Samsung Electronics has announced that it ranked seventh out of 200 companies in the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA)’s 2023 Digital Inclusion Benchmark.

The WBA represents an alliance forged among more than 200 global, regional and local organizations to shape the private sector’s contributions to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The WBA examines companies with a focus on seven key categories, including human rights, the environment and digital inclusion. The WBA launched its first Digital Inclusion Benchmark in 2020, which evaluated companies’ progress in improving access to technology, enhancing digital skills, fostering trustworthy use and innovating both openly and ethically.

Samsung was recognized, in part, for its ongoing efforts to promote access. The company follows leading practice for supporting accessibility by incorporating accessibility features into its products. Samsung’s latest TVs also include an avatar-based Sign Language Guide¹ that provides sign language-based descriptions of menus for greater accessibility. The company also discloses data on how the economic value it generates is distributed among stakeholders and calculates its sustainable value creation.

Samsung also provides support to various programs that are advancing digital skills at all levels and increasing school connectivity. The company demonstrates best practices by administering its programs through its local offices, often in partnership with local governments and non-governmental organizations. It also reports participation metrics for its programs. The company’s flagship programs, the “Samsung Innovation Campus,” which has provided technological training programs for adolescents and unemployed youth since 2013, and the “Samsung SW Academy for Youth,” a yearlong, Korea-based program that has been providing theoretical and practical training to help youth nurture their capabilities and competitiveness as professional software developers since 2018, offer support in the form of job opportunities in future technology fields.

Samsung has continued its commitment to open innovation by participating in several standards organizations and having open-source projects. The company contributes to the tech innovation ecosystem through its Samsung NEXT and C-Lab Outside programs in Korea, which help foster the startup ecosystem through accelerators and incubators. The company also has an AI ethics council and commits to ethical AI principles.

Samsung is committed to promoting digital responsibility as a company that develops products and technologies that enhance users’ lives. Going forward, the company will continue to explore ways to make it easier for people to access and utilize a wide range of convenient and meaningful digital technologies.

¹ Features provided may vary by model and country.

Well aware of the great importance of education, Samsung Electronics works to equip young people with the skills and knowledge they will need to build a better world. Firm in its belief that every young person deserves a quality education regardless of their background, gender, ability, or personal circumstances, Samsung has empowered a countless number of young people to slowly but steadily contribute to positive changes in their societies.

To celebrate the United Nations’ International Youth Day on August 12, Samsung has gathered stories of young students from different countries who are creating a better future for all by participating in Samsung’s corporate citizenship programs. Read on to hear about their experiences.