Home to more than 1.2 billion people, India is the second most populous country and the seventh-largest country by geographical area. Given the diversity and hyper growth of India in recent years, it is no surprise that IBM India’s operations, which began in 1951 and started again in 1992, also are diverse and have been among the fastest growing worldwide. India welcomed its first CSC team in 2009, with CSC locations having included Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur and Combiatore. Partners of CSC teams have included governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies and institutes of higher education, with project subjects including business and technical constraints.
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CSC India 1
September 6 2009 - October 3 2009
"India Team 1 included ten participants from countries around the globe including Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, South Korea, and the United States of America. The team was assigned to consult with five partner organizations in Mumbai, India, Tata Institute of Social Science organizes teaching programs to facilitate the development of competent and committed professionals for practice, research and teaching. It develops and disseminates knowledge, and reaches out to the larger community through extension programs at the local, national, regional and international levels. India Team 1 assisted Tata Institute of Social Sciences in developing a business model and an effective marketing plan for sea-buckthorn, a fruit grown wild in Ladakh, which is a mountainous region in North-Western India. The intent was to target corporations and create sustainable livelihoods for a large number of Ladakh families as an alternative revenue stream to tourism. This effort has positioned the Ladakh Region to advance in a very meaningful and practical way.
Pratam is a non-governmental organization that works to provide quality education to the underprivileged children. It provides textbooks and educational materials for rural and poor parts of India. Avert Society is an organization with the mission of mitigating the spread of the HIV epidemic by effectively putting in place relevant and sustainable interventions. The team assisted the Avert Society and Pratham by setting up improved information technology processes and sustainable infrastructure to enable future growth as wells as solve current problems such as anti-virus issues. Moreover, the team proposed improvements to employee communication and education regarding information technology processes.
iVolunteer is an initiative of MITRA, a not-for-profit organization that enables people to bring skills and expertise to the rural areas to accelerate and enhance social development in India. iVolunteer's mission is to bring volunteers and organizations together to share time, skills and dedication to promote India's social development. Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry is an organization that develops and promotes social responsibility to local businesses across sectors. Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry and iVolunteer (Mitra) obtained unique value from the team through work efforts that encouraged local businesses to become involved in social responsibility activities and by developing marketing strategies that more readily engaged volunteers to participate in social responsibility endeavors.
All the team members of India Team 1 have great and unforgettable memories from the assignment. One team member captured the essence of how our whole team feels in their recent comments,“There are so many memories from those 30 days, from the first day when we stepped out of the airport of Mumbai to met the humid night air of India and were greeted by Cubby (our local facilitator) to the last day when we left one by one traveling back to our countries of origin. It is very difficult to select a single “favorite” memory that adequately portrays that whole special experience. However a couple of “favorite” memories that stand out include Dr. Raj taking the team to visit Avert's partner organizations, and visiting the Khangari Caves.”"
- CSC India 2
5 September 2009 – 3 October 2009
"India Team 2 consisted of eight members originating from six countries including Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Ireland, and Japan. The team was organized to consult with four clients in pairs of two people per client.
Distinctive value that the team created for our clients is highlighted in the paragraphs that follow.
Friends of Women’s World Banking, India (FWWB) was established in 1980 for the purpose of providing financial and capacity building services to organizations promoting livelihoods and the self-reliance of poor women. To strengthen this client’s mission, the team provided a recommended structure and system for customer feedback along with an implementation plan for FWWB’s Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) that enabled them to more readily offer an improved portfolio of other financial services.
IndiCorps is a non-governmental organization that cultivates leadership and promotes civic responsibility for the purpose of developing India. The team enhanced this client’s mission through the creation of a strategic plan for an alumni program that was designed to engage alumni involvement with value-based services, leadership opportunities and continual involvement with IndiCorps.
Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) was founded in 1972 as a trade union tailored to meet the needs of the unorganized, unprotected laborers who represent 93% of the female labor force in India. The main goals of SEWA are to organize women workers individually and collectively in a way that constitutes full employment enabling them to obtain economic empowerment and benefits such as health care, child care and housing. In support of these goals, the team designed an architectural blueprint and implementation plan for membership database management and an intranet with members.
