Under a model for building an “equitable, sustainable and resilient world,” VMware Inc. today announced its plan to address global challenges over the next decade.

“This year has created an even greater sense of urgency to take action on global and societal challenges so we’ve set bold goals that are core to our business and will have significant impact,” said Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger (pictured). “In many ways, digital transformation is the backbone to building a better world. It not only creates a resilient global healthcare system but also helps us overcome the digital divide and decarbonizes the planet.”

The plan comes as many large technology companies, from Google LLC to Facebook Inc., face increasing scrutiny of their activities and the impact of their services on politics, society and the environment.

Still, this isn’t new for VMware, which is publicly held but majority owned by Dell Technologies Inc. In 2015, the company had a similar plan regarding how its technologies have an impact on the world. Under the banner of “Force For Good,” five main goals were set, most of which it says were achieved.

The dynamic this time is somewhat more ambitious, with VMware setting itself 30 goals to be met before the end of 2030. Those goals have three main components: trust, equity and sustainability.

The first vision entails the company steering the ship into the future with security and privacy as paramount concerns, creating technologies that can be wholly relied on as those technologies become more enmeshed and indispensable in people’s lives. “By approaching innovation from a foundation of digital ethics and stewardship, and focusing on intrinsic security, privacy-by-design, and transparent business practices, we aim to build and protect trust among our people, customers, partners, shareholders, and communities,” said Nicola Acutt, VMware’s vice president for environmental, social and governance.

Under the equity initiative, the company said by 2030 it hopes to be hiring at least one woman for every man and hopes to have more women or people from underrepresented communities working in management. The agenda also includes affording “technical and durable digital skills acquisition to more than 15 million individuals,” many of them from marginalized communities where learning those skills has been difficult or near-impossible to date.

As for sustainability, the company intends to decarbonize its digital infrastructure from the customer ecosystem to the supply chain to operations. VMware said the target is “net-zero carbon emissions for our operations and supply chain and reduce our emissions 50% by 2030 from our 2018 baseline.”

It’s also looking to engage “75% of suppliers by spend to reduce their emissions by setting science-based targets by 2024.” Added to that, the company will invest in research concerning a sustainable digital future and by the deadline will be getting 100% of its power from renewable resources.

In a press release, Gelsinger wrote that he had received a “slap in the face” after talking to his daughter-in-law about his generation’s accomplishments. Her retort was stark, asking him if in the process his generation had bankrupted the planet.

“It was painful to hear but… she had a valid point,” wrote Gelsinger. “I firmly believe in the power of technology to have a lasting positive impact on the world. But I also recognize that how it is used, for good or bad, rests in all of our hands. We must harness it as a force for good.”

Photo: SiliconANGLE