Recent News – Page 212

Posted on November 13, 2018 by — Leave a comment

These teachers are taking their students around the world with Skype

Inspiring students to look beyond themselves

Disale is not alone. Shiva Kumar, who teaches in the sweltering farmlands of southern India, is Asia’s first Skype Master Teacher, a designation for volunteers who use Skype often in their lessons and are willing to train other teachers in how to use it to connect their classrooms.

Through Skype sessions, his students have traveled millions of miles around the world, virtually. Living in a flat, hot region, Kumar’s students were amazed when they experienced a Skype call with an Arctic research team. “It was eye-opening for them to discover that such a cold region exists in the world,” he says.

After more than a thousand interactions with classrooms or experts in dozens of countries since 2015, he’s still amazed by the surprising lessons learned.

Take the time his class of 8- to 10-year-olds had a Skype call with kids in a Kenyan refugee camp. “We found out that six kids were sharing one textbook there, and my students were shocked to learn of the difficulties they have and yet see the empathy flowing among them despite it all,” Kumar recalls. “My students realized there are a lot of poor people in the world, and it inspired them to start sharing more amongst themselves. Even small things like lunch, or a pencil or eraser, or sports equipment — they began sharing everything.”

“We’ve had sessions with 78 different countries,” says Kumar. “But in spite of all that diversity, the sense of commonality is what comes through to the kids. When they laugh and share things, that’s what they identify: oneness within diversity.”

For this year’s Skype-a-Thon the students in Kumar’s 10 STEM classes will bring their sleeping bags to school so they can do eight-hour shifts of 30-minute Skype sessions. The two-day marathon of virtual travel has become a staple for Kumar’s classes ever since they did the first one four years ago, when the students’ connections with classrooms around the world spanned more than a million miles. The kids decorate their school with lights and showcase their Indian culture through traditional dances and musical instruments, as well as modern STEM projects.

Disale will also be participating in the Skype-a-Thon, where he will be connecting 30 classrooms across 17 countries. Last year, almost half-a-million students from more than 90 countries participated, traveling 14.5 million miles. The goal is to meet or exceed those figures this year. For every 400 miles virtually traveled in the Skype-a-Thon, Microsoft will donate the resources for a student to attend school in one of the nine WE Villages in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, with a goal of helping 35,000 kids.

Posted on November 13, 2018 by — Leave a comment

People’s online social circles are becoming riskier, new Microsoft research shows

Bullying, unwanted contact and receiving unwelcome sexual images and messages were the most prominent risks in our latest digital civility research and, while strangers still pose the majority of online threats, data show a distinct rise in risk-exposure from people’s own social circles.

According to preliminary results from our latest study, 63 percent of online risks were sourced from strangers and people whom respondents knew only online – largely unchanged from the previous year. Meanwhile, 28 percent of online risks came from family and friends, up 11 points. In addition, findings revealed a relationship between risk-exposure and familiarity with the perpetrator: respondents who had met their abuser in real life were almost twice as likely to experience an online risk. More disheartening were indications that people were targeted because of their personal characteristics, namely gender, age and physical appearance.

These are some early findings from Microsoft’s latest study, “Civility, Safety and Interactions Online – 2018,” which measured attitudes and perceptions of teens and adults in 22 countries[1] about the online risks they face[2] and how their interactions impact their lives. As with previous years’ surveys, full and final results will be made available on international Safer Internet Day on Feb. 5. We chose to make these results available today in conjunction with World Kindness Day to emphasize the need for more civil and respectful interactions both online and off.

Examining the risk categories: Reputational, behavioral, sexual and personal/intrusive

In 2017, results showed that people’s digital interactions and responses to online risks appeared to be improving, but what was surprising was that many of those targeted for abuse said their offenders came from their immediate families and social circles. We decided to take a closer look at some of these findings this year and we found that unsettling trend was continuing. Indeed, negative experiences from family, friends and acquaintances were up 4 percent, 7 percent and 2 percent, respectively, while a new classification of perpetrators – colleagues and coworkers – accounted for 9 percent of people’s unpleasant interactions online.

As for the nature of online risks across and within the four risk categories – reputational, behavioral, sexual and personal/intrusive – 40 percent of respondents experienced behavioral risks and unwanted contact (a personal and intrusive risk); just over one-third (34 percent) reported negative experiences of a sexual nature, and 28 percent said they fell victim to hoaxes, scams or fraud, another personal and intrusive risk. Interestingly, 60 percent of those who experienced a behavioral risk also experienced unwanted contact and, coincidentally, 60 percent of those who experienced unwanted contact also experienced a behavioral risk.

Bullying seemed to define the behavioral category. Nearly all respondents who reported experiencing a behavioral risk was a target of name-calling, purposeful embarrassment or some other form of bullying. Unwanted contact was characterized by repeated attempts to contact the target, with more than four in 10 respondents reporting at least one form of repeated unwanted contact. Receipt of unwelcome sexual imagery and messages dominated the sexual risk category, with another nearly four in 10 experiencing repeated attempts to start a romantic relationship. Finally, the commonly experienced hoaxes, scams and fraud risk was led by false and misleading information. Fake news and internet hoaxes were the most common type, far outpacing fake anti-virus scams. More detailed findings across all of these individual risks and risk categories will be released on Safer Internet Day 2019.

Get ready for Safer Internet Day 2019: Pledge to be more respectful online

On World Kindness Day and in gearing up for Safer Internet Day, we’re again encouraging global internet users to pledge to engage responsibly online. Follow the example of the 15 impressive teens that served on our inaugural Council for Digital Good, and take our Digital Civility Challenge:

Live the Golden Rule by acting with empathy, compassion and kindness in every interaction, and treating everyone you connect with online with dignity and respect.
Respect differences, honor diverse perspectives and when disagreements surface, engage thoughtfully, and avoid name-calling and personal attacks.
Pause before replying to things you disagree with, and don’t post or send anything that could hurt someone, damage reputations or threaten someone’s safety.
Stand up for yourself and others by supporting those who are targets of online abuse or cruelty, reporting threatening activity and preserving evidence of inappropriate or unsafe behavior.

Find more great advice from our council members here, and visit our website and resources page for help in handling almost any online safety situation. For more regular news and information, you can connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. However you choose to learn and get involved, make this World Kindness Day count when it comes to safer and healthier online interactions.

[1] Countries surveyed: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada*, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Singapore*, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam. (* Indicates the first time this country has been included in this research.)

[2] In the latest study, the 21 risks break down as follows:

Reputational – “Doxing” and damage to personal or professional reputations
Behavioral – Being treated meanly; experiencing trolling, online harassment or bullying; encountering hate speech and microaggressions
Sexual – Sending or receiving unwanted “sext” messages and making sexual solicitations; receiving unwanted sexual attention – a new risk added in this latest research, and being a victim of sextortion or non-consensual pornography (aka “revenge porn”), and
Personal / Intrusive – Being the target of unwanted contact, experiencing discrimination, swatting, misogyny, exposure to extremist content/recruiting, or falling victim to hoaxes, scams or fraud.