Tribal Development Department of Gujarat (TDDG) was established to create a high quality community infrastructure with sustainable employment such that the income of every tribal family doubles in the next five years through strategic partnerships within the public and private sectors. In terms of tribal population, Gujarat is the fifth largest state in India and is mainly comprised of unskilled laborers in agriculture and construction. To support the TDDG’s mission to create an infrastructure that organizes projects to both attract sustainable employment and increase tribal family incomes, the team furnished a project management capacity building and open source software selection.
Reports of volunteer consulting efforts provided by India Team 2 were also highlighted in the local Times of India Newspaper."
- CSC India 3
18 October 2009 - 18 November 2009
"India Team 3 arrived in Mumbai, India on October 18, 2009 with a motto “Many In Bodies, One in Mind.” The team consisted of ten participants from eight countries representing the United States of America, Sweden, China, France, Brazil, Switzerland, Romania, and Germany. The participants also represented multiple functional areas within IBM and leveraged the full array of skills in their collective tool chest to provide exceptional value to four client organizations as highlighted in the following paragraphs.
AVERT Society is an organization with the mission of mitigating the spread of the HIV epidemic by effectively putting in place relevant and sustainable interventions. The team conducted a comprehensive review and provided recommendations that transformed the Avert Society’s operating manual into an effective and user friendly source of information conducive for relevant, productive, daily usage.
The team also developed significant commercial software capabilities, assessment tools and training for Pratham, which is a non-governmental organization founded to provide quality education for underprivileged children in rural and poor areas of India, and MITRA, a not-for-profit organization that enables people to bring skills and expertise to the rural areas to accelerate and enhance social development in India.
For the fourth client, YUVA, India Team 3 collaborated to develop a strategy and related action plan to link and support a local savings group for growth, sustainability and more centralized control.
In addition to learning new skills while working in the context of a new culture, our team realized that working for organization’s whose main mission is the well being of the people presented a new inspiration for the use of our skills, knowledge, experiences and lives. The CSC assignment in India also taught us that one can possess almost nothing and still be very fulfilled and satisfied."
- CSC India 4
16 October 2009 – 14 November 2009
"India Team 4 included nine individuals from eight countries (Finland, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United States, Japan, and Germany) and was assigned to Ahmedabad, India.
We worked on four different projects.
At Ashoka, we developed a strategic plan for incremental housing in the urban slums of Ahmedabad.
At the Tribal Development Department of Government of Gujarat (TDD) we developed a Rural Eco-Tourism Project. At the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) we developed a basic architectural design and implementation action plan for using ICT in two key operational areas; member database management, and an intranet with members. At Indicorps we developed an impact evaluation plan and implementation procedures."
- CSC India 5
13 February 2010 – 12 March 2010
"Nine IBM professionals from 8 countries around the world traveled to Pune, India to contribute their talent and skills to consulting projects across five different NGOs.
This diverse team was made up of the following IBMers from around the globe including Austria, Canada, Japan, France, Romania, Germany, Australia, and the United States.
The team worked closely with five organizations.
At Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (YASHADA), the team developed of basic architectural design for a web-based Distance Learning Method (DLM) offered through YASHADA, the administrative training institute of the Government of Maharashtra.
At Teach For India, the team developed a 5 year strategic growth plan to assist Teach For India in expanding to all major Indian cities and related rural areas.
At Chaitanya, the team developed a marketing strategy to help Chaitanya, one of the pioneers of self-help group movement in Maharashtra, improve its visibility beyond the Indian development sector.
At the Film & TV Institute of India (FTII) the team designed an asset management solution to assist FTII in scheduling academic resources, management and tracking of assets and inventory in the sound department with plans to replicate across all departments.
At the Software Institute for Rural Development (SIRD), the team supported the design and architecture development of SIRD’s rural banking software and related bank management information system capabilities.
