align business interests with social causes, we can harness tremendous energy and resources to make the Universe a better place in which to live.