Posted on November 12, 2018 by — Leave a comment

ERM contributes to a more sustainable future with Microsoft 365

Today’s post was written by Richard Zotov, Group CIO at ERM.

The sustainability industry addresses the complex balancing act between supporting socioeconomic development and ensuring the healthy future of our environment and our communities. ERM employees are passionate about helping to shape a sustainable future with the world’s leading organizations. We work with the majority of Fortune 500 companies, whose activities—from drilling oil to discovering the next miracle drug—have an enormous impact on us all. Because sustainability means something different for every customer, like exploring clean energy sources or guaranteeing an ethical supply chain, ERM employees must be skilled, flexible, and agile in how they approach each engagement.

It is my goal as CIO to make sure this amazing group of more than 5,000 individuals have the best tools at their disposal as they collaborate in creative teams across 40 countries to help our customers achieve their unique business and sustainability goals. So we made the strategic decision to harness technology and data to digitalize and transform how we work. That’s when we deployed Microsoft 365 across our entire organization, from administrators in our 160 offices to mobile consultants gathering data in the field. Today, ERM employees have new tools to work faster, better, and safer, accelerating the positive, global impact of the work we do.

Now that everyone uses the same Microsoft 365 toolkit to collaborate, harness data, and streamline operations, we have a unified foundational layer for our new workplace culture. We’re connecting our entire business to be more efficient. And when it comes to security, we can meet our customers’ high standards and enhance the credibility of our security position with the Microsoft cloud platform.

This workplace transformation is really a two-pronged approach to remaining at the forefront of the sustainability industry. First, we harness technology and data to accelerate our sustainability and environmental health and safety services. The second involves looking at how we develop new revenue streams as an offshoot of our newly digitalized way of doing business.

With Microsoft 365, we are making headway with the first goal. It’s part of an enterprise-wide push to focus on exceptional customer value. For example, we have technologically transformed how we collect, store, and manage data during site investigation, one of our biggest service lines. Onsite data collection used to be a laborious manual process. Today, we use Microsoft 365 to help digitalize data collection—consultants take tablets into the field for data input and upload it for storage in the Microsoft cloud where it’s available in real-time for colleagues to analyze back at the office. Now our customers receive our reports in easily consumable Power BI dashboards, as opposed to lengthy write-ups, and we’re delivering insightful data into the hands of our customers faster.

As we gain experience in transforming our service lines using Microsoft cloud services, among others, we’ll be in a better position to explore new digital opportunities that help add value to the work we do for customers. This strategy will keep us at the leading edge of technology innovation and help maintain our competitive advantage.

As we work with the intelligent tools within the Microsoft 365 cloud platform, we empower our employees to deliver value to our customers—helping them achieve that balance between doing business and being a conscious steward of the environment. It’s great to know that ERM is adding to the global dialogue on sustainability, contributing to a healthier future for the planet.

—Richard Zotov

Read the ERM case study for more on their move to a modern workplace with Microsoft 365.

Posted on November 12, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Educators: Prep for computer science week in Nov. 20 TweetMeet

Calling all classrooms with up-and-coming coders and app makers-to-be: Computer Science Education Week is happening on December 3 – 9 this year. In celebration of this event, our 14 global hosts are excited to offer you a new #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet on Computer Science, Hour of Code and Computational Thinking.

Joining from all over the world, our hosts hope to inspire you in empowering your students to prepare for their futures. For a glimpse of what’s in store, catch up on the most recent #HackTheClassroom event and watch some changemakers in action.

This month’s TweetMeet also dives into Voyage Aquatic, a brand-new Minecraft Hour of Code tutorial just launched in close partnership with Code.org (@codeorg).

Join the #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet on Tuesday, November 20, at 10:00 a.m. PST (check your time zone here) to learn more. (Sounds great, but what’s a TweetMeet?)

We offer a total of 8 language tracks this month: In addition to English, you can also participate in Español (Spanish), Italiano (Italian), Português (Portuguese),اللغة العربية (Arabic), Sprski (Serbian), Deutsch (German) and Nederlands (Dutch).

For each language track, we have one or more hosts to post the translated questions and respond to educators. As always, we’re super grateful to all current and former hosts who are collaborating closely to provide this service.

The #TweetMeetXX hashtags for non-English languages are to be used together with #MSFTEduChat so that everyone can find the conversations back in their own language. For example: Portuguese-speaking people use the combination #TweetMeetPT #MSFTEduChat. English-speaking educators may all use #MSFTEduChat on its own.

Our #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet is celebrating #CSEdWeek and #HourofCode with tips from the pros! Join us on Tuesday, Nov. 20 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. PST. #CS #MSFTEduChat Click To Tweet

More ways to participate

Post-event summary: We will publish a new post after this #MSFTEduChat event summarizing the key lessons from the conversations during the TweetMeet. The hosts will collaborate to curate a top selection of the tweets and trends they found most significant. For even more highlights from the TweetMeet, the blog post will offer multiple Twitter Moments – curated stories and conversations from Twitter. Look for this blog post soon after the event.
TweetMeet fan? Show it off on your Twitter profile: Every month more people discover the unique nature of the TweetMeets and become passionate about them. Well, you can now show your passion for the TweetMeets right from your Twitter page. The dimensions of our Twitter Header Photo are 1500×500 – the perfect size for your Twitter profile. Get this month’s image here: #MSFTEduChat Twitter Header Photo.

Why join the #MSFTEduChat TweetMeets?

TweetMeets are monthly recurring Twitter conversations about themes relevant to educators, facilitated by Microsoft Education. The purpose of these events is to help professionals in education to learn from each other and inspire their students while they are preparing for their future. The TweetMeets also nurture personal learning networks among educators from across the globe.

We’re grateful to have a support group made up exclusively of former TweetMeet hosts, who volunteer to translate communication and check the quality of our questions and promotional materials. They also help identify the best candidates for future events, provide relevant resources, promote the events among their networks, and, in general, cheer everybody on.

When and how can I join?

Join us Tuesday, November 20 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. PDT on Twitter using the hashtags #MSFTEduChat, #CS, #HourofCode, #CSEdWeek and #MicrosoftEDU (which you can always use to stay in touch with us). To find the event time for your specific location, use this time zone announcer.

From our monthly surveys we know that you may be in class at event time, busy doing other things or maybe even asleep – well, no problem! All educators are most welcome to join after the event. Simply take a look at the questions below and respond to these at a day and time that suit you best. You can also schedule your tweets in advance. In that case, be sure to quote the entire question and mention the hashtag #MSFTEduChat, so that everyone knows the right question and conversation to which you are responding.

How can I best prepare?

To prepare for the #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet, have a look at the questions we crafted this time.

