Community and education

We support the communities where we operate by contributing to local ecosystems which enrich and create value. Our activities include industry and academic partnerships, and community development initiatives. We are passionate about sharing science and engineering with young people. We encourage our employees to engage in our programs, which support our sustainability strategy and are adapted to the local context.

Since 2012, we have measured our community involvement through the Business for Societal Impact (formerly London Benchmarking Group) methodology, a global standard to measure and manage corporate community investment. 3-3

Global involvement

In recent years our community program has grown significantly. In 2023, we implemented more than 810 community and education initiatives worldwide, at 42 sites in 23 different countries. These included:

• US$3.5 million in cash donations
• US$2.6 million in in-kind donations
• 156,000+ hours of Company time (50% of the total contribution)

The significant rise in community initiatives is largely due to the continued expansion of our ‘STEM your way’ program. Other areas we supported include the ST Foundation, innovation, economic development, health, the environment, and social welfare.

In 2023, we launched two company-wide fundraising campaigns in collaboration with the Red Cross. ST employees donated over US$110,000 to support earthquake victims in Turkey, Syria, and Morocco. This amount was matched by ST and was used to support and protect the lives of those affected.

ST Italy showed support for people in the region of Emilia-Romagna, which was devastated by severe floods in May 2023, through a one-off donation of over US$1 million. A further US$75,000 was raised by employees, which was matched by ST.

Domains of involvement⁽¹⁾

ST4Good

In 2023, we began the roll out of our employee engagement tool, ST4Good. The digital platform provides access to volunteering activities and makes it easier for employees to contribute to community initiatives. The program was launched with dedicated events and initiatives at four ST sites: Catania (Italy), Crolles (France), Geneva (Switzerland), and Muar (Malaysia). This led to an increase in employee awareness about their potential contributions to local communities and beyond. At our Muar site, nearly 500 people donated blood, while at our Catania site, a festive lunch was organized at the end of the year for 100 elderly people. As a result of donations, the sites were able to collect and distribute nearly 2,000 books to children in their respective communities. In 2024, the tool will be rolled out to all ST sites and employees.

STEM your way program

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education prepares students with the knowledge and skills to succeed in a technology-driven world. It can provide the tools needed to develop solutions to complex global problems and boost curiosity in young people. Our ‘STEM your way’ program raises awareness among young people about the importance of STEM subjects and inspires them to explore STEM-related careers.

In 2023, we organized over 610 STEM events and initiatives, a 35% increase on the previous year. As a result of this effort, there were more than 100,000 beneficiaries including students and teachers. Our worldwide network of STEM champions and ambassadors has helped us accelerate our efforts and effectively develop and launch engaging initiatives.

Number of STEM initiatives

Starting young

We recognize the benefits of encouraging curiosity and creativity in children before they choose their academic path. Throughout the year, we significantly increased the number of events to reach more children, including webinars, tours of our sites, and visits to schools, with dedicated hands-on activities.

Building partnerships is an important step in this commitment. Our Beijing site (China), signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with the local government in Pengshui to cooperate on sustainable development. The partnership provides assistance and support to address digital and educational gaps in the region. In 2023, student scholarships were provided, and equipment such as computers was donated to local schools.

Under the framework of our STEM your way program, ST supports ‘Adopt a float’, a multidisciplinary educational initiative to promote ocean literacy (see ST blog). The program helps people understand the impact of climate disruption on aquatic life, with teaching materials designed to make the topic especially accessible to primary, middle, and high school children. Our STEM ambassadors plan to use this partnership to inform students about the use of robots to promote ocean sustainability.

Higher education

At university level, we help to equip students with skills for their future careers. Our technical experts are involved in developing new curricula, building content, delivering courses, and training teachers to prepare students for the world of work. In 2023, we expanded our reach to new countries, including Egypt and Mexico, where we were able to identify and support various initiatives.

In 2023, our Rousset site (France) continued to develop our I-NOVMICRO innovation program to develop and promote microelectronics in the south of France. Several successful initiatives were launched in schools, universities, and laboratories. These included I-NOVGAMES, which gave local engineering students the opportunity to innovate for the Olympics by developing connected objects using ST components. Several of these projects were presented at ‘Fabriquons France 2030’, an event in Paris which was attended by the Minister of National Education and the Minister of Higher Education and Research.

