New standards for sustainable development

Deutsche Telekom is keen on assuming a leading role in the world in the area of Corporate Responsibility (CR), by setting binding targets and priorities for the company’s social responsibility.

Getting things moving: Deutsche Telekom is keen on assuming a leading role in the world in the area of Corporate Responsibility (CR), with clearly defined activities in the social sphere.

Deutsche Telekom’s core business is providing our society with all imaginable services and amenities required for a connected life and work. As one of the internationally leading ICT groups, our actions have far-reaching consequences. Corporate responsibility is therefore a key task of our management.

Group-wide obligatory targets
Deutsche Telekom and its Board of Management have expressly pledged their commitment to sustainable governance. This applies throughout the Group and therefore also provides our international subsidiaries with the framework for action that is then filled out in all the different countries and markets. Deutsche Telekom can only achieve its goal of becoming an international leader in CR if all employees are involved and made aware of sustainability issues.

Obligatory targets that we establish in our CR program help us systematically pursue the aim of international leadership. These targets involve all aspects of our everyday work in the Group: the products and services that we develop and market, the infrastructure and networks, our employees, and procurement and the management of our supply chain. We can see when and whether we will achieve these targets from our own CR key performance indicators (CR KPIs) that we have developed for this purpose.

CR fields of activity
With its products and services, Deutsche Telekom is already making a considerable contribution to solving key social problems. To further promote sustainable development in the environment, in society and in business, Deutsche Telekom is utilizing the broad potential that modern ICT offers and facing up to current challenges in the world: these include large-scale climate change, the promotion of equal opportunities to participate in the information society and more connected life and work. In our CR strategy we have defined three fields of activity to be the focus of our CR activities in which Deutsche Telekom wants to set new standards internationally:

• Connected life and work
  Our contribution to connected life and work is part of our core business. We are keen on assisting employees, customers and stakeholders in improving their quality of life and work. Examples of this include products and services that enable mobile working, e-government solutions such as the digital city hall that bring flexible local government closer to citizens, and the Group’s various diversity programs.

  
  

• Connect the unconnected – integration in the information and knowledge society
  Deutsche Telekom would like to enable as many people as possible to have access to ICT – regardless of where they live, their age, level of media competency or disabilities. Digital integration is an important and necessary step toward equal opportunities in our information and knowledge society.
  
  As it expands mobile broadband networks and connects rural regions to ultra-fast Internet, Deutsche Telekom is putting the conditions in place for people and businesses everywhere to benefit from digital media. Deutsche Telekom develops special products and services for people with physical disabilities or language barriers. At the same time the Group supports projects to enhance media competency. The “Yes, I can” flagship project is aimed at opening up new opportunities specifically for disadvantaged young people, thereby promoting equal opportunities in our society.

  
  

• Low-carbon society – different ways to create a society with lower CO2 emissions
  ICT processes are inextricably linked with energy consumption and CO2 emissions. At the same time, they can also play a vital role in saving energy and reducing emissions. This is exactly where Deutsche Telekom can make a difference. We develop ICT-based solutions and products that both increase our own energy efficiency and enable our customers to make an effective contribution to protecting the climate. State-of-the-art telematics can help reduce road traffic, video conferences can replace business travel, digitization can make an enormous contribution to saving resources. With energy efficient data centers and by using renewable energies Deutsche Telekom ensures that the CO2 balance is even better when ICT is used. To further reduce the Group’s carbon footprint a sustainable vehicle fleet and an efficient building management system have been introduced.