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We’ve also lined up the following resources that cover Minecraft’s Code Builder, a useful Computer Science curriculum and a convenient course on how you can bring Computational Thinking into your classroom:

Our hosts have also assembled this great Flipgrid:

TweetMeet Questions

Hosts

All 14 hosts have been carefully recruited from across the globe based on their expertise in and passion for engaging their students in Computer Science, Hour of Code and Computational Thinking:

Alfred Thompson @alfredtwo (High school computer science teacher from New Hampshire, USA)
Amanda Calitz @AmandaCalitz (MIE Expert, MIE trainer 21CLD lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand- Johannesburg, South Africa)
Amanda Ford @aford78 (West College Scotland Games lecturer, MIE Expert, CoderDojo Mentor & Mini Game Jam organiser – Glasgow, Scotland)
Areej Alghamdi @Areejabdullahsa (MIE Expert, MIE trainer – Jeddah city, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
Brian Dang @8bitclassroom (Program Manager on Microsoft PowerApps, maker of educational apps – Bellevue, WA USA)
Doug Bergman @DougBergmanUSA (Innovative, Project-Based Computer Science teaching, author – Charleston. SC, USA)
Francisco Tejeira @ftejeirab (ICT Coordinator and Digital Design Teacher at SEK Alborán International School, MIE Expert – Almerimar, Spain)
Marco Neves @mbrasneves (MIE Expert, Computer Science Teacher, Educational Project Coordinator and Teacher Trainer – Batalha, Portugal)
Michael Drezek @m_drez (District Technology Integrator/TOSA at Lake Shore CSD. MIE, Minecraft Global Mentor, Flipgrid Global Rockstar, Ignite Speaker – Angola, NY, USA)
Monia Mahmoudi @mannou77 (MIE Expert, Computer science teacher, International School Award coordinator ,leading teacher of Europe code week in my country – Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia)
Olalekan Adeeko @lincolndemo (ICT Teacher, MIE Expert and co-founder of Codeliners – Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria )
Patricia Gartland @p_gartland (CEO/Superintendent School District No. 43 – Learning Without Boundaries – Success In Life For All, International Educator – Coquitlam, BC, Canada)
Pauline Maas @4pip (Teacher ICT Special Education Needs, Author of 5 coding books for children, giving lots of lectures and workshops to teachers how they can implement Computational Thinkings in their schools – Netherlands)
Sacha van Straten @svanstraten (Head of ICT, Computing & Digital Learning. MIE. MA in Computing Education – Windsor, England)

As of November 2018, the TweetMeet Team is proud to be joined by Anica Tričković. This educator from Serbia is well-known among Microsoft educators for coordinating the highly popular, multi-lingual SuperSway TweetMeet invitations that the hosts collaborate on every month. As a member on the TweetMeet Team, Anica will continue to collaborate with the hosts, guide them through their preparations for the event, and keep the resources up-to-date. You can follow Anica on Twitter @AnicaTrickovic.

What are #MSFTEduChat TweetMeets?

Every month Microsoft Education organizes social events on Twitter targeted at educators globally. The hashtag we use is #MSFTEduChat. A team of topic specialists and international MIE Expert teachers prepare and host these TweetMeets together. Our team of educator hosts first crafts several questions around a certain topic. Then, before the event, they share these questions on social media. Combined with a range of resources, a blog post and background information about the events, this allows all participants to prepare themselves to the full. Afterwards we make an archive available of the most notable tweets and resources shared during the event.

Please connect with TweetMeet organizer Marjolein Hoekstra @OneNoteC on Twitter if you have any questions about TweetMeets or helping out as a host.

Next month’s topic: Best of 2018

Posted on November 12, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Brad Smith on the Paris Call: An important step toward peace and security in the digital world

Today, French President Emmanuel Macron launched a global effort among governments, businesses and civil society to protect and defend against threats to the digital infrastructure that runs our daily lives. We’re proud to be one of the 370 signatories of The Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace. This includes 51 governments from around the world, including all 28 members of the European Union and 27 of the 29 NATO members. It also includes key governments from other parts of the world, including Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Colombia and New Zealand.

The Paris Call is an important step on the path toward digital peace, creating a stronger foundation for progress ahead. It calls for strong commitments in support of clear principles and strong norms to protect citizens and civilian infrastructure from systemic or indiscriminate cyberattacks. Similarly, it calls for governments, tech companies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to work together to protect our democracies and electoral processes from nation-state cyberthreats.

The Paris Call breaks new ground by bringing together to support these steps an unprecedented and broad array of supporters. Its signatories include more than 200 companies and business associations, including leading tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Intel, Ericsson, Samsung, Accenture, Fujitsu, SAP, Salesforce and Hitachi. Importantly, it also includes leading financial services institutions such as Citigroup, Mastercard, Visa, Deutsche Bank, as well as industrial leaders such as Nestle, Lufthansa and Schneider Electric. And it includes almost 100 critical NGOs that span groups across civil society.

All of this is important for a reason. Success in advancing cybersecurity requires an approach that is not only multinational, but multistakeholder in nature. This is because cyberspace, unlike the traditional planes of warfare like land, sea and air, is typically privately owned. Cyberspace in fact consists of concrete elements in the real world, such as datacenters, undersea cables, and laptops and mobile devices. These are designed and manufactured by private companies. And often they are owned and operated by tech companies and others in the private sector.

While the tech sector has the first and highest responsibility to protect this technology and the people who rely upon it, this is an issue that requires that governments, companies and civil society come together. That is the only effective way to protect people from what at times have become military-grade cybersecurity threats.

Increasingly, it is apparent that the people of the world appreciate this as well. This morning in Paris I announced that more than 100,000 individuals from more than 130 countries have now signed the petition calling for Digital Peace Now, spearheaded with Global Citizen. And like the signatories to the Paris Call, this number is continuing to grow.

Today’s announcements came as part of the Paris Peace Forum, an event commemorating the centennial of the Armistice that brought an end to the First World War. As was the case a century ago, the nature of technology and warfare is changing. A century ago, governments and human institutions failed to adapt to the changing world. This century, we need to do better. With the help of clear principles, strong protection and a growing multistakeholder coalition, we can build on today’s milestones and continue to provide the world the strong cybersecurity it deserves.

Posted on November 11, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Everything the Xbox team announced at X018

This weekend, the Xbox community came together to take part in X018, a global celebration of all things Xbox filled with news, first looks, and plenty of surprises. More than 10,000 fans joined us at the fourth-annual Xbox FanFest: Mexico City to get a closer look at the future of Xbox through hands-on events and panels featuring members of Team Xbox, streamed live on Inside Xbox.

The big news of the day was the announcement that two game development studios with storied histories will join Microsoft Studios to create exclusive games for Xbox fans. Coupled with the five new studio partners we announced at E3, the future of Xbox exclusives is looking bright.

X018 showcased a lineup of upcoming titles with something for every gamer, including a first-look at Crackdown 3’s multiplayer mode, and new content from Just Cause 4, Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, and many more. What’s more, we’ve now got over 327 titles enhanced for Xbox One X, the world’s most powerful console. From exclusive blockbusters like Forza Horizon 4 to holiday standouts like Fallout 76, there’s no denying the biggest games of the holiday season play best on Xbox One.

Xbox also revealed deep console and game discounts for the holidays, as well as access to more than 100 games for one low monthly price through Xbox Game Pass – the best value in gaming. The team announced a number of awesome new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass soon, including hits like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).

So, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at today’s big news:

Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment Join Microsoft Studios

As part of our commitment to bringing a steady stream of new, exclusive games to our fans, Matt Booty announced Microsoft’s intent to acquire two game development studios – Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment. The teams at Obsidian and inXile share a distinguished reputation for creating deep, engaging role-playing games. As part of Microsoft Studios, Obsidian and inXile will have the support and freedom to fully realize creative ambitions on both existing franchises and new projects. These two creative teams will continue to operate autonomously and bring their unique talents, IP and expertise to Microsoft Studios as they build new RPG experiences for our players and fans. You can learn more about Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment in our full announcement post here.

Crackdown 3 Announces Xbox Game Pass Launch on February 15 with Explosive Debut of Wrecking Zone Multiplayer

X018 provided a first look at the over-the-top antics and explosive gameplay of Crackdown 3’s Wrecking Zone, an all-new multiplayer mode where environmental destruction is your secret weapon to take down your enemies. Developed by Microsoft Studios in collaboration with Sumo Digital and Elbow Rocket, Crackdown 3 will bring super-powered Agents to New Providence, an action-packed open-world, to take down a criminal corporation using an explosive set of weapons and abilities. Step up your boom in the campaign on your own or with a friend to unleash cooperative mayhem when Crackdown 3 launches on February 15, 2019. Crackdown 3 is available at launch with Xbox Game Pass and globally on Xbox One and Windows 10.

As a special thanks to our fans, and to celebrate our X018 announcements, we will be offering the original Crackdown to all fans free of charge from now until November 30th. Experience the original now with Xbox One X enhancements. Head to the Microsoft Store now to get your copy!

The Hits Keep on Coming with Xbox Game Pass

Today, Microsoft announced the general availability of the Xbox Game Pass app on iOS and Android, enabling you to seamlessly browse and download new games to your home console via your mobile device, so you can quickly jump into gameplay the next time you turn on your Xbox One. We are also excited to continue to expand and diversify the Xbox Game Pass catalog by making the popular blockbuster title PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) available to all members beginning on November 12. In addition, Thief of Thieves is officially available on Xbox One and in Xbox Game Pass starting today and we’re bringing Agents of Mayhem, MXGP3 and Thomas Was Alone to you starting on November 22.

We are also excited to bring unique gaming experiences like Ori and the Blind Forest, Kingdom Two Crowns and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice to Xbox Game Pass this December and we announced additional new games from independent developers launching through the ID@Xbox program that will come to Xbox Game Pass the day they debut on Xbox One. Starting this holiday, this list includes Aftercharge, Supermarket Shriek, Mutant Year Zero, Pathologic 2, The Good Life, Void Bastards, and Secret Neighbor. Furthermore, we confirmed Ori and the Will of the Wisps will be available in Xbox Game Pass timed to its global release on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC in 2019.

And if all that isn’t enough to whet your Xbox Game Pass appetite, we also have an exciting offer you don’t want to miss. Starting today through January 3, you can sign up for Xbox Game Pass and receive your first full month for just $1. With a growing catalog of over 100 great games and new titles added every month, now has never been a better time to become an Xbox Game Pass member. Check out our full Xbox Game Pass post for complete details!

Xbox Delivers Its Biggest Black Friday Deals Ever

The holidays are almost here, and this year shoppers around the world will be able to give more as Xbox is back with our biggest Black Friday sale ever. Xbox is offering deep discounts up to $100 off select Xbox One consoles, bringing Xbox One X down to its lowest price ever starting at $399.99. But the savings don’t stop there. Can’t decide what gift to give to the gamer in your life this holiday? Give the gift of more than 100 titles, including access to Xbox exclusives the same day they launch, for one monthly price at an even better value with deals on Xbox Game Pass.

Score your first month of Xbox Game Pass for just $1. Because gaming is better together, we’re also offering a big discount on Xbox Live Gold that lets you get one month for just $1. And of course, it wouldn’t be Black Friday without discounts on your favorite Xbox games, so we’re offering savings on titles such as Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2 and more. Check out the full Black Friday post for more details.

The Biggest Blockbuster Games Play Best on Xbox One

During today’s show, we shared looks at a number of new games coming to Xbox One, as well as updates on some fan favorites:

Take a Trip to Fortune Island in Forza Horizon 4

Ben Thaker-Fell, Chief Designer of the Forza Horizon series, announced the first expansion for Forza Horizon 4, “Fortune Island”, which will release on Dec. 13 on Xbox and Windows 10 PCs. “Fortune Island” takes players on an all-new adventure in the remote northern reaches of the British Isles, where they will encounter extreme conditions including fierce lightning storms, perilous cliffside dirt roads, and sweeping paved mountain switchbacks under the mystical glow of the aurora borealis in search of hidden treasure.

Forza Horizon 4 players will also be able to drive all five of Ken Block’s high-powered, custom-built Ford vehicles from the upcoming GymkhanaTEN, the 10th installment of the award-winning, Gymkhana viral video franchise. These rides began rolling out in Forza Horizon 4 earlier this month for Car Pass members with the release of the 1977 Ford GymkhanaTEN, F-150 Hoonitruck and the 1993 Ford Escort Cosworth Group A. Coming in November for all players are the 1965 Ford Hoonicorn Mustang V2 and the 2017 Ford Fiesta RS and arriving in December is the 2016 Ford GymkhanaTEN Focus RS RX.

Forza Horizon 4 “Fortune Island” will be available as part of the Forza Horizon 4 Expansions Bundle which provides players with two game expansions at a reduced cost of $34.99 . Owners of Forza Horizon 4 Ultimate Edition and Forza Horizon 4 Ultimate Add-Ons Bundle will receive Fortune Island at no additional cost. Xbox Game Pass subscribers, who do not already own one of the bundles, are eligible for 10% off a bundle or 10% off an individual purchase of Fortune Island.

Minecraft Marketplace Gets Bigger and Better

Helen Chiang, Head of Minecraft, dropped in to talk about Minecraft’s record-breaking year – a new game announcement, releasing major vanilla game updates, and surpassing 91 million monthly players. On top of all of this, Helen shared insight into the ever-expanding Minecraft Marketplace, bringing Marketplace partner PixelHeads along with her. PixelHeads, one of the most popular official Minecraft partner teams, stopped by to talk about their creations and how they got their start in game development and the Marketplace. During the show, the Minecraft team was proud to announce that the Marketplace has reached 77 partners who have driven more than 13 million purchases for their creations since it launched last June! Viewers also got a very special look at the history behind Cats and Pandas in Minecraft, which will release next month.

Battle Rival Crews in The Arena in Sea of Thieves

Sea of Thieves is changing in a big way with its fifth free content update since launch, ‘The Arena.’ Releasing in early 2019, ‘The Arena’ is an all-new competitive game mode that allows players to test their pirating skills in fast-paced matches against rival crews. Each match is a fun, frenetic and action-packed race to find treasure that brings together all the most exciting elements of Sea of Thieves – on demand. ‘The Arena’ also includes a new-tavern area together with a new Trading Company – the Sea Dogs – which will offer new goals, rewards and opportunities to progress to Pirate Legend. Sea of Thieves is available on Xbox One, Windows 10 and Xbox Game Pass as an Xbox Play Anywhere title.