Our favorite memory is spending the first 48 hours together jet-legged and bonding, as we traveled through the markets, shops and festivals of Mumbai enjoying our first Indian cuisine and getting to know each other."
- CSC India 6
19 March 2010 - 19 April 2010
"India Team 6 was comprised of 10 members from 8 eight countries. We worked in Hyderabad, state of Andhra Pradesh, in Southern India.
The overall focal areas of of team’s assignments were education, children and agriculture.
At the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, our team developed and implemented a student-run newsletter, an attendance solution and a mentoring program.
One team improved efficiency of business operations and delivery for Dr. Reddy’s Foundation, through improved internal communications and software development that made information management more efficient.
One team developed a tool to monitor and analyze teachers’ performance and improved quality of education in rural areas for Andhra Pradesh Residential Education Institutions Society Schools (APREIS).
For the Hyderabad Council of Human Welfare, one team designed a new fundraising strategy and new tools.
One team worked for Janani foods. The team developed a strategy for growing the number of kiosks, where farmers access a number of services related to their farming.
Among other activities we visited maternity groups in migrant villages, and schools and kindergartens in the area of Shamshabad.
The team also celebrated a number of holidays, such as Holi, Ugadhi and Milad-un-Nabi while we were there."
- CSC India 7
11 April 2010 - 11 May 2010
"Our team had eight members, from seven countries, and spoke four different languages.
We were located in Bangalore, the heart of India's Information Technology sector. We were divided into teams of two and worked with four exceptional partner organizations.
At Belaku Trust, which assists poor and marginalized women through research, economic development and income generation programs, we assessed the feasibility and sustainability of three income generation projects and provided recommendations, management tools and training.
At MYRADA, a non-governmental organization that manages rural development projects in Southern India, we provided strategic recommendations to support the transition of marginal pulse farmers’ marketing practices from the traditional model to the new NCDEX electronic trading platform, providing transparency and additional benefits to the farmers.
At the International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIIT-B), a not-for-profit academic institution jointly funded by the Government of Karnataka and the IT industry, the team developed an IT Strategy that aligned IIIT-B's business, information and application architectures, based on the Institute's current needs and five-year growth plans.
At the Parikrma Humanity Foundation, which provides top-class education to under-served children (slum and orphaned), thereby providing them with the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty, our team developed a marketing strategy focused on fundraising and communications for the United States and European donor markets.
Our team had numerous memorable cultural experiences. One that clearly stood out was on our team-building day when we attended an Indian Premiere League (IPL) cricket game between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Mumbai Indians. Cricket is big in India - REALLY BIG! It was a fantastic day during which a few of us were converted into some pretty serious cricket fans."
- CSC India 8
10 September 2010 - 08 October 2010
"India Team 8 was the eighth successful team deployed to India, but the first team to volunteer in Kolkata; and was comprised of ten diverse, accomplished leaders from seven countries including Argentina; Australia; Canada; France; Germany; the Netherlands; and the United States of America.
The collective team recommended and provided process tools for business, marketing, fund-raising and staffing strategies; computer training and materials; customized websites, databases, and one fully set up IT solution package; and IT security plans for six clients who provide social services to assist deaf, abandoned and underprivileged children; mentally ill and homeless individuals; and merchants with potential for economic growth. The following paragraphs highlight our clients, additional community service, favorite memories and biggest takeaways from the experience.
Calcutta Social Project is an organization dedicated to assist and empower the true potential of underprivileged and financially excluded women and children through services focused on education, nutrition and housing.
Artisans Chamber of Commerce is a start up business whose intent is to connect the local artisans of West Bengal to buyer markets at a national and international level.
Iswar Sankalpa is an organization whose goal is to assist the mentally ill homeless, and underprivileged to obtain medical help and civil decency.
VAANI is a organization whose mission is to promote the entitlement of every deaf child to have access to communication, education, protection and personal safety in order to reach their potential as an individual and member of society.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a consortium that promotes accelerated growth of industry in India by focusing on key enablers of sustainable enterprise such as education, employability, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Future Hope of India is an organization whose mission is to provide abandoned, underprivileged children in Kolkata with a healthy home environment, medical aid, education and opportunities.
