£59 million raised by BT for CSI

It has unveiled its new Better Future strategy in its annual Better Future sustainability report, promising to use the power of communication to improve lives, ways of doing business and to make its overall influence on society a positive one.

An integral part of BT's broader aim to drive profitable revenue growth, the Better Future strategy goes beyond driving sustainable practices in its own operations to recognising the broader value the business can deliver to society.

BT Group is a British multinational telecommunications services company, headquartered in London.

Focus areas

Connected Society is about improving society globally through the power of digital connections. Its 2020 goal is that more than nine out of ten people in the UK will have access to fibre-based products and services. Its investment, alongside 19 partnership investment projects, has accelerated UK fibre broadband rollout to around 15 million premises already. Further afield, its Connecting Africa initiative is providing internet services via satellite to 20 locations, creating access to information and critical services for up to 700,000 people.

Net Good is focused on helping society live within the constraints of our planet's resources through its products and services. Its 2020 goal is to help customers reduce carbon emissions by at least three times the end-to-end carbon impact of its business. Despite increased business volumes, it has achieved its target of hitting an 80% reduction in UK carbon emissions three years ahead of deadline and reduced its energy consumption in 2012/13 by 3.3%, saving the business £33 million annually.

Improving Lives is focused on improving hundreds of millions of lives globally with the help of its products and people. Its 2020 goal is to use BT's skills and technology to help generate more than £1bn for good causes.

Raising funds

Last year, the group helped raise £59 million for good causes, including more than £25 million through its MyDonate telethon platform, £2.9 million through payroll giving and volunteering projects worth an estimated £13 million.

Keith Matthews, GM, BT Sub-Sahara Africa, said: "BT South Africa sponsored an Infinite Family mentoring and computer laboratory at the Nkosi's Haven Village in Allan Manor in 2011 and another laboratory in Alexandra, Johannesburg, in 2012. These laboratories use technology provided by the company to give teenagers at these facilities access to high performance video-conferencing solutions, enabling them to engage with their mentors around the world, share video and get help with homework remotely by using modern collaboration tools."

Niall Dunne, chief sustainability officer, said: "Our Better Future programme signals the evolution to a new model in which every part of the business and every employee has a role to play in realising our visions and achieving our goals to create a better business with a better future. It is a long-term commitment, focusing on what we do best - bring together our networks and our technology with the expertise of our people to make a better world. Using the power of communications, we can benefit our customers, our bottom-line and the communities we operate in."

Keith Matthews added: "These facilities are at the core of our Better Future strategy which be replicated elsewhere in South Africa which will make a difference to computer literacy in this country."

Event will unveil Net Good methodology

BT will continue its drive toward a Better Future with the unveiling of its Net Good goal methodology for measuring progress against its 3:1 goal at an industry event next month. In July, it will also host its inaugural Better Future Forum, an online stakeholder platform designed to share and co-create new thinking that will help companies like BT to tackle some of the complex and multifaceted issues linked to the delivery of sustainability ambitions.

The BT Better Future Report 2013 is available to download at www.btplc.com/betterfuture.