Unveiling the Zedhunter Pack in State of Decay 2

Today, we got a first look at the next content pack for State of Decay 2 launching November 16^th, the Zedhunter Pack. This new pack adds the powerful and silent crossbow as a new zombie-slaying weapon along with additional melee weapons, facilities, blood plague consumables, and gameplay updates like the ability to respect your skills all into the main game. As part of our continued commitment to supporting the four million players in the State of Decay 2 community, Zedhunter will be free for all players – owners of either Standard or Ultimate Edition along with Xbox Game Pass members. Looking forward, we also announced that we are working on a more challenging player experience coming in 2019. Stay tuned for additional details on this difficulty setting and more.

Shoot Your Way to Safety in Void Bastards

Premiered during Inside Xbox and inspired by BioShock and System Shock 2, Void Bastards is a revolutionary new strategy-shooter that will test your wits as well as exercise your aim coming to Xbox as a console launch exclusive. Can you lead the misfit prisoners of the Void Ark through the derelict spaceships and myriad dangers of the Sargasso Nebula? Will you make the right choices about what to do, where to go and when to fight? Master combat, manage ship controls, scavenge supplies, craft improvised tools and much more! Void Bastards will also come to Xbox Game Pass coinciding with its launch on Xbox One.

Battlefield V

A trailer was debuted highlighting the Xbox One X enhancements for the highly-anticipated title, “Battlefield V,” coming from Electronic Arts and DICE. Featuring 4K Ultra HD and HDR support on Xbox One X, leading to enhanced visuals allowing you to lead your squad to victory in the highest fidelity Battlefield title ever. It’s the best looking console experience launching worldwide on November 20, but EA Access members can jump in to the Battlefield V Play First Trial beginning November 9.

Our First Look at Devil May Cry 5’s ‘Void Mode’

Devil May Cry 5 producer Matt Walker joined director Hideaki Itsuno from Capcom’s head office in the vibrant city of Osaka to show off the rich culture of the city and share how the team draws from their surroundings. Itsuno provided insight into how Capcom’s action games are influenced by the Osaka area, before giving Inside Xbox a first look at the comprehensive training mode he’s created for Devil May Cry 5 – dubbed ‘The Void’. As a first for Xbox fans, Itsuno gave a personal tour of Nero’s Devil Breakers, including the bonus Devil Breakers available in the Deluxe Edition content of Devil May Cry 5.

Two Highly Anticipated Fighters Join the Jump Force Roster

Bandai Namco gives Inside Xbox an exclusive first look at some never-before seen special moves of two of the most anticipated characters slated to appear in Jump Force. Bandai Namco Entertainment America’s LATAM Community Manager Diego Paramio will give us a play-by-play to accompany the world debut of the Awakening Transformations of two legendary Dragon Ball characters that will be playable in Jump Force: SSGSS Vegeta and Golden Frieza! This is the first time fans will be able to see these two highly anticipated characters going into their respective super-powered modes and showing off their mightiest special moves!

As another special treat, Bandai Namco also premiered the first footage of SSGSS Goku in action in Jump Force! You won’t want to miss it!

Just Cause 4 Brings the Thunder

The new Just Cause 4 CGI cinematic trailer sums up the blockbuster action Just Cause 4 delivers. Rico Rodriguez faces his biggest challenge yet in Solís, leading the Army of Chaos against the ruthless Gabriela Morales. Just Cause 4 is the biggest, most varied and creative Just Cause ever. Everything you love about the series is back and beefed up: insane physics, unmatched levels of destruction and the player’s trademark parachute, wingsuit and grapple. This December, Just Cause 4 brings the thunder on Xbox One and Xbox One X.

A Familiar Face Comes to Kingdom Hearts III

KINGDOM HEARTS III revealed the return of Winnie the Pooh in a brand new trailer at the Microsoft Fan Fest in Mexico City! The trailer also revealed ominous hints of Master Xehanort and Organization XIII’s nefarious activities. Sora, Donald, Goofy as well as many other Disney and Pixar heroes (like from Big Hero 6, Tangled, and Pirates of the Caribbean and more) will need to stand strong together and fight to save the light from the impending darkness. Attendees were able to play a demo that featured segments from the Hercules and Toy Story worlds. KINGDOM HEARTS III comes out January 29, 2019.

A Closer Look at The Forge in Shadow of the Tomb Raider

You may have already experienced Lara Croft’s defining moment, but Shadow of the Tomb Raider continues with The Forge – the first of seven, monthly DLC adventures. Join Narrative Director Jason Dozois and Senior Associate Producer Jo Dahan as they take Lara and her newfound friend, Abi on a co-op journey through the fiery tower of The Forge on Inside Xbox.

The Xbox One Backward Compatibility Catalog Continues to Grow

Today, we shared that on November 13, four, new Backward Compatible titles will be getting enhanced for Xbox One X. Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2 and LIGHTNING RETURNS: Final Fantasy XIII will be entirely new to the Back Compat catalog, while Civilization Revolution will be receiving an (Xbox One X Enhanced) update to take advantage of the world’s most powerful console. To date, gamers have enjoyed playing well over 1 billion hours of Backward Compatible games and we look forward to continuing to grow the collection including more than 500 Xbox 360 games, 25 Xbox One X Enhanced Xbox 360 titles, and 32 Original Xbox classics.

Play Your Way with Mouse and Keyboard Support

Support for mouse and keyboard input on Xbox One will arrive next week, with select titles enabled at launch for Insiders and even more coming. On today’s IX episode, Epic detailed how Fortnite will be one of the first titles to offer mouse and keyboard input alongside previously announced Warframe in today’s update, with Bomber Crew, Deep Rock Galactic, Strange Brigade, Vermintide 2, War Thunder and X-Morph Defense adding support in November, and Children of Morta, DayZ, Minion Master, Moonlighter, Vigor, Warface, and Wargroove adding support in the future. When the update launches next week, all developers will have the tools they need to create tailored mouse and keyboard experiences for their games as they see fit to ensure a fair and fun experience for fans.

Additionally, we shared that the best mouse and keyboard experience on Xbox One will be available through Designed for Xbox mice and keyboards. These are created for living room or desktop scenarios, come equipped with a dedicated Xbox key, and support the new Xbox Dynamic Lighting feature – enabling immersive in-game lighting effects. Razer will be the exclusive partner to ship a Designed for Xbox mouse and keyboard and will formally introduce the product at CES in January.

The Xbox Adaptive Controller Launches Worldwide

We’re very proud to announce that the Xbox Adaptive Controller is launching in 17 new markets in 2019, including Mexico. New countries to offer the acclaimed controller include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Slovakia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey and UAE. We’ll be bringing you more details on the worldwide launch of the Xbox Adaptive Controller soon.