Additional community service projects that enabled the team to be further immersed in the rich culture, traditions and history of India included assisting the local IBM Team with a computer literacy class tailored for underprivileged children; and visiting an orphanage established by the late Mother Teresa who was a 1979 Nobel Peace Prize Winner.
There is a collage of favorite and shared memories that serve as a bond for the India 8 Team such as taxi and rickshaw rides; honking horns; Hindu Temple chimes; monsoon rains; Govindas Restaurant; Indian Rupees; festival decorations; national anthems that represent each home country; the Taj Mahal; and time with clients. This was a rigorous developmental and deeply rewarding experience.
“We believe that our biggest takeaways from this experience are the relationships that we have with our new clients, the friendships and the personal connections to each other in this team, and the lives that we have impacted in this CSC experience”."
- CSC India 9
18 September 2010 – 16 October 2010
"India Team 9, dubbed the ""BlueTigers,"" were based in Bangalore India and included eleven IBM volunteers from nine different countries, including Canada, Columbia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The team partnered with six different organizations, which were all interesting and diverse in their own ways.
Based on the experience of another project (PSI Connect), the team designed a detailed framework for creating a data management strategy that can be applied to future projects at Population Services International (PSI).
At Industree Crafts, the team created a comprehensive strategy to build relationships between Industree and its employees and suppliers. In addition, they empowered business ownership and effective operations through the creation of a shareholder strategy program, developed a usable business process guide, and shared many team coaching activities.
The team developed a recommended membership strategy to focus on increasing member numbers and renewal rates for the Engineering Manufacturer Entrepreneurs Resource Group (eMERGE).
For the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), the team developed a recommended organizational structure for NEN’s alumni network and created E Clubs that will gather alumni feedback and increase alumni participation in NEN country-wide programs.
The team analyzed the current situation and requirements of the India Foundation for the Arts in order to create a design solution for a centralized knowledge management system that will enable all relevant organizational documents / data to be accessible and retrievable to relevant users as needed.
The team researched and provided recommendations to Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency (MYRADA) in order to kick-start their participation in the carbon trading market. In addition, they suggested systems and processes to assess, evaluate, and quantify potential projects for carbon capture.
One of the team’s favorite memories was spending a truly exciting weekend at the Kabini River Lodge for a safari where their small safari vehicle was charged by a wild mother elephant."
- CSC India 10
25 February 2011 - 26 March 2011
"India Team 10 was assigned to Chennai, India and consisted of 10 participants from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, and the United States.
We worked on the following projects.
Hand in Hand is a Public Charitable Trust operating since 1988 with a focus on child labor elimination, income generating programs, education, and the empowerment of women. Our team worked on initiatives for Citizen Centres.
Habitat for Humanity India is a non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of poverty-housing and homelessness by providing decent, safe, and affordable shelter for the poor and marginalized. Our team worked on marketing and branding strategy.
Solidarity & Action Against the HIV Infection (SAATHII) is a non-profit that strengthens and scales up HIV services in India through various programs to both government and nongovernment implementers of HIV and related sexual and reproductive health services. Our team worked on integrating program financial Information systems.
Servals Automation Ltd is a social enterprise with a mission to provide clean, green, affordable and sustainable cooking and lighting energy solutions to the poor. Our team worked on a cost management strategy.
One of our favorite memories is when the entire team rented a van and took a weekend trip to Pondicherry, Auroville and Mahabalipuram – we saw ancient ruins, elephants in temples, meditated in an ashram, swam in the Bay of Bengal, witnessed the excitement of Indian countryside traffic, ate delicious food and laughed together as a team!" - CSC India 11
5 March 2011 - 2 April 2011
"India Team 11 was the first CSC team assigned to Jaipur, known as the pink city. Jaipur is the capital and the largest city of the India State of Rajasthan. The team consisted of 11 members from 10 countries – Germany, Finland, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, U.S.A.
