HP is among the top companies named in Bloomberg Businessweek’s “The Civic 50,” the first scientific evaluation of companies that best use their time, talent and resources to improve the quality of life in the communities where they do business.

HP ranked No. 28 on the list of S&P 500 companies that were surveyed by the National Conference on Citizenship and Points of Light, groups that promote civic engagement. Companies were judged on seven criteria:

• Program structure and the metrics used to evaluate its success
• Involvement of top leadership
• Participation of corporate departments in program activities
• Working with partners such as nonprofits
• Contributing to employees’ personal growth
• Alignment of causes with core competencies and workforce skills
• Ability to communicate their work to the public and share best practices

According to Bloomberg, winning companies employed sophisticated tools to measure the impact of community engagement and alignment of these programs with their business’ core competencies. More than two-thirds of the top 50 companies said they “frequently” or “always” use the professional skills of their workforce to address social issues and real community challenges.

At HP, we apply our knowledge and expertise to make an impact in the areas of education, entrepreneurship and health. In 2011, HP employees and retirees gave more than 744,000 hours to volunteer projects and those employees who participate in skills-based volunteer events organized by HP or HP employees are 59 percent more likely to feel that HP is a “great place to work.”

Since 2007, HP and our employees have also donated $30 million through the Hewlett-Packard Company Foundation, which matches employee gifts up to $1,000 per employee each year to qualified nonprofits.

The entire scorecard of America’s most community-minded companies was published in the Nov. 12-18 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek. For more on The Civic 50, visit here: http://www.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/civic_50_2012.html.

The hugely successful Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) project gained yet another honor at a prestigious gala reception in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Nov. 20. Judges named the EID project, which is dramatically improving testing and treatment for infants exposed to HIV in Kenya, the winning submission in the category “Best mHealth Partnership” at the 2012 Connected World Forum Awards. This annual event attended by more than 500 people turned the spotlight on excellence in innovation and service delivery, and recognized the work of individuals and organizations driving the mobile lifeline market forward.

The EID project was acknowledged for its technology that shortens the turnaround for HIV test results to just two or three days. Instead of postal mail, results are sent by text message to SMS-enabled HP printers in rural clinics. If clinics have Internet access, they can also receive the results by email or access the data online. Earlier notice allows HIV-positive patients to receive antiretroviral treatment early, which is critical to controlling the virus and is directly related to survival rates.

Who better to collect this award than all of the partners in this life-saving mobile health initiative – HP, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and Kenyan Ministry of Health and Sanitation? Aziz Mohamed, the global health program manager at HP Sustainability and Social Innovation (HP SSI), accepted the prize from Michael Miebach, president of the Middle East and Africa for MasterCard, along with CHAI’s Deputy Manager Jackson Hungu and the director of infectious diseases at the Kenyan Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Matilu Mwau.

Prior to the awards ceremony, key partners also participated in the main plenary session of the Mobile Health Global 2012 Summit and Expo, one of three summits that culminated in the Connected World Forum Awards. Attendees at Mobile Health Global 2012 included leaders in mobile health services from around the world. They gathered to focus on closing the efficiency gap, reducing healthcare costs, creating compelling offerings that end users trust and finding new ways to eradicate disease.

• Click here to learn more about the life-saving EID initiative

• See submissions for the ‘Best mHealth Partnership’ award: http://www.connectedworldforum.com/s1808/

• Find out about the Mobile Health Global 2012 Summit and Expo: http://www.connectedworldforum.com/s1083/

(HP, CHAI and the Kenyan government at the Connected World Forum Awards, Dubai)

What do young adults need to get started in the working world? An important collaboration, investing USD 3.3 million in support of Tunisia’s youth (announced in November 2012), believes that young people today need increased access to better-quality services designed to support young entrepreneurs by providing them with a foundational education, services and mentorship. Young adults also need job opportunities, which can be best achieved through supporting direct capacity-building for enterprises with high employment potential.

Ambitious aims such as these require collaboration between the private and public sectors.  HP is proud to offer this support to the young people of Tunisia in a new collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the government of Italy (Tunisia’s neighbor, seeking shared prosperity as partners in the Union for the Mediterranean).

HP’s Vice President of Sustainability and Social Innovation, Gabi Zedlmayer, says the multi-million dollar private/public sector collaboration should “equip young people in Tunisia with relevant entrepreneurship skills to help create much needed new jobs”. The project focuses on the HP Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs (HP LIFE) program, which recently expanded to offer all of its IT and entrepreneurial training courses online. As Tunisia maintains political and commercial links with other Arabic and French-speaking countries, the potential also exists for HP LIFE to expand into new geographies through this collaboration.

• Read about the USS 3.3 million investment in Tunisia’s youth
• Find out more about HP LIFE IT and entrepreneurial training
• Interested in other private/public sector initiatives at HP?

(Contributed by Gabi Zedlmayer, Vice President of HP’s Office of Sustainability and Social Innovation)

HP has once again been ranked among the top companies in the world for its sustainability efforts in two major environmental reports.

First, for the third year in a row, HP ranked 2nd on the 2012 Newsweek Green Rankings of the top 500 U.S. companies and secured the 22nd position on the Global 500 list. HP also earned a top spot on the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics, placing second on the list and ranking as the top U.S. company.

Placement on the Newsweek Green Rankings lists is determined by an overall score derived from research and analysis provided by Trucost and Sustainalytics, two leading environmental research firms. A company’s overall “Green Score” is based on its environmental performance in the areas of environmental impact, environmental management, and disclosure.

In this year’s rankings, HP improved in all three categories and in the combined Green Score—rising from an overall score of 75.8 in 2011 to 78.5 in 2012.

HP scored 5.7 points out of a possible 10 in this year’s Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics, which evaluates leading consumer electronics companies based on their commitment and progress in three environmental criteria: Energy and Climate, Greener Products, and Sustainable Operations.

Greenpeace recognized HP for efforts in Sustainable Operations, highlighting our paper procurement policy, which bans suppliers linked to illegal logging, as well as our policies and practices related to the sourcing of conflict minerals. In the Energy category, Greenpeace noted that we have one of the best programs for measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our suppliers.

Additional information on HP’s environmental sustainability efforts may be found on the HP Global Citizenship website.