STEM for girls

We believe our industry needs more diverse talent to create a better future. Combating gender stereotypes in science and technology is a key focus of our initiatives. We expanded our programs in this area, with 50 initiatives in 2023 reaching 7,390 students.

In 2023, we held our second edition of ‘Break the Bias’, with global events reaching around 1,800 teenagers. In Singapore, we continued to develop our approach, with a focus on attracting diverse talent to STEM subjects (see focus). Our Muar site (Malaysia) launched a STEM lab at a local primary school. The lab aims to encourage primary and secondary school girls to explore STEM by providing them with an inspiring learning environment and appropriate equipment and resources.

FOCUS

STEM in Singapore

Inspiring and engaging young people in STEM is an important way to attract a new generation of engineers. At our Ang Mo Kio site (Singapore), the STEM program has expanded significantly, growing from six activities in 2021 to 33 in 2023. A strategic partnership with ‘GirlsPioneers’, a flagship program by United Women Singapore, has led to improved gender diversity, with many girls participating in the events and activities.

The growth and success of the program can be attributed to our STEM ambassadors, who increased from 25 to nearly 100 by the end of 2023, thanks to the work of a dedicated core team. ST’s STEM ambassadors are volunteers who share their skills and expertise as speakers, mentors, and robotics coaches. The team is driven by passion and an ambition to raise engagement with STEM in the local community. 

To develop the program, Vittascience kits were used as a key tool throughout 2023. The kits made it easier to engage primary and secondary school students and those in tertiary institutions, regardless of gender. Exciting robotics workshop were a great way to explain the semiconductor industry and introduce ST to a new audience.

Thanks to the commitment of those involved, the program now reaches around 2,000 people each year.

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In Italy, our female-focused STEM events reached approximately 1,800 participants. An example from our Catania site (Italy) is Women in Science (WiS), an initiative launched by the Institute for Microelectronics (CNR-IMM). It aims to share scientific culture and STEM related activities with girls and boys from 15 to 18 years old. Seminars are held throughout the year, hosted by female researchers from the institute, speakers from national and international universities, and female technical experts from ST. There is a strong emphasis on breaking down gender stereotypes and biases to encourage girls to embrace careers in STEM.

Rosaria Puglisi

Researcher at CNR-IMM, Coordinator of STEM Women in Science

I have been managing the collaboration between the Institute for Microelectronics (CNR-IMM) and ST Catania (Italy) since 2019. The Women in Science project hosts seminars which present academic research from our institute, alongside industry expertise and knowledge from ST. Through this relationship, we are able to break down silos, find a common vision, and provide young women with a unique perspective of the possibilities offered by the scientific world.

ST Foundation: two decades of impact

The mission of the ST Foundation (see www.stfoundation.org) is to develop, coordinate, and sponsor projects that use modern science to promote progress and sustainable development in less privileged communities worldwide. In 2023, the foundation’s flagship Digital Unify (DU) program reached a significant milestone, having impacted over one million individuals since its inception 20 years ago.

The work of the foundation has always been centered on education to empower people individually and as a community. In the last two decades, educational activities like the DU program have expanded from reaching 900 individuals to over 100,000 annually, a testament to the commitment and success of its campaigns. In 2023, a new strategic partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was established.

To achieve its aims, the ST Foundation receives a wide range of support from ST. In 2023, this included:

• a cash donation of US$1 million
• two full-time people to manage the foundation’s activities in France and Italy
• electronic and IT equipment, including 1,000 computers donated within France
• significant support with coding courses from volunteers at ST Italy
• support from the Corporate External Communication team to maintain the foundation’s website and produce its activity report for external stakeholders

In 2023, the foundation added additional resources in its efforts to strengthen digital literacy. These included new tools and courses such as Vittascience starter kits, coding courses made by a French startup specializing in educational tools. A key development was the global roll out of the coding course in countries including Italy, France, Morocco, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Senegal. ST employees were essential to the initiative’s growth and success, in particular a ‘Train the trainer’ initiative led by volunteers from our Tunis site (Tunisia).

The support of ST employees also made it possible to launch a new initiative in Senegal. Launched in November 2023, the project is sponsored by ITU and aims to teach 80 young girls to code in its first phase.

Contributing to the SDGs

Our commitments and programs described above contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

SDG target 4.3 – Ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.

SDG target 10.2 – Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.