Our team motto which was printed on the team t-shirt, was, “Be the change you want to see in the world (Mahatma Gandhi).”
We worked on five projects.
At Bhoruka Charitable Foundation, we developed a strategic marketing and fundraising plan to increase the organization’s visibility and expand channels for funding support.
At the Centre for Development Communication we developed a model for a scalable and replicable Annakshetra program and process on collection and distribution of leftover food.
At Jaipur Rugs Foundation, we developed a technical design document as well as a software development support and processes document for a new (or current augmented) system focused on new product lines.
At M R Morarka J D C Rural Research Foundation we developed a business strategy, standard operating procedures, and model for promoting rural and farm eco-tourism.
At Vatsalya, we developed a five year strategy plan to expand and develop the Self Help Group-Anoothi Livelihood project.
We visited several locations in the area, both for project work and for community service. We visited Nawalgarh (200 km from Jaipur) to experience farm eco-tourism. We also visited the Churu District (300 km from Jaipur) to see how BCT’s rural development programs have been helping villagers and underprivileged in the Great Indian Desert. We visited ISKCON temple and picked up leftover food, which we delivered to the leprosy ashram. We visited a school for special needs children and joined them in Holi celebration. And we also had many different visits and interactions with Women’s Self Help Groups (SAGs)."
- CSC India 12
23 September – 22 October, 2011
At the beginning 12 different individuals from IBM Argentina, Brazil,Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, USA. At the end - 1 excited team, extended family enriched not just by Indian culture, history, language or habits but also enriched by culture of other colleagues.
During 4 extensive weeks after which we knew each other more than colleagues we work with for several years. How come?
We got the excellent opportunity to promote IBM CSR spirit inside the Indian population by working with 3 different clients while each of them contributes to the local society on different field.
SANKARA eye care
Started in 1977: Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Medical Centre, Vision 20/20 for all by 2020: to establish centres across India, which will make high quality eye care accessible to all Indians. Sankara will have the capacity to benefit 1 million people every year by the year 2020.
During our assignment:
- 9 institutions across India
- >19 million have benefitted from preventive and curative care
- > 6,70,000 vision-restoring procedures have been performed
Isha Vidhya school
Founded in 2006 by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev as part of Isha Foundation
Mission: to transform lives of rural children via affordable, high-quality education
- Key for high quality education is qualification of teachers
- Isha runs teacher enhancement trainings
Our Team objective - Transform teacher training from a class room education to virtual training
Siruthuli Water Management
Founded 2003 by different cooperation and citizens from Coimbatore
Managing Trustee: Vanitha Mohan
Mission: Make Coimbatore green and clean
During our assignment:
- Conduct awareness programs restored Coimbatore water bodies and build rainwater harvesting structures to restore ground water level
- Tree planting program
- Waste management program for Coimbatore dump site
Upcoming topics:- Keep and save restored water bodies from pollution
- Get sewage inlets to water bodies under control
- Get water hyacinth growth under control Our Team objective - Develop a strategic plan for getting the water hyacinth growth under control
Links to Team blogs - Alex, Benjamin, Isha Team, Team Siruthuli, Lisa, Saken, Vasek, Sverre, Mercedes
- CSC India 13
Our team converged on Jaipur from four continents, represented nine countries and brought a dozen languages between us. This was the second CSC team in Jaipur, so our homestay knew what to expect as we got to know the each other for what would become our extended family over the next four weeks.
We had the privilege to work with four disparate organisations, each of which demonstrated outstanding hospitality and warmth to us, which we hope we repaid through our individual projects.
Only a small proportion of India’s youth receive any form of vocational training, on the other hand the private sector is increasingly lacking people and demand will further grow in years to come. Vatsalya’s vocation is to address this increasing imbalance. The NGO provides basic, practical skills training in trades as tailoring, IT, sales and marketing and hospitality for urban slum youth to enable them to gain a stable livelihood. Our work with Vatsalya was to assist them with growth and sustainability planning of their training centres. We also provided recommendations how to implement a sustainable organizational structure so Vatsalya could expand their efforts significantly over the next five years.
