For 25 years, the Network and the Computer has been our mantra at SUN. While we’ve seen great strides in the number of people deriving value from the network, we know we have not yet seen the zenith. And it’s incumbent upon us to continue driving exponential growth until we do.

Indeed, in our business, exponentials seem to drive everything. Laws describing advances in computational speed and network throughput are now ceding relevance to advances in space footprint and energy consumption. Exponentials also describe the growth of the number of people on the network – currently estimated at 1 billion.

These trends are a clarion call. This is not where our story ends; it is where it begins. At SUN Microsystems we engineer solutions to solve our customers’ most important problems. Solutions that:

• drive down costs to increase the quantity, quality and variety of participation on the network
• expand reach to include under-served populations
• increase capacity to handle the high volume of interactions that results.

The SUN Foundation harnesses these solutions to achieve our mission – to eliminate the digital divide. We do so by creating an inflection point that brings together the breath of our portfolio, the talents of our workforce, and the resources of our endowment.

We've delivered solutions to fuel participation in movements taking on the world's hardest problems, including DATA (Debt, Aids, Trade, Africa), the ONE Campaign, Make Poverty History and Oxfam. It’s not just about technology. It's also about our people. Our employees are heavily invested in volunteering their talents. Whether it's teaching basic IT principles to under-privileged youth in Brazil, or it's serving as a mentor to a youth delegate to the UN Global Youth Leadership Summit, our employees always go above and beyond.

We believe that by leveraging who we are as a company – what we produce and the talent that defines us – we are equipped to take on the digital divide, so that everyone can share in the opportunity revolution that results. And in that, we have a shared mission with the Global Digital Solidarity Fund. When we destroy barriers to technology's use, more people will be able to participate in solving more problems.

As I think of the opportunity – and challenges – ahead, I am reminded of the words of Margaret Mead, who said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Mrs Mary Smaragdis, Executive Director of SUN Foundation