Dell

Dell’s Women in Technology Consortium and platform connects women and girls to STEM-related career opportunities. This programme targets girls from fifth grade onwards and women in university, encouraging them to explore hobbies, and eventually careers, in STEM. Dell has partnered with Georgia State University on this programme to design a platform that includes gamified learning and access to tech leaders, to explain STEM fields and digital technology careers.

The company leads in advancing digital skills and school connectivity through various initiatives. For example, Dell’s Solar Learning Labs initiative focuses on removing barriers to technology access by providing a solar-powered location for students to learn basic digital skills. The company also partners with Girls Who Code on an after-school programme to help girls learn the concepts of programming languages.

Dell performs relatively well compared to its peers in terms of oversight of and accountability for cybersecurity. It manages cybersecurity issues at the senior level and has a security incidence response team and multiple information security management certifications.

The company demonstrates its support for inclusive digital innovation through initiatives for start-ups, entrepreneurs, non-profit organisations and university research, providing access to funding and mentoring. Dell also supports research on sustainable development by partnering with Lonely Whale on ways to reduce the amount of plastic entering the ocean.

Dell could increase transparency by reporting how it distributes the value it creates among its stakeholders and assessing its indirect economic impacts.

While Dell has initiatives across the digital skills indicators, it has scope for greater transparency in reporting metrics and commissioning third-party assessments. These assessments would help the company and its stakeholders to understand the impacts of its programmes.

Dell is less transparent about the steps it takes to report on and mitigate digital risks and harms. It does not explicitly mention child digital safety in business codes or other reports. Nor does it report the number of data breaches, despite other companies making this data available.

The company has an opportunity to strengthen its open and ethical innovation practices. There is no evidence that Dell is committed to open source and standards, in the form of statements, standards bodies memberships or sharing of source code. The company has a Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, but it does not disclose how it applies ethical considerations in research and development activities.