#givewithXbox

We also announced #givewithXbox, a holiday-timed campaign from Xbox that aims to bring the joy of gaming to everyone. Beginning today and ending December 9, Xbox will donate $5 USD of Xbox products, up to $1 million, for every photo shared on social media about what gaming together means using the hashtag #givewithXbox. The donations will be split amongst four inspirational charities who help bring gaming to everyone: Child’s Play, Gamers Outreach, SpecialEffect and Operation Supply Drop. Xbox is committed more than ever to gaming for everyone and making Xbox a place where everyone has fun. So, jump in with Xbox to help even more people play this holiday season.

‘Winter of Arcade’ Returns this December

Last but not least, we’re thrilled to announce ‘Winter of Arcade’, where from December 6th to December 21st we will providing special incentives on select ID@Xbox titles to help you fill out your library. Tune into The Game Awards on December 6 live on Mixer for more info.

Posted on November 10, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Check out this year’s Black Friday deals from Microsoft and partners

Black Friday deals from Microsoft Store and our partners starting Saturday, November 10. Give wonder this holiday season with savings on Surface, Windows 10 PCs, Xbox One and more.

When I think back on a lifetime of giving holidays, I don’t always remember the exact presents or the pattern of the wrapping paper. What I recall clearly, though, is that smile, that laugh of someone unwrapping the perfect gift. For me – and from me – those gifts often had technology at the center, whether it was the latest gaming console I always wanted growing up, the perfect PC for my kids or the sold-out fitness wearable for my wife. Unwrapping a gift of technology always seems to generate a happy dance.

For this holiday season and one of my favorite times of year, I’m looking forward to celebrating with my family and loved ones, and to giving more than just gifts. I’m hoping to share new moments of wonder with others and look back on them fondly, years from now.

This year Microsoft Store and our partners have some great options to give wonder with Black Friday deals for today’s digital lifestyle – from Xbox One bundles to the Surface family and Windows 10 PCs. Select deals will be available across regions, and pricing and timing may vary. Check out the full list of savings here.

Save up to $330 on Surface

Give inspiration with a new Surface this holiday and see, feel and hear the difference. Imagine what they’ll create with the Surface family: the better than ever, ultra-light Surface Pro 6 delivers even more speed and performance, the Surface Laptop is the ultimate in power and design, while the small, strong Surface Go is always adventure-ready.

Save up to $100 on Xbox One, Get Xbox Game Pass for $1

Give thrills this season for the gamer on your list with Xbox’s biggest Black Friday sale ever. With deals on Xbox consoles, accessories, Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold and must-have games, including the lowest price ever for Xbox One X at $399.99, there’s something for everyone.

Save Up to $740 on Windows 10 PCs

Give possibility with a Windows 10 PC and bring home gifts for work and play. Devices powered by Windows 10 provide you with all the latest features, and help you make the most of your time across work, home and anywhere in between.

Nov. 10-30: Get $120 off the MSI GL63 8RE-629 NewEgg.com and save up to $100 off the MSI GV62 8RD-200 on Amazon.com
Nov. 18-26: Get $400 off when you purchase the Odyssey Z ($1799.99) and the HMD Odyssey+ ($499.99) together on Samsung.com for just $1,899.99
Nov. 18-30: Save $150 on the Huawei Matebook X Pro at the Microsoft Store and get $30 off the Huawei MateBook D 14 on Amazon.com
Nov. 22-24: Get $200 off the Acer Nitro 5 Nov. 21-26 at BestBuy.com
Nov. 22-30: Buy a Dell Inspiron 15for $499, save $200
Nov 22-Dec.1: Save up to $100 on the Asus ZenBook 13 (UX331) at Amazon.com and get the Asus VivoBook Flip 14 (TP412) for only $399 at Walmart.com.
Starting Nov. 22: Don’t miss great Black Friday deals from HP.com where you can save up to $740 on select ENVY, Pavilion, OMEN and Spectre PCs
Starting Nov. 23: Buy the Lenovo X1 Carbon for just $899.99 while supplies last

Additional Black Friday deals include:

Microsoft Store, whether shopping online, in a physical store, or through an Xbox or Windows 10 device, is the best destination for your holiday shopping. From getting tech recommendations from store associates, finding a standout gift at any price, trying out the latest devices, picking up a purchase you made online, or getting free shipping and returns for online purchases – Microsoft Store has you covered. Happy shopping!

*Select deals are available across markets. Timing and prices may vary by region. Visit your Microsoft Store location or online for more details on availability and pricing.

Offers valid for a limited time, while supplies last. Not valid on prior orders or purchases; cannot be transferred or otherwise redeemed for cash or coupon code(s). May not be combinable with other offers. Refunds will take into account the discount. Price discount does not include taxes, shipping or other fees. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Microsoft reserves the right to modify or discontinue offers at any time. Other exclusions and limits may apply.

Updated November 10, 2018 3:28 pm

Posted on November 9, 2018 by — Leave a comment

The Navy helped her find her voice; Microsoft helped her transform her career

Jessica receives her official frocking letter to advance to Third Class Petty Officer in the United States Navy. — *Jessica receives her official frocking letter as she advances to Third Class Petty Officer in the United States Navy.*

For U.S. Navy veteran and Microsoft Software & Systems Academy (MSSA) graduate Jessica Helmer, building a career wasn’t an easy journey. Her road was fraught with setbacks, but she paved it with a determination to always learn and a refusal to ever settle.

Now, as a program manager with the Shared Services Engineering team at Microsoft, she can’t imagine a more rewarding career — or a more welcoming home.

Growing up in Point Blank, Texas, was challenging for Jessica. Her dad died when she was young. At times afterward, she, her mother and older brother had to skip meals. When they were “between homes,” they couch-surfed with family and friends. Even when her mom enrolled in college and they moved into campus housing during the school year, things never felt steady for Jessica. She was extremely shy and performed inconsistently at school. Through years of moving around, she tried to stay on track but eventually found herself failing out of college.

When Jessica did find a way to start attending classes regularly in her early 20s and earn decent grades, struggles at home once again threatened to throw her goals off course. So she made a plan: She would see her classes through finals. Then, she would enlist in the military.

During the semester, Jessica had connected with her stepdad’s secretary, who was married to an Air Force veteran. Their conversations inspired her, and she determined that military service could give her the stability she’d long craved — and more important, a sense of belonging.

Jessica at her first Hackathon event in July 2018. — Jessica at her first Hackathon event in July 2018, where her team supported the Agaram Foundation.

To put her plan into action, Jessica returned to Point Blank to visit the military recruiting centers. Within just three weeks, she had completed her paperwork, aptitude test and physical exam, and was headed off to Naval Station Great Lakes for boot camp.

To this day, Jessica recalls boot camp as the biggest mental and physical challenge she’s endured. Yet, it was a mostly positive experience because of the people looking out for her.

“Our Recruit Division Commander was like a father or a big brother to me — he wanted to make sure all the females were set up for success,” she recalls. “He gave us an idea of what to look out for in our male-dominant environment, and how to handle ourselves.”

