São Paulo, August 31, 2010 - As part of IBM's Corporate Service Corps,  which has completed a variety of assignments in Brazil previously for non governmental organizations such as Aprendiz, for the first time the company is bringing its top executives drawn from all over the world to complete a community service assignment with the City departments of Rio de Janeiro designed to make the city smarter.  The project, IBM's Corporate Service Corps Executive (CSCE) program consists of getting the company most skilled executives involved in community service, using their expertise helping Cities to become better able to improve life in cities.

This first executive edition in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro is the third city in the world chosen by IBM to receive the volunteers,since the city will host the main global sports events, the World Cup (2014) and the Olympics (2016).  The professionals began their work on August 16th, and are scheduled to complete in early September helping local leaders build a smarter and more sustainable city. The program’s goal is to prepare developing cities to face growth-related challenges, such as demands for transportation, energy, urban mobility, education, health, water, public safety, governance and the environment.

The IBM executive team will help create plans for sustainable and balanced growth of cities, together with the Development Department, the Rio 2016 Institute, the Investment Promotion Agency of Rio de Janeiro (API) and the Department of Conservation. The first group features five top IBM executives from Australia, India and the United States.They will recommend innovative strategies, compare services and systems with other emerging cities, and identify the best practices and opportunities for technology applications to make the public system more efficient and productive.

Corporate Service Corps (CSC)

The Corporate Service Corps Executive (CSCE) is part of the Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program.  CSC consists of training volunteer collaborator teams to contribute towards economic growth and information technology in NGOs and government institutions of developing countries like China, Egypt, Ghana, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Tanzania, Turkey and Vietnam. Deployed by IBM in 2008, Brazil became part of the list of countries and started receiving volunteers. 89 foreigners from 25 countries have worked with 33 Brazilian organizations in São Paulo, Campinas and Belo Horizonte, while 57 Brazilian IBMers have worked with NGOs in 13 different countries.
 
In addition to a group of CSCE executive volunteers, the city of Rio de Janeiro will also receive, during the months of August and September, two groups of IBM employees, from several countries, to work with third sector organizations active in the city. “Before they leave for the country where they will work, the participants undergo a three month preparation period. During this time they learn about local costumes and culture and the region’s political and social-economic reality.  After that they work for approximately a month at the selected institutions. After that period, the employees also share their experiences in their home countries and with the company as a whole”, says Ruth Harada, Corporate Citizenship director for IBM Brazil. IBM has the goal of expanding the number of employees participating in the program from 600 to 1500 by the end of 2010.