Qualcomm Sustainability Report: Limitless Opportunities to Create the Future

By Molly Gavin, Vice President, Government Affairs and Sustainability
Apr 19, 2017 10:10 AM ET

Originally posted OnQ

I am thrilled to announce the launch of the 2016 Qualcomm Sustainability Report, which details key accomplishments from the past year of our sustainability journey.

In particular, I am excited about our new 2020 sustainability goals – a set of milestones to keep Qualcomm on track to realize our 2030 sustainability vision. Specifically, by 2020, we aspire to accomplish the following objectives.

  • We will have a comprehensive understanding of:
    • The sustainability impacts and opportunities arising from the application of our technology.
    • The sustainability impacts in our supply chain.
    • Our human rights impacts and opportunities.
    • Our carbon and water footprints across our value chain.
  • Our comprehensive programs for recruiting, retaining and promoting an inclusive and diverse workforce will result in increased representation of women and underrepresented minorities across our workforce including technical and business leadership roles.
  • We will enhance and expand the talent pipeline in the technology industry by engaging students and other key stakeholders in our scalable STEM education initiatives.
  • Our ethics and compliance standards will continue to be fully integrated into our global business operations where we have a controlling interest.
  • Key stakeholders will have a thorough understanding of our sustainability programs and priorities.

One of my favorite things about working at Qualcomm is that we aren’t just a company of inventors – we are also global citizens collaborating to make our world a better place. People across our company work tirelessly to inspire the next generation of innovators, demonstrate the impact mobile can have in communities around the world and make technologies like 5G a reality.

Innovating responsibly isn’t new to us. Year after year, we put our sustainability commitment into action. In 2016, some of our key accomplishments included the following:

  • We completed onsite audits of several of our supplier sites using the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) Validated Audit Process protocol to assess compliance with the EICC Code of Conduct.
  • We conducted our first formal corporate human rights impact assessment to ensure our programs and efforts are focused on the right priorities.
  • Qualcomm® Wireless Reach™ celebrated its ten-year anniversary: the program has brought connected solutions to nearly 10 million people in 46 countries to strengthen social and economic development.
  • We appointed a new Chief Diversity Officer at Qualcomm, who is responsible for providing the vision, leadership and oversight of inclusion and diversity initiatives across the company.
  • Our Qualcomm® Thinkabit Lab™ in San Diego – and its summer program, QCamp – have hosted more than 10,000 students, educators and parents in hands-on engineering activities since opening in 2014. This year, we opened a new Thinkabit Lab with Virginia Tech in the National Capital Region, which marked the latest milestone in our Company’s longstanding commitment to STEM education.
  • We engaged our employees in two separate campaigns focused on reducing our carbon and water footprints: the CO2 + U QChallenge and Take the Water Pledge.

Through our products and programs, across our value chain and in our communities, the opportunities to empower people, enhance quality of life and protect the planet for future generations are endless. I encourage you to download our report to learn more about our 2020 sustainability goals and our progress thus far in making our 2030 sustainability vision a reality.

Please visit our sustainability website to learn more about our strategy, priorities and reporting, and follow us on Twitter to learn more about our efforts in this space.