Instead of throwing cash at causes, HP is trying to improve systemic problems like infrastructure and scale. It's one thing to give a non-profit money; it's another to help it expand its reach and efficiency at the same time. HP is doing this by tweaking its technology to help solve issues and by devoting company expertise where it is most needed.
HP's two most recent campaigns focus on malaria detection and counterfeit drugs in Africa. HP partnered with Ping to equip workers in Botswana with smartphones to collect malaria data, notify the Ministry of Health about outbreaks, and tag data and disease surveillance with a GPS coordinate. If successful, the network of data will make up a geographic map of disease transmission in the country to speed up response time and scale up net coverage.
The tech company is also tackling counterfeit drugs by adapting one of its own technologies. HP tracks when its parts and technology are being counterfeited. With some subtle tweaks, that same technology is being used to see when drugs and prescriptions are falsely labeled all through basic texting and SMS. The program, in partnership with mPedigree, a non-profit base in Ghana, puts a scratch-off code on each box of medicine. Buyers can then text that code to a system that returns, within 10 seconds, whether the medication is real or fake.
Finally, HP is testing a mobile health monitoring solution in Singapore. For eight weeks, 100 patients in Singapore hospitals will wear a watch-like device that transmits clinical data like 24-hour blood pressure readings and heartbeat patterns, all sent wirelessly back to the hospital.
HP's social outreach and international philanthropy walk the fine line between corporate social responsibility and self promotion. The smartphones used to track malaria will all be HP Palm Pre's, but the technology will actually help save lives. Its message extends to HP's employees who are all given four hours per month to volunteer their expertise. In fact, HP has built its own web-portal complete with regional directors to pair up HP experts with non-profits and causes that need specialized help.
One way HP has managed to run these programs efficiently is through partnerships. The idea is to start the ball rolling on solutions and hand them off to local authorities and NGOs that can best implement them. For example, the counterfeit medicine will be powered by HP technology, but will eventually be handed off to local government for maintenance. There is some possibility that these solutions can be replicated to be sold in other regions, but the idea is more about solving problems using HP technology than turning a profit.
Sometimes, HP's philanthropy has actually led to a new consumer product. One project aimed at creating simple access to the Internet in India resulted in HP's DreamScreen.