As an electronic technician charged with maintaining communication and navigation systems, and the only female in her division of 35 people — and still extremely shy — success meant figuring out how to establish herself and prove she deserved to be there. It wasn’t easy.

“Some people doubted what I was doing or assumed I wasn’t smart enough, especially since it was technical stuff,” she says. “There was this mentality that women don’t do tech, they do nursing.”

The more she strived to do her best work and learn as much as she could, attitudes shifted. Still, Jessica felt continual pressure to prove herself. Doing so took a mix of figuring things out on her own and embracing guidance from de facto mentors. They pushed her when she wanted to settle. They encouraged her when she felt out of her element.

For instance, when she was in charge of systems during a power loss on the USS Boxer, tasked with keeping the ship afloat and in readiness, she successfully stood her watch.

“It was frankly terrifying,” she says. “But it was also a huge source of pride because I was young in terms of how long I’d been serving, and I was the only female that had done it.”

Her willingness to jump in and learn as she went served Jessica well throughout her 10 years of naval service. It’s how she turned a misassignment at the Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center into a career opportunity, even though it meant learning a completely new set of skills, shifting from administering systems and networks to coding software.

“The captain straight-up told me, ‘Yeah, we messed up, you’re not the type of technician we need. But you’ve got this, you’ll figure it out,’” she says.

After being trained on the basics, she did figure it out. And she enjoyed it. Along the way, she gained another mentor: a senior systems engineer who regularly came out to help her with repairs.

So when the time neared to consider re-entering civilian life and Jessica discovered MSSA, she felt the program, designed for military veterans and transitioning service members, was a natural next step.

Jessica poses with the Halo 2 Master Chief. — Jessica poses with the Halo 2 Master Chief after her first Microsoft interview in September 2017.

Jessica attended the 18-week MSSA Cloud Application Development course in San Diego, where she learned database programming and other skills for building and maintaining modern applications. As a graduate, she was also guaranteed an interview for a full-time job at Microsoft or one of more than 360 hiring partners.

When her official transition date neared while she was still in the interview process, Jessica went into hyper-drive. She split her days between applying to jobs and taking online courses to deepen her technical knowledge, all the while remaining hopeful and determined that her efforts would pay off. They did.

After several rounds of interviews, including one in which she had follow-up meetings with two separate groups at Microsoft, Jessica accepted an offer from the team that had been urged to consider her for the role by her MSSA mentor.

“I think the interview process speaks to Microsoft’s desire to find the right fit,” Jessica says. “For both the hiring team and the person they’re bringing in.”

Now, she’s a program manager working on the back end of the systems that enable Microsoft to build its products. Her team is “the backbone of the company,” as she puts it. And she’s proud to be right in the mix of it all, coordinating and translating information between nontechnical customers and highly technical engineering teams.

It’s still mind-blowing to this Navy veteran that she has a successful career in tech, working for a company she admires. She credits her success to the military and MSSA, and especially the support network she’s developed.

“I’m so impressed that the military and Microsoft teamed up,” she says. “To me, growing up, the idea of being a software developer was like this magical thing that only the most special people could do. But here I am. It’s obvious that my Microsoft team wants to help me to be the best that I can be, and therefore make our team the best it can be. It’s been a fantastic transition process for me.”

Posted on November 9, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Gap Inc. partners with Microsoft to create a more seamless shopping experience

Nearly 50 years ago, a real estate entrepreneur named Don Fisher had a problem: He couldn’t find a pair of jeans that fit, even after going to three stores. With his wife Doris, they decided to open their own store with jeans in many sizes and styles, a radical concept at the time. It was the first-ever Gap store.

Today, Gap Inc. is a global retailer with six brands, over 3,100 company-operated stores and product sold in more than 90 countries. Customers still come looking for the perfect pair of jeans, but now their expectations for where, when and how they shop have transformed. As the company looks to the future, it is continuing its growth and role as a retail leader with a new cloud strategy announced Friday.

With Microsoft as its primary cloud provider, the retailer will accelerate mobile and digital capabilities, modernize its supply chain, improve the in-store experience and deliver new ways to shop.

Store customer pays for clothing at a mobile checkout station with smiling employee — Mobile checkout at Old Navy.

“Gap Inc. is focused on using technology to transform how we provide a frictionless customer experience wherever and however our customer wants to shop,” says Sally Gilligan, chief information officer at Gap Inc. “Our journey and partnership with Microsoft will enable us to be more resilient and stable as a platform, scale more efficiently, and innovate and build solutions faster.”

Gilligan is leading the company’s technology evolution with Rathi Murthy, Gap Inc.’s chief technology officer. Their work will facilitate ongoing growth of the retailer’s active and value business, and support expansion of online and mobile services across its brands, including Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta.

The elasticity of Azure will help Gap Inc. quickly scale for future holiday seasons, as the company migrates hundreds of applications to Azure over the next several years, starting with critical inventory, store and site management systems.

Cloud capabilities will allow efficient, reliable scaling with all peaks and valleys of consumer demand – from holidays to back-to-school season – and streamline a supply chain that moves over 1.2 billion product units a year. Azure will also support the company’s DevOps model of rapid software builds, releases and tests.

“Azure is going to play a very, very big role for us to be able to scale our business seamlessly,” Murthy says.

People process packages in a large distribution center — Gap Inc. distribution center in Fishkill, New York.

Gap Inc. is also building a centralized data platform on Azure to enable personalized shopping experiences and faster responses to a changing retail landscape, with more consumers shopping digitally and researching products online before they head to a store. The company will be able to better understand customers’ tastes and preferences with advanced analytics, data visualization and machine learning. It will be able to deliver tailored merchandising and marketing, and win more omnichannel, cross-brand shoppers.

Such shoppers are valuable consumers and Gap Inc.’s most loyal customers. That’s why the company’s technology teams have made it easy to shop online across brands, with easy toggling between sites and universal checkout for customers to combine items from several brands, like Gap and Athleta, in a single cart that ships together.

“We’ve seen a huge transformation in the whole retail industry in shopping patterns,” Murthy says. “Our online business continues to grow, so we need to make sure our platform is fast, responsive and able to scale.”

Headquartered where it began – San Francisco – Gap Inc. is also empowering its now-global workforce with Microsoft 365 solutions. The modern tools will help employees collaborate across brands and channels, and enable them to work faster and more efficiently through the company’s transformation.

“You can’t be on your legacy platforms if you want to empower your best talent,” says Murthy. “You’ve got to be on the next-generation platform. That’s where Office 365 and Windows 10 come in.”

Three people working together with laptops and a hand-held device — Gap Inc. employees work on technology solutions.

Murthy and Gilligan also share a passion for creating a modern, diverse workplace. Whether it’s developing female talent, working with students and community, or fostering innovation for everyone, the work is all part of a comprehensive strategy to build a faster, better Gap Inc.

“For me, diversity is not just diversity in race and gender, but diversity in thoughts and action as well,” says Murthy, a longtime mentor for other women. “Our customers are 70 percent women and it’s important to have the same representation in-house, in technology, in all aspects. Then we are best able to serve our business.”

To learn more about Gap Inc.’s digital transformation, read the press release.

