Large or small, each contribution matters in the\nfight against COVID-19. Fearless doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals\nare taking care of those who have fallen ill while many parents have taken on\nthe dual role of parent-teacher. Each of us is sheltering in place to protect\nloved ones and strangers alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nreality is that systems need support just like individuals do. Communities are\nstruggling to provide for citizens in need. The workforce has changed\npractically overnight. Businesses long for continuity and a healthy supply\nchain. With so many challenges in our surroundings, there is a world of opportunity\nthat belongs to all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nis no time for business as usual. The most important thing we can all do \u2014\nbesides washing our hands \u2014 is play to our strengths. SAP\u2019s strength lies in\nits people, products, and partnerships that include more than 440,000\nbusinesses located in 180 countries across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On\nMarch 20, more than 43,000 German citizens, including SAP product owner Kevin Drieschner<\/strong>, answered a call to\nhelp through \u201cWir vs. Virus, der Hackathon der Bundesregierung\u201d (We vs.\nVirus, the hackathon of the German government)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\nwanted to use my IT skills to help and I wasn\u2019t alone,\u201d Drieschner shared.\n\u201cPeople from different industries and backgrounds came together on this\nchallenge because we wanted to contribute; in our case, supporting the\ncaregivers and hospital administrators during this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently,\nthere is no uniform system for recording and displaying bed capacity across\nGermany. Throughout the weekend, Drieschner worked virtually alongside 30\npeople prototyping ideas, which resulted in TrackYourBed, a responsive,\nWeb-based solution that indicates hospital bed availability in real time.\n\u201cEveryone is highly motivated to find solutions to COVID-19, but I\u2019ve never\nexperienced anything like this before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n SAP\nis currently exploring further investment in this venture, as well as many\nother ideas that have emerged through COVID-19 sprint in the SAP One Billion Lives<\/a> initiative,\nthe company\u2019s social intrapreneurship program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SAP\nhas also established a \u20ac3 million COVID-19 Emergency Fund to support the urgent\nneeds of the World Health\nOrganization<\/a> (WHO), the CDC Foundation<\/a>,\nand smaller nonprofits and social enterprises that work on the front lines\nserving local communities in crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSAP\nstands with the WHO and supports its leadership in coordinating the global\neffort to mobilize the fight against COVID-19,\u201d said Alexandra van der Ploeg<\/strong>, head of SAP CSR. \u201cSpecifically, SAP is\ndonating \u20ac1 million to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund<\/a> for\nthe WHO hosted by Swiss Philanthropy Foundation and the United Nations\nFoundation for virus prevention and detection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n SAP\nCSR partners with more than 1,200 nonprofits and social enterprises that are\nmostly small to midsize organizations. Collectively, they serve more than 4.5\nmillion youth across 105 countries, primarily in the areas of quality\neducation, decent work, and youth entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith\n1 billion children currently out of school due to COVID-19, their services are\nneeded now more than ever. Yet the global issues they are solving are\ncomplicated further because of the pandemic,\u201d van der Ploeg shared. \u201cSAP is\nmaking resources and expertise available to help our nonprofit and social\nenterprise partners effectively shift to remote operations. We want to help\nensure they can maintain their much-needed services to their communities and\nnot lay off staff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One\nof SAP\u2019s strategic partnerships includes We Are Family Foundation\u2019s Three Dot Dash global teen leader initiative<\/a>,\nco-founded by legendary musician\/producer Nile\nRodgers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe\nworld needs leadership, and new ideas and thinking during this unprecedented\nmoment in time, and our global youth are at the forefront of new solutions,\u201d\nRodgers said. \u201cWe are Family Foundation is grateful for our strong partnership\nwith SAP, which will allow us to innovate and think differently together about\nhow we scale our reach and expand support of young leaders across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A\nkey priority for UNICEF right now is to ensure that accurate and clear\nmessaging on COVID-19 is delivered to all communities. SAP is sourcing\nvolunteers to support their communications efforts, using social media to\namplify UNICEF\u2019s COVID-19 response<\/a>.\nSkilled volunteers create a multiplier effect for social sector partners,\nhelping them to maintain scale and accelerate social impact long after the\npandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Richard Primm<\/strong>, a vice president\nfrom SAP North America, wants everyone to know that SAP can be a resource for\nthem during this time: \u201cOur customers can count on SAP\u2019s dedicated employees to\nfind creative ways through our technology to help them solve their biggest\nchallenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In normal circumstances, corporate procurement would not be particularly newsworthy. However, last week Primm helped a client, Ram Tool, secure\u00a0500 hospital beds from Joerns Healthcare in just 30 minutes<\/a>\u00a0using\u00a0SAP Ariba Discovery<\/a>, which SAP has opened access to so any buyer can post their immediate sourcing needs and any supplier can respond to show they can deliver. As\u00a0Business Insider noted<\/a>, the story \u201cshows the power of digital transformations in helping companies respond to the coronavirus<\/a> pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nContributing \u20ac3M to COVID-19 Emergency Fund\nand Increasing Social Sector Support<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Technology You Can Count On<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n