Dell ramps up CSR strategy with Legacy of Good plan

ITC giant Dell is incorporating a 2020 Legacy of Good plan into its current ‘Powering the Possible’ CSR strategy.

The computer company says that the plan is designed to aggregate and accelerate the ways that Dell and its products help customers, employees and communities make lasting contributions to the planet and society.

Divided into three areas – the Environment, People (which includes Dell’s 100,000-plus team members worldwide) and Communities, the aim is to add intentional value to each of these areas in the coming years complementing the company’s overarching purpose – “to provide technology that enables people everywhere to grow, thrive and reach their full potential”.

The company says that it will also work with industry stakeholders, including suppliers, partners and competitors, to develop a method for more accurately assessing the “net positive” impact of IT on society.

The plan outlines 12 ambitious goals tied to its environmental agenda, each to be achieved by 2020, including reducing the energy intensity of its product portfolio by 80%, making it the first IT company to commit to make a portfolio-wide energy goal.

“Customers consistently tell us that sustainability leadership contributes to their decision to do business with Dell. In fact, more than 75% of our requests-for-proposal include a CSR element,” commented David Lear, executive director of sustainability.

“But customers also tell us they lack a means to capture and demonstrate how their own smart IT strategies often lower overall costs and energy use while benefitting the environment. With this plan, we are committing to work across the industry to enable customers, and the industry more broadly, to assess the ripple effect of sustainable IT strategies like electronic medical records and virtualized desktops.”