Top photo: Rathi Murthy (left), Gap Inc. chief technology officer, and Sally Gilligan, Gap Inc. chief information officer. All photos courtesy of Gap Inc.

Posted on November 8, 2018 by — Leave a comment

Life after the uniform: helping veterans when their tour of duty is complete

It was one of those moments when life seems to both speed up and slow down almost to a standstill. Solaire Brown, suited up in heavy gear, braced herself inside the specialized mine-resistant vehicle where she was training with her fellow US Marines. The vehicles are built to withstand improvised explosive devices and save military lives. But sometimes, when struck, they roll over. The Marine Corps requires extensive training on how to escape if a vehicle flips in an explosion.

Brown and her teammates were in the middle of this training when suddenly, Brown was tossed across the cab as her vehicle spun two and a half times—over, up, over, up, over—and landed upside down. Disoriented Marines hung from their seats. Quickly, they reached around to unclip seatbelts, help each other down, and grab their packs.

Brown exited the vehicle and took her position around the perimeter to complete the training, holding her rifle steady, not noticing the blood running down her face or realizing that the trajectory of her life had just begun to shift.

She soon learned that the impact had caused a concussion and a broken nose and had crushed multiple bones in both of her feet. After two surgeries and a year of rehabilitation, Brown realized that because of her injuries she wasn’t going to be able to maintain the rigorous lifestyle that the Marine Corps requires. She was devastated.

“I loved the Marines, and I wasn’t ready to get out,” Brown said. She’d planned a military career, so after five years in, she felt apprehensive about being without her fellow Marines.

“We trained together, ate together, slept in a pile like a litter of puppies, trying to get even five minutes of sleep between flights to and from deployments or amid missions, ” she said. “They had been my right-hand people for so long that I was sure I’d forget how to operate without them.”

Brown had to figure out what her next step in life would be, without them.

But Marines never get stuck for long. She immediately began to scan the perimeter of her life for other options.

Solaire Brown (formerly Sanderson), who was a Sergeant in the US Marine Corps and is now a security analyst, learned tech skills in Microsoft Software and Systems Academy, which connects veterans to civilian jobs.

Brown is in good company. Nearly 200,000 service members leave active military duty for civilian life every year. Many of them don’t have college degrees and worry that will keep them from building new careers.

“It doesn’t matter if you serve five years or 40 years, transition is tough,” said US Marine Corps Major General Chris Cortez (Ret.), vice president of Military Affairs at Microsoft. “All of a sudden you’ve got to start all over again.”

While the unemployment rate for veterans has been on the decline, some groups of veterans, such as men aged 25 to 34, face higher unemployment rates than their civilian counterparts. Finding a job is a top concern.

Many veterans have found their footing in the civilian work world. But some really struggle, not only with lack of training for another career and little experience looking for work in a competitive environment, but also with overwhelming feelings of isolation, anxiety, pressure, and unfamiliarity.

“In the military, you walk into a room and you look at people in uniform, and you know exactly who they are, and they know exactly who you are,” Cortez said. “But in the industry, it’s much different. There is no uniform.”

In some cases, civilian jobs don’t offer the camaraderie or sense of purpose that drives many veterans. Corporate culture can feel disorienting, where passion isn’t a prerequisite and duty doesn’t drive work hours. And while many veterans yearn to find a new sense of belonging, some say it’s easy to be misunderstood in the civilian work world: coworkers might have no idea what they’ve experienced or keep their distance because of stereotypes around post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The hardest challenge for me is just trying to figure out people’s idea of what military people do, of what we are like,” explained Brown. “Some are so curious and supportive, but others are really intimidated by it. They think you might bark at them.”

Several years ago, a group of employees at Microsoft who had gone through the military-to-civilian adjustment themselves wondered: What if there was a way to transform a perceived weakness or lack of experience into a new set of talents? How could veterans maximize their strengths—grit, systems savvy, strong decision making, and steadfastness—and build needed skills on top of that? How could they connect with organizations who needed them and communities where they could feel like they belonged?

The answer came into focus: inspired and motivated by stories like Brown’s, Microsoft started a unique training program called Microsoft Software & Systems Academy (MSSA) in 2013, an effort which soon led to a the broader Military Affairs program to support veterans across the company.

From its inception, MSSA had the mission not only to inspire veterans to transform their lives, but also to help address a key challenge facing the technology world: the vast skills gap between the hundreds of thousands of needed computing jobs and the far fewer trained professionals entering the workforce.

After her life-changing injury, Brown was ready to start over, but she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. A few months prior to her scheduled departure from the military, she heard about MSSA from a friend on base who was enrolled at the time.

The 18-week educational program is specifically designed to prepare military service members, before they step out into civilian life, for a career in the technology industry. To date, more than 240 companies have become hiring partners that seek out MSSA graduates.

Military members take the course on their base or at nearby community campuses; it’s their duty assignment for that period of time. Wearing civilian clothes—a subtle way to help begin the transition—they receive both classroom and hands-on training in technology products and skills. They also get help writing resumes, translating military skills to civilian and corporate audiences, and preparing for interviews by learning how to talk about themselves in the business world. Students also receive mentoring from Microsoft employees. Both veteran and nonveteran mentors walk students through the ups and downs of landing and thriving in a technology career.

Brown wondered if she could parlay the intelligence analysis skills she built in the Marines to the next step in her journey. Through MSSA at Camp Pendleton and her interaction with Microsoft employee mentors, she discovered that her skills could translate and that she had everything she needed to build a great career.

This is precisely the kind of connection Cortez hopes for, because veterans are such a great fit for technology companies, he said. They are trained to quickly assess, analyze, and fix a situation with the resources at hand while working with all different kinds of people. Supporting others and working as a team is second nature to them, and they thrive when working toward a bigger goal and purpose.

And they are badly needed. There are currently more than 490,000 open computing jobs nationwide, according to Code.org. Yet last year, only 42,969 computer science students graduated into the workforce.

“The IT industry overall has so many unfilled jobs,” said Cortez. And the military has hundreds of thousands of skilled workers.

“Why not bring those two together to help military men and women so they can leave and get into a new career?”

Microsoft Military Affairs invited other technology companies to hire the graduates because “we can reach more vets through partnerships,” said Cortez.

MSSA has a graduation rate of more than 90 percent, and graduates are guaranteed an interview with Microsoft or one of its hiring partners upon successful program completion.

Brown landed almost 20 interviews and received seven job offers from multiple companies.

“We wanted to make it a level playing field with our hiring partners,” said Carol Hedly, program manager for Microsoft Military Affairs, explaining why Microsoft partners with other companies. “Our hiring partner companies receive the resumes at the same time. We have an agreement: no one makes job offers before the interview week, and we all release our offers at the same time.”

MSSA graduates have been hired at more than 240 different companies, including Dell, Expedia, Accenture, the Department of Defense, Facebook, and many more. Greater than 90 percent of successful MSSA graduates are either employed or opt to complete a college degree.

“We want the individuals to have the choice and the best offer for them,” said Hedly. “That’s just good business for everyone.”