SAP promotes autism program

Participants at a SAP-managed design thinking workshop are in group discussions to define challenges in Pangyo on the outskirts of Seoul, Monday. / courtesy of SAP

By Kim Yoo-chul

SAP, the global leader in enterprise software systems, said Monday that its Korean affiliate held an “Autism at Work ― Design Thinking Workshop” at an office in Pangyo on the outskirts of Seoul.

In a statement, SAP Korea said the event was part of its commitment to its Autism at Work program because of the business value and innovation promise it delivers.

“A total of 20 people with that disability and their families participated in the event. They were briefed about details of programs and experienced how new ways of thinking that can boost individuals’ unique advantages,” said a company spokeswoman.

SAP, headquartered in Germany, has been increasing the number of people it has hired with autism as the software company believes they bring strength to the firm.

The spokeswoman said the main purpose of the event was not only to meet its social responsibility goals, because it has long valued the unique skills and abilities that people with autism bring to the workplace.

The statement said it plans to continue holding workshops to improve society’s awareness of the disabled.

“SAP wants to highlight the disabled as a special workforce with different capabilities than ordinary people,” it said.

“The key thing is how to help different kinds of minds work, address and solve problems together,” it added.

Its Autism at Work program was launched in 2012 and now counts more employees on the spectrum who are part of the program, with participation across SAP offices in the United States, Germany, Canada and now Korea.

SAP’s current goal is to have 1 percent of its global workforce be comprised of employees on the autism spectrum.

On a related note, SAP, which provides enterprise solutions to leading Korean technology companies such as Samsung and LG Electronics, is on track to expand in Korea by teaming up with more local colleges.

SAP recently agreed with Donga University in Busan to jointly operate the “SAP Platform Education Center” on the university’s campus.

SAP plans to provide programs for its HANA platform to the company’s corporate clients in the Gyeongsang Province and Donga students without charge.

“If you want to get business opportunities, then you should understand about computing platforms ― the core basis of the software environment,” SAP Korea CEO Hyung Won-joon was quoted as saying in a separate statement.