Thursday, January 29, 2004

“SPEARHEADING CORPORATE INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION”

Brian M. O'Hara

"Bridging the Digital Divide"
Symposium on Public - Private Partnership in Technology Education
(Bermuda 28-30 January 2004)

Good morning Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Mario Michel, visiting Ministers, and other honored guests. Welcome to XL House.

Some of you may look at this building and think XL has invested a substantial amount in this infrastructure - and you would be right.

In fact this building symbolizes one of the basic strands of our business philosophy. This philosophy is that we invest in physical plant, we invest in financial assets, and most importantly we invest in people.

XL Capital believes firmly that investments undertaken on sound principles will produce good returns. That’s how we run the financial side of our business. It’s also how we build our operational teams, by investing in people and developing the intellectual capital we need for the future.

After all, it is our more than 3,000 people in approximately 30 countries – including some 350 here in Bermuda, who help us maintain our respected position as one of the world’s leading insurance, reinsurance and financial services companies; and it will be our people who will assist us in sustaining our competitive advantage.

In order to ensure this, we realize that we must continue to invest in the educational development of youth, particularly those in the communities in which we operate.

It is for this reason that XL has devoted countless hours, millions of dollars, and generous corporate office space to the Education Initiative – the forerunner to the Bermuda Technology Education Collaborative or B.TEC

Unfortunately, time does not permit me to provide a detailed account of how this initiative began. I’m sure Diane Miller will gladly tell the story! But from the start, we envisioned this initiative as the key to the gateway of information and communication technology for Bermuda’s public school students, educators, parents and the community in general, as well as a model for other jurisdictions. We also advocated the collaboration of stakeholders – including government and businesses – throughout the process.

The gathering of all of you at this symposium today represents an extension of this collaboration. It also marks the creation of a new chapter in the evolution of this innovative education model, and the continuation of five years of dedication, determination, and distinction. XL is proud to be a part of it.

As I have stated on previous occasions, achieving and sustaining competitive edge requires the synergy of technological knowledge and creative thought.

This is what B.TEC is all about.

In fact, B.TEC’s vision is fittingly: “Bringing Technology to Empower Community”. I believe the acronym and organization also means bringing technology to every classroom dramatically increases the chances of producing the best trained entrepreneurs and employees for our communities.

After all, isn’t this what we are all striving toward? We’re all in this together.

For as we all know, the success of any community in the global market largely depends on businesses; the success of businesses heavily depends on technology; the success of technology inevitably depends on people; and the success of people is largely driven by education.

I therefore challenge you today to continue to collaborate and use your power as educators to ensure a successful tomorrow for all of us and generations to come.

Thank you.

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