From increasing the diversity of our workforce and industry to reducing our environmental impacts to empowering our communities through philanthropic investments and volunteering, corporate responsibility (CR) touches every aspect of Symantec’s business. We’ve defined our strategy and are continually working towards our goals to operate as a responsible global citizen.
In addition to our dedicated global corporate responsibility team, every day Symantec employees across countries and business units collaborate to deliver on our mission of protecting our customers, our communities and our planet.
We are happy to feature a quarterly series – Inspired, United, Ignited: Symantec’s Corporate Responsibility Champions- that profiles stand out examples of our how our employees directly contribute to the implementation of our CR strategy. Some are leaders in our CR team, members of our Green Teams or champions for our employee resource groups, others are innovating to address needs in their function or region. All are inspiring others, uniting communities and igniting change to make Symantec a leading corporate citizen and to make our world a safer place.
Today we highlight our EMEA CTO & Vice President, Technology Services, Darren Thomson.
As a Chief Technology Officer for the world's leading cybersecurity company, everyday I work across our business to build innovative and market leading products and to keep Symantec on the cutting edge of cyber protection so that our customers and our world can safely leverage all that technology has to offer.
However, what I might not have anticipated over 20 years ago when I began my career, is that my role as a technology professional, and now CTO, would not only encompass products and services, but also the ability to influence the way technology impacts society and our planet.
Could we or Should We – That is the Question
As our lives become increasingly connected, IoT is creating vast opportunities, but it is also broadening the way technology impacts our lives. For example, being more connected makes protection more complex. More devices require resources to make and energy to run. New sources of data provide deeper insights, however, it challenges us to think about how we protect the safety and privacy of users.
This has lead me to think about how we define business "responsibility" by looking at the "could we" AND the "should we". For example, how can and should we anticipate any social risks associated with our products as technology advances? How can and should we optimize products to promote efficiencies and reduce environmental impacts? How can and should we educate our customers to see the business value of environmental sustainability? How can and should I encourage passionate employees to join Symantec in serving our communities?
Asking these questions has lead me to focus on three key areas:
- Engaging customers and employees in environmental sustainability
- Driving efficiencies in our most significant source of GHG emissions, our data centers
- Engaging future STEM professionals
Environmental Engagement
Incorporating the environment into technology conversations is new for many customers. However, meeting with senior leaders from some of our largest customers, I am in a unique position to have this conversation, to broaden the vision of key decision makers. For example, how we can work together to drive environmental and cost efficiencies through data center optimization – a win for both of us. On the employee side, I am the executive sponsor of the Green Teams in the United Kingdom where our employees support environmental initiatives both within and outside of Symantec.
Building our STEM Pipeline
My primary focus is around the third area - encouraging our female youth to consider careers in STEM and helping Symantec reach its goal to excite, engage, and educate one million students in STEM education by 2020.
Out of my team of 100+ employees, female representation was low and I directly felt the challenge of recruiting talented females, especially in technical positions. Additionally, the high-caliber female executives I've met in my career have inspired me to look closely at my role and how I can have the largest impact on female STEM talent.
Research shows that one of the best times to influence job interests and breakdown common stereotypes is during the younger years so I decided to begin mentoring two teenagers interested in STEM through TEAMCLICK, an innovation event for teenagers.
The program will last 3-4 years where the girls will gain invaluable experience as they approach their university studies. This will include real-world work exposure, interaction with Symantec employees across a variety of functions, attendance at Symantec events, support on university tours, as well as one-on-one mentorship.
But it is not just me who is doing the mentoring. I am also looking forward to the chance for a fresh perspective on our business, as well as a view into the journey of young students pursuing their passions for STEM.
Broadening our View
As technology professionals, we are often not trained to ask the "should we" questions, however, this needs to change. We have a personal and industry wide responsibility to look beyond the traditional boundaries of our roles and responsibilities. To look at how we can and should uncover the opportunities of technology to do business in a way that drives value for our business, communities and the world.