Umang is an organisation that provides education for multiply disabled children. Their vocational training program develops skills and behaviours to enable disabled youth become productive and obtain employment. Our goal was first to study the existing organisation and then to create a business plan that incorporated a branding and marketing strategy to make the NGO self-sustainable in 3-5 years. Along with the business plan we provided management counselling and a detailed breakdown of the actions needed for its implementation.
The Morarka Foundation trains rural farmers in organic techniques to promote healthier living and help the farmers rise up from poverty through extra income earned by offering a premium product. Our role was to design a technology system and streamline business processes so that the farmer management and support that Morarka offers can be scaled to accommodate thousands of farmers world wide.
Population Foundation of India (PFI) is involved in policy advocacy and research on population issues in the country by collaborating with central, state and local government institutions. The project envisages the development of a responsive, functional and sustainable urban health system that provides need-based, affordable and accessible quality healthcare and improved sanitation and hygiene for the urban poor in eight states and five cities. The team assisted PFI with designing a centralised health management system for aggregating, generating and compiling data, reports and research outputs, as well as re-designing existing organizational processes for information collection from the field. The system will help PFI to track the progress of its program in support of their programmatic and strategic decision making.
We were lucky enough to be in Jaipur during the festival of Deepavali – the ‘festival of lights’ – and little compares with the continuous cacophony of all-night fireworks. Other highlights range from the weekend in Agra and the Taj Mahal, to the trips to the local shops for custard apples and our favourite sweet, Burfi. But perhaps the all-round good day out was going to Vatsalya’s Udayan orphanage and school where we volunteered our services as a team, ending with being introduced to the sport of Kabaddi, where were resoundingly (and predictably) beaten by the local experts.
For our deeper stories, conversations and pictures our blog is at cscindia13.blogspot.com
- CSC India 14
15 October 2011 – 11 November 2011
There are eleven IBMers from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Slovakia. For four weeks we were one family serving various communities of Chennai, India. We accomplished five projects. We presented a framework of how to implement self sustainable local community centers to Praxis, an institute for Participatory Practices committed to mainstreaming the voices of the poor and marginalized sections of the society. We also created an IT architectural framework for Kalakshetra Foundation, a college of fine arts, dedicated to preservations of the traditional values of South Indian art. We created marketing and fundraising plans for Karunalaya, a voluntary organization working for the protection and rehabilitation of street and working children in Chennai. We provided time and project management training to the staff of Arunodhaya, a non-government, nonprofit voluntary organization serving as a social movement to abolish child labor. We also formulated a strategic plan for growth and sustainability for CFDA which is a charitable organization with the vision of creating alternative institutions for the empowerment of women. Besides the cultural immersion during the weekends, a number of our team members visited families living in slum areas, attended conferences given by the children of the organization that they help, and even attended a traditional India wedding. To quote a team member, “It is a life changing experience!”
- CSC India 15
February 10, 2012 – March 10, 2012
There were 12 of us on the India 15 team, from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, the U.S. (2), Korea, the Philippines, Colombia, Hungary and France. We were based in Coimbatore India, in the southern part of the country, in the state of Tamilnadu.
Our team had an amazing, diverse group of clients:
ABT Society: ABT Society is the ‘community development’ wing of Sakthi Group of Industries. The team worked with ABTS to improve the livelihood of their farmer/producers across the state of Tamilnadu, while supporting ABT’s goal of doubling milk production capacity by 2020 to meet demand in India as well as complete on the global market. The team developed a comprehensive knowledge based training package to be delivered through a self-help group model to ABT’s small and marginal farmers.
Sankara Eye Institute: Sankara operates its eye hospitals through a combination of a paid and volunteer workforce, providing 500 free eye surgeries every day. It's also one of the largest eye banks in India, and provides preventive care for children in villages as well. The team developed a web based Knowledge Management System to centralize SOP (standard operation procedure) documents used across Sankara hospitals.
