Clinton Foundation Taps Microsoft
New York, New York – (Website Hosting Directory) – May 31, 2007 – Microsoft has announced that the Clinton Foundation, has selected it to develop online tools, designed to enable the world’s largest 40 cities, to monitor carbon emissions.
The Clinton Foundation and Microsoft Corp. have inked a long-term partnership, to develop a suite of technology tools that will enable cities to accurately monitor, compare and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The technology will include both software and services.
Bruce Lindsey, CEO of the Clinton Foundation remarked, ”The Clinton Foundation is committed to a business-oriented approach to the problem of climate change. This new software tool will be an important resource in our work with cities around the world to fight global warming in practical, measurable and significant ways.”
Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer at Microsoft added, ”Technology has the power to make a positive, long-term contribution to solving the world’s environmental challenges. By partnering with the Clinton Foundation, we can increase environmental awareness and drive sustainable change that will help cut global carbon emissions.”
The Clinton Foundation and Microsoft will be assisted in developing these new measurement tools by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Microsoft will build the new software tools using the knowledge base that ICLEI has acquired in developing its Harmonized Emissions Analysis Tool (HEAT). The role of communities in tackling carbon emissions is vital. The Clinton Foundation and Microsoft believe technology can play a unique role in bringing people together to tackle the global environmental challenges that the world faces today.
The partnership aims to empower cities with relevant technology to address shared global environmental issues. Microsoft, together with a consortium of partners, will develop a single web solution to allow cities to clearly understand their environmental footprint. With this information, cities can make better choices as they aim to improve their energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. The new online, Web-based software tools will be provided pro bono to cities and will be available by the end of the year. The software tools will support cities to collaborate in new ways via the Web and online communities, enabling them to work together to monitor their progress and share best practices. They will be compatible with existing emissions reduction tools for cities, allowing the export and import of data from other systems.
In August 2006, President Clinton launched the Clinton Climate Initiative, a project of the Clinton Foundation, and announced a partnership with the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, a consortium of 40 of the world’s largest cities committed to fighting global warming. The online tools to be developed by Microsoft and the Clinton Climate Initiative will provide these cities with a baseline and standardized measurement of their carbon emissions, as well as the ability to track the effectiveness of emission reduction programs and share best practices. Ultimately, the new software will serve as a global standard for cities in their climate change accounting, mitigation and communications efforts. The completed measurement tools will consist of a multilingual, online and offline software service accessible around the world.
Microsoft will lead the technical software development, and will help establish a consortium of private sector partners that will support the cities in the creation and long- term sustainability of the project. The Clinton Climate Initiative will direct the project and disseminate the new tool to cities that are taking action to curb carbon emissions around the world. The Clinton Foundation and Microsoft will partner in this effort with ICLEI, building the new software tools using the knowledge base that ICLEI has acquired in developing emissions reduction tools for more than 1,000 cities worldwide. They also will be assisted in this effort by the Center for Neighborhood Technology.
The online application will enable cities to do the following: — Implement a common measurement system for emissions reductions — Perform analyses of potential projects and estimate their effect on reducing emissions — Generate structured and custom reports for users based on inventory and measures data — Access data from around the world and engage other cities in dialogue about best practices in real time About the Clinton Foundation President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence.
To advance this mission, the Foundation works with like-minded organizations and forms partnerships with national and local governments around the world to make an immediate and measurable impact in several areas, including bringing HIV/AIDS care and treatment to underserved populations, developing sustainable economic growth in Africa and fighting global climate change. The Clinton Global Initiative serves as a non- partisan catalyst for action, bringing together a community of leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues. In the U.S., the Foundation is working to combat the alarming rise in childhood obesity and is helping to expand economic opportunity by empowering small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq ”MSFT”) is a worldwide leader in software, services and solutions designed to help people and businesses accelerate. Microsoft, BizTalk, Microsoft Dynamics and Windows Live are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
To learn more about The Clinton Foundation, please visit: www.clintonfoundation.org.
For more information about Microsoft, please visit: www.microsoft.com.
