MALACCA, Malaysia, June 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of 12 specialists from IBM (NYSE: IBM) has completed a month-long pro bono consulting assignment with key organizations in Malacca, Malaysia.

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Working with the Malacca State Health Department, the Malaysian Health Promotion Board (MySihat), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), and the World Youth Foundation (WYF), the IBM team delivered recommendations for improving social services in this emerging city. They were there as part of IBM's Corporate Service Corps, which provides problem-solving support to educational institutions, small businesses, non-governmental organizations, and governmental agencies in the developing world and emerging markets.

As a growing economy in Malaysia, Malacca is a key hub for agriculture, tourism and manufacturing. Its medical facilities are also well known regionally, with the city's private medical services increasingly being sought after by patients from as far away as Indonesia and Singapore.

The IBM team worked with the Malacca State Health Department and MySihat to develop a comprehensive plan for the city's population, creating a proactive plan for two growing segments of its population -- its elderly and its youth. The IBM consultants' work with the Malacca State Health Department resulted in a high-level analysis of current needs, prospects, and challenges for seniors living in Malacca, along with recommendations on how to adequately provision for their needs in coming years.

"The expertise and experience of the IBM specialists helped to enhance our strategic blueprint for healthcare and also accelerated the planning process for several key developmental initiatives," said Datuk Dr Teoh Siang Ching, Malacca State Director of Health with Malacca.

Working with the State Health Department and MySihat, the IBM team also audited and identified priority areas for the Smoke-Free Melaka Strategic Plan 2010-2015. IBM made recommendations mapping to the five key strategies of the health plan to increase community participation and creating public awareness of the program.

"The IBM team's recommendations will help us streamline our efforts and enhance our activity roll-out towards a smoke-free state," said Datuk Dr Yahya Baba, CEO of MySihat.

IBM also worked with the WYF to help develop a content and communications strategy, providing a system for the organization that will help it deepen its engagement, empowerment, and education of youth in the region. Specifically, the team worked to support the successful implementation of a new integrated website, online payment, mass communication, and database strategy for WYF.

In addition, a project with UTeM involved assisting in faculty research and curriculum review. The team leveraged concepts from the IBM Academic Initiative program to simplify the use of new technology in the curriculum, working to more closely align educational courses at the facility with global technology trends and the national agenda.

The ten-member team came from Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, and the United States, and was the ninth Corporate Service Corps (CSC) team to work in Malaysia, and the first in the city of Malacca.

"IBM is pleased to extend the CSC program to the state of Malacca. This program serves to benefit all parties involved. Our top talent benefit from this problem-solving exercise; the communities benefit from the pro bono expert consulting services; and IBM benefits by growing its next generation of well-rounded leaders empowered with the skills required to lead in a globally-integrated world," said Eric Wong, Marketing Director, IBM Malaysia.

About Corporate Service Corps

Since the inception of the CSC program in 2008, more than 80 IBM volunteers have been deployed across Malaysia in Penang, Johor, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching ,and Kuantan to work on a broad range of high-impact projects for business, non-government and, government organizations.

IBM's Corporate Service Corps deploys IBM employees from around the world with expertise in technology, scientific research, marketing, finance, human resources, law, and economic development. Issues they address range from economic development, energy and transportation, to education and health care. By year's end, approximately 2,400 IBM employees based in 52 countries will have been dispatched on more than 187 Corporate Service Corps engagements, and undertaken 850 team assignments in 34 countries since the founding of the program five years ago, in 2008.

Follow IBM's Corporate Service Corps on the CitizenIBM blog at www.citizenIBM.com and on Twitter at @citizenIBM

Media contact(s)
Ari Fishkind
IBM Media Relations
914-499-6420
fishkind@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM