The Record - Issue 19: Winter 2020

31 a significant increase in e-commerce and a reduction in physical retail experiences. This caused retailers to seek supply chain enhancements and rigorous solutions for cybersecurity practices and governance. And this is where the MTCs exhibited their differentiated value. MTC offerings such as intelligent supply chain briefings and immersive experiences demonstrating smart shelving are all brought to life with an MTC- led customer session. The use of intelligent processes to optimise your retail operations is necessary to getting the right products to customers and exceeding their expectations. As an industry, healthcare continues to face the most overwhelming challenges and present the most remarkable opportunities for transformation. Through our engagement models: envisioning sessions, hackathons, architecture design sessions and virtual health experiences, the MTCs demonstrated the benefits of intelligent healthcare and reimagining telehealth workflows to those tasked with saving lives and serving communities at risk. The MTCs provide value beyond commercial and federal engagement. Not solely a digital transformation and solution engine for commercial and government entities, our commitment to serve the communities in which our centres reside is of equal importance. Many of the 15 cities in which our centres are located continue to experience challenges, some of which became more prevalent due to the Covid-19 pandemic: healthcare and educational disparities, and economical inequities, all of which fell against the backdrop of racial and social unrest exposing the dire need for a more diverse and inclusive culture. Through Microsoft’s diversity, inclusion, Digital Skills Initiatives, annual DigiGirlz event and our newly developed MTC offerings for sustainability and accessibility, the centres and our team play a key role in helping communities achieve this goal both locally and globally. April Walker is the senior director of US Microsoft Technology Centers The Seattle MTC offers an immersive retail experience, with a demonstration of smart shelving solutions such as those developed by Cooler Screens and Microsoft