February 2019 Summaries

The Black Excellence Network (BEN) community at Box has focused on addressing the opportunity gap for Black Americans in STEAM fields, rebranding Black History Month as Black Futures Month to celebrate current and future contributions. A notable event was the Box Friday Lunch takeover, featuring a traditional dance routine by Senior Engineer Ashanti Johnson and a fireside chat with Arlan Hamilton, Founder and CEO of Backstage Capital, who has pioneered a venture capital fund supporting underrepresented communities. Backstage has invested $4 million in hundreds of companies, with plans to raise $36 million to fund Black female-led startups. The month-long festivities included an African dance workshop and the Black Future's Fair, showcasing non-profits like Black Girls Code and The Hidden Genius Project, which aim to drive change in STEAM representation. The celebrations concluded with a "Black Family Feud" event in Austin, highlighting the importance of community involvement in fostering Black leadership and representation in STEAM.

Michael Duggan, CIO of Oxfam International, is spearheading the digital transformation of the 70-year-old NGO confederation, which operates in over 90 countries to combat poverty and injustice. Under his leadership, Oxfam has adopted cloud technologies such as Okta for unified employee identity and Workplace by Facebook for internal connectivity, while leveraging Box for cloud content management to enhance efficiency, especially during humanitarian crises. This digital approach allows for rapid deployment and access to vital information, ensuring responders are well-equipped regardless of location. Dianna Langley, Digital Workplace Manager, underscores the importance of user-friendly technology for non-technical humanitarian teams, emphasizing the ease of Box's integration. Oxfam's collaborative efforts with other NGOs are facilitated by flexible data-sharing capabilities, while Michael stresses the ethical responsibilities tied to technology partnerships, advocating for trust and transparency as critical factors in future technological advancements.

Enterprises globally face the challenge of managing evolving compliance, data protection, and security requirements while striving for productivity and insightful collaboration. The IBM and Box partnership, which has been ongoing for over three years, focuses on helping companies leverage cloud benefits while maintaining data center-level security and performance. This collaboration has recently expanded to include developments such as the introduction of custom skills using the Box Skills Kit, with IBM Watson being the first partner to utilize this feature to enhance AI capabilities. The partnership also allows joint customers to use IBM Cloud Object Storage in the US. At IBM Think 2019, the collaboration highlighted its potential to drive digital transformation by integrating AI into workflows, unlocking content value, and enhancing business processes. The event featured sessions demonstrating how IBM Watson and Box are facilitating digital transformation and optimizing business operations through AI, while also emphasizing the importance of bold career decisions in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

In 2019, Box was recognized as a Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice for Content Services Platforms, reflecting its strong customer reviews and role in aiding digital business transformation. Gartner highlights that content services platforms are crucial for digital operations and emphasize user experience as a critical differentiator in this mature market. Box is praised by customers across various industries for its secure document management, ease of use, governance, and robust APIs, which were key factors in their decision to adopt the platform. The company is noted for its strategic product roadmap and exemplary customer support, which contribute to its strong reputation as a leader in enabling digital workplace initiatives and improving business operations. Box's recognition is based on achieving a high average rating from over 136 customer reviews, underscoring its impact and reliability in the content services domain.

In late 2018, Box.org collaborated with Team4Tech to engage Box employees in a project with CARE Cambodia aimed at empowering ethnic minority adolescents, especially girls, in the rural Ratanak Kiri region through the Know and Grow initiative. This effort focused on improving education in 21st-century skills by providing digital access to academic content via offline RACHEL servers and Android applications, despite the region's challenges such as limited internet access and difficult travel conditions. Over a span of ten days, the team conducted workshops at four schools, demonstrating the use of preloaded educational websites and administrative tasks on the RACHEL servers, as well as empowering students and teachers to create video content. The initiative resulted in increased confidence and motivation among teachers in using technology, and CARE Cambodia reported ongoing use of the servers post-project. The Box employees, or Boxers, experienced profound personal growth and reflection during their time in Cambodia, underscoring the mutual impact of the project on both the local community and the Box team.

Full Circle Fund's first Silicon Valley Idea Lab, hosted by Box on November 28th, was a collaborative non-technical hackathon inspired by their popular San Francisco Idea Lab. Supported by the Box.org Fund, the event aimed to foster innovative solutions for five selected nonprofit partners. Participants, including three Box employees who joined Full Circle Fund as members, engaged in a 90-minute session to address challenges or opportunities presented by the nonprofits. The event concluded with demo-style presentations from each ideation group, receiving positive feedback for its diversity and collaborative approach. Attendees appreciated the diverse perspectives and constructive feedback, highlighting the value of strategic volunteering. Box continues to support local nonprofits through donations and discounts on its services, encouraging others to join similar initiatives.