“If you think about today’s rural community, they will thrive if the entire community is able to get the education, training, health and … e-commerce and other facilities that reach them directly where they are,” said the CEO of Microsoft. , Satya. Nadella said in an interview with CNN’s Julia Chatterley on “First Move” on Wednesday. “That is why broadband is such a fundamental right.”
The effort is part of a broader partnership that also includes the deployment of Microsoft technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud and Internet of Things (IOT) on Land O’Lakes farms, which will give farmers access to data in real time to make key decisions and help them promote sustainable agricultural practices.
The new technology is expected to help farms better respond to disruptions such as climate change, trade problems and changes in demand resulting from the pandemic, the companies say.
Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford said that implementing new innovations on farms, and ensuring that the benefits reach entire farming communities, is more than a matter of convenience.
“The vitality of our rural communities in association with a safe and affordable food supply and then creating jobs is critical. It is a national security issue,” said Ford. “Technology allows, for example, to close the gap in medical care … It is fundamental for the stabilization and vitality of these communities that are critical for the United States and for our agricultural system and our food system.”
‘The hard work ahead of us’
For Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Land O’Lakes, where Floyd was killed on May 25, the problem comes especially close to home, Ford said.
“The disparate results for the African American and black community in Minneapolis are simply unacceptable,” said Ford. “We have to continue progressing, and one of the things that we have to improve is that we have to listen, we have to listen to fear, problems … Until we really understand that and take action, we are going to have this type of problem” .
Ford said Land O’Lakes has implemented unconscious bias training for its employees and is working to “be transparent about our diverse populations within our organizations.”
At Microsoft, Nadella said her compensation is now tied, in part, to securing a diverse workforce.
“(The representation) must be reflected to the top,” Nadella said. “So now we have commitments, whether it’s race, and especially for the African American, black and Latino community, as well as gender … I, myself, measure and pay me.”
In the United States in 2019, 20% of the company’s director-level leadership team were women. Almost 37% of director-level leadership was not white, but blacks made up only 2.5% of directors. Similarly, women represented 25% of the leadership level of Microsoft managers, non-white people represented 38% of managers, and black people represented 2.7% of managers.
Both Nadella and Ford said they are working to ensure that their efforts extend beyond the numbers.
“Representation can only be sustained if you have a culture of inclusion, so it is an everyday practice that you have to work on: every meeting, every promotion decision,” said Nadella.
“I am a product of two great American things: American technology got me where I was growing so I could dream the American dream, and then the enlightened immigration policy that allowed me to live that dream,” he said. “Frankly, we are interested in having an immigration policy that allows us to bring the best and the brightest, as well as show our humanity, because that is the soft power of this country.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated the number of black members on the Land O’Lakes executive team.
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