The firm will invest US$200 million into new initiatives over the next three years
Elly Yates-Roberts |
Management consulting firm Accenture is investing more than US$200 million over the next three years in education and skills initiatives to help equip three million people globally with the skills they need to succeed in the digital age.
“As a technology leader, we have an obligation to apply new scalable technology solutions to help solve complex societal challenges,” said Pierre Nanterme, chairman and CEO, Accenture. “Our investments will continue to empower Accenture to produce socially minded partnerships and programmes that will have a profound impact on the lives of millions of people throughout the world, now and for the future.”
The investment will help to fund projects such as Skills to Succeed, Tech4Good, Accenture Development Partnerships and related Accenture initiatives.
The Skills to Succeed initiative creates employment opportunities by leveraging digital innovation to help reduce unemployment. Together with nonprofit organisations, Accenture has equipped more than 2.2 million people with the skills to get a job or build a business since 2010.
Accenture’s Skills to Succeed partnerships have helped Youth Business USA develop a platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to connect young entrepreneurs from under-represented communities with the resources they need to grow their business.
Accenture had also worked with Rede Cidadã and Instituto Ser Mais in Brazil to provide low-income populations with the business and technical skills they need to build careers in technology.
Accenture’s Tech4Good projects use technologies to help solve the challenges that businesses face. The company collaborated with The Grameen Foundation India, using technologies such as AI to augmented reality, to help disadvantaged people improve their financial literacy.
In collaboration with Club Egalité, Accenture Labs in Sophia Antipolis, France, is developing a virtual-reality game that helps students explore future-proof jobs and develop critical skills for the digital economy, with the goal of encouraging an interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.