India 75: Celebrating India's 75th anniversary of independence in 2022, India 75’s goal is to create a new socio-economic model for India, using technology and entrepreneurship to empower local communities and create sustainable urban habitats. The team developed the architecture and design for a collaborative technology system to facilitate the aggregation of data surrounding green initiatives across India.
PSG-IMSR: PSG provides medical training for people across India and also operates several rural health centers, which provide health related training to NGOs operating in the Coimbatore region. To address the need for similar training facilities in other parts of Tamilnadu, the team developed a plan to roll out a new training facility to provide training and overnight accommodations for NGO staff from all over Tamilnadu.
It’s hard to select a single great memory from the month, but one that stands out was our weekend trip to the neighboring state of Kerala, the next state over from Tamilnadu. We stayed in Cochin, explored the city, went on an amazing boat ride through the backwaters of Alleppy, visited Cherai Beach to swim in the India Ocean, and last but not least, got to meet the CSC India 16 team based in Cochin – they’d just arrived the week before our visit!
- CSC India 16
17 Feb 2012 to 17 Mar 2012
IBM CSC India 16 is internationally recognized as IBM’s finest team of CSC participants to grace the shores of the sub continent since team India 15 (and prior to India 17).
The team comprised of:
- Anne-Catrin (Stockholm, Sweden) – Project Manager
- Catherine (Armonk, US) – Financial Analyst
- Rick (Halifax, Canada) – Software Sales Manager
- Rafael (Sao Paolo, Brazil) – Sales Management Advisor
- Michel (Orléans, France) - Customer Fulfillment Manager
- Elke (Herrenberg, Germany) – IT Architect
- Lou (Madrid, Spain) - Services Centre Manager
- Christophe (Bois-Colombes, France) – IT Architect
- Jennifer (Atlanta, US) – Marketing Manager
- Hugo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – Project Manager
- Jana (Bratislava, Slovakia) – Incentive Team Leader
- Mike (Sydney, Australia) - Managing Consultant
The 13th team member was Klaus, who supported the team from his home in Germany. Klaus, a former participant on a CSC team that went to Brazil, facilitated the team’s training and preparation and his help was greatly appreciated.
The team spent four weeks on the ground in Cochin, Kerala working with four wonderful local organizations:
1) Local Economic Development Society (LEDS). LEDS focuses on the economic empowerment of small producers and micro entrepreneurs. The team completed a Market Demand Analysis for high value handicrafts.
2) Kara Ventures. The Kara Ventures team developed pricing and marketing suggestions for their client and assisted them with the Fair Trade certification process.
3) India@75: India16 team developed a diagnostic (As-Is situation) and proposed a framework for the Solid Waste Management chain for the city of Kochi. The team focused on identifying why a number of the various previous studies were not effective.
4) Navabharath Foundation. The team designed an incubation model to build micro-enterprises comprised of women below the poverty line. Upon graduation, the micro-enterprises should be self-sustaining and no longer require assistance from Navabharath Foundation.
The team bonded over shared weekend experiences including a house boat trip on Kerala’s backwaters, Kathakali theater, the tea plantations of Munnar and elephant rides. A close knit team of like minded individuals, they continue to meet on a regular basis via conference calls and the occasional sub team gathering at venues around the globe.
Refer to the team blog for further details of the team’s experiences in Cochin: http://ibmindia16.blogspot.in/
- CSC India 17
26 March 26 – 20 April 20 2012
Twelve IBMers representing nine countries - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Australia, Japan, Germany, Canada, Mexico and the USA – arrived in Indore, India to do some good and become fast friends.
IBMers in teams of three, work with four different NGOs in Indore, India.
1. Concept Society- focuses on an integrated, holistic and participatory approach leading to sustainable development of the poor and the marginalized. The India17 team created a plan for the development and promotion of its Women’s Resource and Training Centre.
