Following the success of technology projects empowering communities in recent years, Microsoft Vietnam, in partnership with Information Technology and Communication Centre (Vietnet-ICT), today organised Technology for Good Day, specifically designed for NGOs with attendance of about 100 people from more than 60 NGOs in Vietnam.

In January, 2016, Microsoft announced its commitment to donate $1 billion in cloud computing resources to empower 70,000 non-profit organisations around the world in serving their communities. 

As a part of this goal, Technology for Good Day has become the prominent activity in a series of technology events which have launched by Microsoft Vietnam and Vietnet ICT in order to enable NGOs to adopt and use technology in improving their productivity. 

In Technology for Good Day (Tech4Good), participants had an opportunity to experience how exceptional features of Office 365 can enable them to work anytime and anywhere such as while travelling for business trips people can attend meeting via Skype for business, checking email frequently, updating calendar automatically, sharing files and collaborating with co-workers online. 

In addition, with Microsoft Azure, non-profit organisations around the world can use advanced cloud services such as web hosting, secure and scalable cloud storage, disaster recovery service. 

Moreover, cloud based services including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Power BI - a suite of analytic tools to analyse data have been provided for NGOs at special discounted prices. This is an enormously valuable and useful service package for non-profit organisations in serving their communities.

The key change of Tech4Good in 2016 is that it expands one–time event to a longer-term engagement that includes a series of training events covering updated Microsoft technologies from foremost experts to support nonprofits as they move along the adoption cycle.

The event series are expected to include another face-to-face training event about cloud technology and services for nonprofits in Hanoi and an online training event for organisations in other provinces.

Tech4Good marked an annual event to offer capacity-building, learning and networking opportunities that empower nonprofit organisations to adopt and use technology effectively. 

Formerly referred to as “NGO Connection Days”, this event built on the successful history of NGO Connection Days, continued be a key offering that brings for nonprofits the most updated and useful information about Microsoft technology which fits seamlessly into the actual work of the staff in the NGO sector. 

The results of attending would encourage the organisations do more and achieve more through technology to best serve their communities. 

Nguyen Minh Hanh, country coordinator of World University Service of Canada (WUSC) said, “After attending Tech4Good event, I have been inspired by the transformative potential of technology and available resources donated from Microsoft, as well as better understand how the cloud can benefit our organisation and communities. I hope that in the next times, Microsoft would scale up the event to provide more information, advice and resources we need to adopt Microsoft technologies in solving specific problems of NGOs.”