On the road to CSR improvement

So, I’m sitting here, up way too late in a hotel room in Boston, listening to the jack hammering on the street right outside my window. Figured that I should try to make some use of my inability to sleep, and get in a quick blog post on why I’m even out here in the first place.

Each year for the past ten or so years, members of Intel’s CSR team, together with colleagues in our EHS and Investor Relations departments hit the road to travel to DC, New York and Boston to meet face to face with socially responsible investment and ESG research firms to get input on our CSR strategy, environmental performance, and business objectives. Although we do engage with these groups throughout the year over the phone, online and at conferences like SRI in the Rockies, setting aside one week each year to meet face to face and have more in-depth discussions has been extremely valuable. We discuss emerging CSR issues and areas where we still need to improve, hear directly from these firms what their priorities are for the coming year, and learn where they would like to see us to take more action or be more transparent in our reporting. The timing is such that we can incorporate this feedback into our annual strategic planning and budgeting process for the coming year.

When I look back at some of the changes we’ve made in recent years to our CSR and sustainability practices – I can trace them back to specific recommendations that came out of these meetings. For example, we expanded our disclosure on water use in our 2008 CSR report – reporting not only our global water use, but also water use by major Intel site in response to discussion we had in our Boston meeting last fall. In another example, multiple analysts from the meetings said that they and their clients were placing a higher priority on human rights policies and management systems. They didn’t feel that Intel was being clear enough in our disclosure and policies – so we worked in the first part of this year to develop a new set of Human Rights Principles to clarify our expectations for all Intel employees in this area. And we adopted “say on pay” as a result of continued discussions and recommendations in last year’s meetings, providing our stockholders the opportunity to vote on our executive compensation practices.

Now, it’s not always easy (on either side I imagine) to discuss some of the more difficult topics or provide/receive really direct feedback. It can be personally uncomfortable no matter how constructive a relationship you have. In many cases, there are grey areas, or we may not be as far along or moving as fast as these firms would like us to be on certain issues. But the one thing I know for sure is that we wouldn’t be at the point we are in our CSR development today without the input of these organizations over the past decade. They continue to push us to become a better company.

With two days down and one day to go, I’ve already got a list of recommendations and questions we’re going to take back to discuss with others within Intel. So, what else should we include from you? What are your own personal CSR recommendations for Intel for the coming year?

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Intel Code Breaker Challenge coming to IDF 2009

For the past six years, Intel has taken to the task of crowning the Ultimate Geek at the Intel Developer Forum. The Ultimate Geek contests have challenged people to put together computers, square off against professional gamers and compete in trivia games.

Six Ultimate Geeks are out there somewhere with bragging rights to say that they beat the best of the of the smartest people in the Tech Industry to take the Ulitmate Geek crown.

But, honestly, as we started planning for 2009 we wanted something… well, to put it mildly, harder. We want to see who has the biggest brain, with the most computational power and the ability to handle the toughest mental exercise. So for 2009 we have an all new challenge for the IDF attendees.

Introducing the Intel(R) Code Breaker Challenge at IDF 2009 Did you see right through National Treasure and The DaVinci Code? Did Angels and Demons seem so obvious that you wanted to cry as the characters “uncracked” the mysteries of Rome. “Ha!” you might have said with a shrug, “give me something that challenges me!”

We’ve got a challenge for you.

The Intel Code Breaker Challenge at IDF 2009 will require you to solve two encrypted puzzles with very little help. You’ll get one clue for each. That’s it. We might give you a couple more in forums like this one later if you’re stuck. Solve the puzzles and then come to the Technology Showcase on IDF Day one or two and you can take the final timed electronic challenge. The winner of the title is the person that cracks the puzzles and has the lowest time on the electronic challenge.

Still think this sounds easy? Well, the first puzzle took about 200 hundred years to solve and the second puzzle was created by guys that work in our security encryption lab and (as far as I know) are not allowed to come out very often.

If you win, we will celebrate your accomplishment by announcing you as the winner on Day three of IDF — oh and there are some cool prizes too like Netbooks and MIDs that you’ll like. (But please note: prizes may only be won by residents of the United States of America.)

These are tough puzzles that will really require some smarts to break. Want to try to crack these codes? We dare you.

The challenge starts at IDF 2009 by coming the Intel Code Breaker Challenge desk in the main lobby of Moscone West on floor 1 to pick up your game sheet.

See you at IDF 2009.

Joe English IDF Creative Director (& author of puzzle #1) .

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Preview of Innovate and Integrate Keynote at IDF09

Senior VP and General Manager of Intel¡¦s Digital Enterprise Group Pat Gelsinger is one of Intel¡¦s grandest geeks and gets gitty about his favorite tech industry gatherings of all, the Intel Developer Forum.

We like catching Pat and other IDF keynoters on camera to tease some of the topics they¡¦re planning to share on stage because thekeynotes are where we see tech demonstrations and new announcements made public for the first time.

Pat hops on stage during Day One at 1:00 p.m. PT, following Intel CEO Paul Otellini¡¦s IDF kickoff keynote.

He says he¡¦ll be sharing deeper insights into Intel codenames and strategies for future products, including Larrabee.

He says to watch for new initiatives, including one for really big, scaleable datacenters.

He¡¦ll talk about Intel Xeon processors moving into the ¡§mission critical¡¨ computing space, and says to watch for first ever demos and first peeks at projects that got their start inside Intel Labs.

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If you¡¦d like to follow the integration and innovation stories leading up to, during and after the Intel Developer Forum (September 22-24 in San Francisco), please follow:

• Facebook Fan Page
• @IDF Twitter
• @IntelNews on Twitter
• And during the event, news will be available in the Intel Pressroom

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