2. India@75 - is a grassroots initiative for realizing the dream of an inclusive, sustainable and developed India by the year 2022. The India17 team developed a Toolkit to help Indorians improve water management for a sustainable urban environment.
3. Labour Commission required the assistance of the IBM India17 team to design a centralised database system for tracking and monitoring the registration of and activities for registered beneficiaries.
4. Urban Health Resource Centre addresses health, nutrition and well-being of the disadvantaged urban dwellers. The India17 team developed a strategic marketing, network building, branding and fundraising plan aimed at increasing UHRC visibility and bringing in funds to expand program activities.Indorians are a joyful and peaceful people. The IBM India17 team were moved by the determination of the most vulnerable people we encountered, whose circumstances were unimaginable to us. Water scarcity, illiteracy, lack of sanitation, very limited health services and inequity for women that would be unconscionable in most western cultures.
It was our privelage to work with each of our NGO’s to advance their mission to improve the lives of Indians in Indore.
- CSC India 18
14 September 2012 – 13 October 2012
11 participants from 8 countries:
- Australia (James Bradley and Johnny Lee),
- Brazil (Alessandra Horschutz and Reinaldo Katahira),
- Italy (Paolo Cravino),
- Mexico (Luis Carlos Reyes),
- Philippines (Aimee Co),
- Scotland (Vivienne Scott),
- Spain (Carolina Escribano) and
- USA (Jacob Miller and Thomas Lombardi).
Assignment was in the city of Chandigarh, India
The IT Security Sub Team: The IT Security Project involved working with the PEC University to assist in developing an information technology security framework that achieves its goals in attaining safe, secure and effective critical information protection. Activities involved performing a Gap Analysis, evaluating worldwide IT Security best practices, and drafting an Information Security Policy and Emergency Response plan.
E-waste Sub Team: The e-waste project involved conducting a Gap Analysis of Chandigarh’s e-waste disposal; creating a plan with recommendations, systems and processes for the formal and informal sector.
The Centre for Education and Voluntary Action (CEVA) Sub Team: CEVA sub team helped developing the Marketing Strategic plan which included 5 main areas in order to achieve a balanced portfolio of grants and guarantee CEVA’s self-sufficient actions and attain a broader reach with their programs within India population, more specifically in the Punjab Area.
The focusing areas were:
- Vision, SWOT
- ID Donor options
- Programming cost
- Success Metrics
- Social Media
Activities included, understanding India actual Education challenges, visiting schools where Higher Order Thinking (HOTs) is practiced, watched plays, and interacted with Indian kids to have a better understanding of the methods CEVA is supporting and practicing.
The YTTS Sub Team: Youth Technical Training Society (YTTS) is a long-standing Non Government Organization (NGO) which focuses on the educational, training and upliftment issues of the urban slum-dwellers, primarily children and youth. IBM assisted YTTS to redefine their vision and mission, analysed the organisation's SWOT, developed future plans and set out a framework for a marketing strategy. The IBM team visited YTTS centres in and around Chandigarh, including the Sector 25 centre where creche and after school coaching classes and the Vineet 17 centre where shelter is provided for working children who are in Chandigarh without parents. The IBM team saw first hand the YTTS programs and was able to engage with the local children.
Community service work: The IBM CSC team participated in an activity with the children of Akshar School, Kaimbala, Chandigarh with whom we conducted a Shadow and Stick Puppet Workshop on Oct 5, 2012, along with CEVA (Centre for Education and Voluntary Action). Please see video Link: CEVA IBM CDC Akshar (00:03:21)
- ESC India 1
20 May 20 2011 – 11 June 2011
Five IBM executives from a cross section of the US and the Netherlands comprised India ESC Team 1. The team successfully completed a 3-week Executive Service Corps engagement with the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation assessing plans for up to 24 new cities in Northwest India. They applied Smarter Cities thinking to a far-reaching, visionary effort to dramatically transform India's urban landscape.
The team also engaged in a community service activity with a visit to the Hope Foundation School (www.hopefoundation.org.in).
