Being a global citizen means
Rare diseases are notoriously hard to diagnose.
Some doctors will see only a handful over the course
of a career. So Annelies Borgers, a consultant in
IBM’s Life Sciences group, led a team of IBM
“Extreme Blue” interns to develop the Rare Disease
Diagnosis project with the Universitair Ziekenhuis
Antwerpen. The project uses statistical analysis and
a custom-built rules engine to increase the speed
and accuracy of rare disease diagnosis.
Annelies Borgers
Antwerp, Belgium
Mersin is a Turkish port city of 842,000, intent on
growing its economy and creating jobs*. So when
Dana Gaiu, a business development manager in the
Integrated Supply Chain at IBM, met with the Mersin
Chamber of Shipping through IBM’s Corporate
Service Corps program, she already had some ideas
on how to help. Along with her team, Dana worked
with the chamber to develop IT strategies to help
improve the flow of goods and resources throughout
the region to increase logistical efficiency and
reducing environmental impact.
*www.turkstat.gov.tr
Working with the Chinese Deaf Association, Charlotte
Chang helped develop a real-time video interpretation
service to provide sign language translation for the
deaf and hearing impaired. Developed with the China
Development Lab and an IBM Taipei team, Chang’s
solution uses webcams and instant messaging software
to connect deaf people with remote interpreters,
facilitating conversations with employers, doctors,
and friends. Since September 2009, the service has
provided more than 2,300 hours of translation service
including IBM Taiwan’s Corporate Responsibility
support to the 2009 Summer Deaflympics.
Charlotte Chang
Taipei, Taiwan
Most people don’t think about how much water
they use each day. But Jeff Chapman is not most
people. He is a senior ultra pure water engineer
at IBM’s semiconductor plant in Burlington, Vermont.
He spends every day thinking about ways that IBM
and its clients can use less water, less electricity,
and reduce their impact on the environment. And
he helped to reduce IBM’s water usage in the
Burlington plant by 27 percent, all while production
capabilities increased 33 percent.
Jeff Chapman
Burlington, Vermont
IBMers are used to solving thorny mathematical
problems. Last year Craig Gentry solved a
foundational problem that had confounded scientists
since the invention of public-key encryption three
decades ago. The breakthrough, called “privacy
homomorphism,” or “fully homomorphic encryption,”
facilitates delegation of deep analysis of encrypted
information without sacrificing confidentiality
and has far-reaching applications, such as more
secure storage and processing of data in the cloud.
Craig Gentry
Austin, Texas
Martín-José Sepúlveda’s job description is to lead
IBM’s approach to workplace and employee health
and health benefits. But he’s never been one to
let a job description hold him back. Sepúlveda has
championed such landmark initiatives as 100 percent
primary care and healthy living rebates at IBM. But
he also engages government and health institutions
as a tireless advocate for primary care transformation
and for better public health, from creating model
programs for chronic disease and wellness, to
national health strategies for helping eradicate liver
cancer and chronic disease from hepatitis viruses.
Martín-José Sepúlveda, M.D.,
IBM Fellow
Somers, New York
Smarter cities are made up of smarter neighborhoods.
Volunteering with the nonprofit Complementary
Educational Center and 15 neighborhood youths,
these IBMers created and maintain a website—
cronicasbarriales.org—that fosters understanding
between business and residential communities,
highlights opportunities for youths to get involved—and gives them a place to tell their stories and
learn new skills.
Federico Sciarretta Miliozzi,
Martin Rodrigo Cepeda and
Santiago Laplume
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Indian Railways employs nearly 1.4 million people
throughout the country*. Managing a workforce that
large is both complex and costly. That’s why
Dr. Rajendra Gupta architected a solution for the
Centre for Railway Information Systems that could
automate scheduling, track the location of crews,
manage training requirements, and communicate
with crews over mobile devices. The solution helped
reduce operating costs and improved safety and
security on the rails.
Dr. Rajendra Gupta
New Delhi, India
*www.indianrailways.gov.in
To get from here to there, you need a map. To do
so safely and quickly, you need real-time information.
Terrence Daken worked with the New Zealand
Transport Agency to develop a system to manage
hundreds of programmable Variable Message
Signs throughout the country’s highway network.
The signs relay messages about dangerous road
conditions, traffic jams, even tsunami warnings.
Terrence Daken
Wellington, New Zealand
Four years ago, the leadership of Dubuque, Iowa developed a vision for their sustainable future. Today, Milind Naphade and his team
are working to make that vision a reality. Their analysis will help Dubuque residents understand their water consumption, and soon
their electricity consumption, so Dubuque can make smarter choices. They’ll help city management better understand how people move
about the city so public transit can be effectively redesigned. And eventually they’ll identify the deeper connections between the
various aspects of city life so Dubuque can achieve sustainable growth and economic development without adversely affecting the environment.
Milind Naphade
Hawthorne, New York
The abundance of data in the world is both a problem and an opportunity. That’s why IBMer Julia Grace, a research software engineer,
has been working with doctors to determine what information they need, when they need it, and how they want it to look.
Last year, Julia and her team worked closely with cardiologists in California, building an electronic health records system that could
present complete patient medical records to doctors at the push of a button. It could even use algorithms to cross-reference one patient
against a massive database of patients with similar symptoms and diagnoses.
“The problem is, cardiac patients usually have a long and complicated medical history that stretches back years, with
hundreds of different visits to specialists and prescription drugs,” she says. “That’s hard to represent on one computer screen.”
Julia Grace
San Jose, California
Carmen Rarden is a lawyer by education and an IBM contracts manager. As such, she spends the majority of her time at
IBM managing supplier contracts and handling complex negotiations throughout IBM’s supply chain.
But Carmen is also a teacher. Because over the last four years, Carmen has mentored three different diverse suppliers of
IBM on everything from how to develop strategic goals to how to execute on a business plan. For the last two years, Carmen has
worked with a two-person marketing team as part of IBM’s outreach to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual business owners.
She has attended trade shows, conducted formal training sessions, and fielded any number of casual phone calls, all with the
intention of strengthening the firm’s overall business.
“Working with these small, enthusiastic startup firms has been extremely beneficial to me,” she says. “Their energy is contagious.”
Carmen Rarden
Boulder, Colorado
Several months ago Jasmin Tragas teamed with Opportunity International Australia, a veteran not-for-profit organization,
to lead a project using social networking sites like Twitter and Slideshare to raise funds for women in poverty.
Jasmin specializes as a digital demand programs professional in her role as Mid Market Digital Lead for IBM Australia
and New Zealand Sales & Distribution. The outreach has helped women living in the rural Philippines village of Furao
receive micro loans and training to help them grow and run businesses.
Jasmin and her efforts raised AUD$8,600 to support 12 women with a range of small businesses. These women receive financial
management counseling and guidance and a greater understanding of how commerce works.
Jasmin Tragas
Melbourne, Australia
Annelies Borgers, Antwerp, Belgium
Dana Gaiu, Mersin, Turkey
Charlotte Chang, Taipei, Taiwan
Jeff Chapman, Burlington, Vermont
Craig Gentry, Austin, Texas
Martín-José Sepúlveda, M.D., Somers, New York
Federico Sciarretta Miliozzi, Martin Rodrigo Cepeda and Santiago Laplume, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dr. Rajendra Gupta, New Delhi, India
Terrence Daken, Wellington, New Zealand
Milind Naphade, Hawthorne, New York
Julia Grace, San Jose, California
Carmen Rarden, Boulder, Colorado
Jasmin Tragas, Melbourne, Australia
