BURLINGTON, Mass., July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nuance
Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) announced today that it has
released the "Nuance 2020 ESG Report" detailing its Environmental,
Social, and Governance (ESG) sustainability strategy, policies, and
programs that underscore the company's ongoing commitment to
creating value and making a positive and lasting impact for its
employees, customers, shareholders, and community. While the
company has been pursuing work in each of these areas for several
years, this is the first time it has formally reported progress on
these initiatives.
"Our 2020 ESG Report is not meant to be a checklist of
accomplishments— it's an overview of the strong foundation that we
are committed to building upon," said Mark
Benjamin, Nuance CEO. "We believe it is our responsibility,
as global citizens and technology leaders, to ensure we are
creating a supportive, inclusive, ethical, and equitable culture
for our employees; investing in and caring for our communities;
keeping our customers' products and data secure; increasing our
engagement with our shareholders; further reducing our carbon
footprint; and continuing to support our customers both in normal
times and amidst a global pandemic."
"Nuance is an innovative company on the forefront of
Conversational AI technology. The Nuance Board, along with the
Executive Team, share an unwavering belief in being transparent
about our policies and operations with our employees, customers,
shareholders, and communities," said Lloyd
Carney, Chairman of the Nuance Board. "One of Nuance's
core values is 'Act with Integrity,' and this report is just one
more way we are upholding that principle."
Nuance's 2020 ESG Report is aligned with the Sustainability
Accounting Standards Board (SASB) framework, a state-of-the-art
format for communicating ESG-related activity and impact in a
structured manner. Highlights of the report include:
- Corporate governance and business ethics: Nuance
continues to implement programs and initiatives to foster the
highest ethical standards, including a newly refreshed and
rebranded ethics helpline, detailed Supplier Code of Conduct,
refreshed Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, updated internal
policies, a robust Enterprise Risk Management program, a refreshed
and diverse Board of Directors, and ongoing enhanced shareholder
communication and outreach.
- Data privacy, compliance, and security: Nuance maintains
comprehensive data security, strong systems resilience, and has
implemented several measures to ensure highly-available and
redundant infrastructure to support high customer demands that are
also compliant with industry standards such as International
Standards Organization (ISO) 27001, Systems and Organizational
Controls (SOC) 2, HITRUST CSF, Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Payment Card Industry Data
Security Standard (PCI-DSS). The company also recently launched the
Nuance Trust Center to inform customers, internal and external
stakeholders, and other interested parties about data privacy,
security, and compliance initiatives, as well as certifications,
policies, and programs.
- COVID-19 response and customer relief offers: Due to
increased agility and tighter alignment resulting from its recent
transformation efforts, Nuance quickly responded to the COVID-19
pandemic, seamlessly shifting its global workforce to a remote work
environment, and enabling uninterrupted support to healthcare
providers and enterprise businesses. Additionally, the company
provided more than 50,000 free temporary product licenses to
healthcare providers to help keep clinicians from sharing
microphones, COVID-19 Content Packs for all Dragon Medical
customers, complimentary services and access to solutions to
facilitate telehealth, as well as temporary volume spike capacity
and solutions, such as virtual agents, for enterprises needing to
quickly automate self-service in order to handle increased call
demands.
- Fostering an inclusive and empowering workplace
environment: Nuance is committed to hiring talent with diverse
backgrounds and skillsets and has made significant changes to its
recruitment process in support of this objective. It continues to
support the ongoing growth and development of employees by
fostering a culture of inclusivity through Nuance Networks and
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), providing supportive benefits, and
upholding equal compensation practices. These activities, along
with regular employee engagement surveys and feedback data, help
the company stay competitive and have resulted in numerous Employer
of Choice Awards over the last 12 months.
- Reduction of the carbon footprint of data centers and office
buildings: Nuance continues to take substantial steps to lower
its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions footprint and mitigate exposure
to climate-related risks by transitioning to the public cloud and
upgrading the information technology (IT) infrastructure in the
data centers it maintains. As a result of the hyperconverged
infrastructure (HCI) implementation, the company expects an
estimated 60 to 70 percent reduction in energy in its three largest
data centers by the start of fiscal year 2021.
- Investment in local communities: Through the Nuance
Foundation, the company recently established Nuance Cares, a global
program that includes a dollar-for-dollar match for employee
charitable donations up to $1,000 per
year, and a volunteer program that provides each employee 16 hours
of Volunteer Time Off (VTO) annually. During fiscal year 2019,
charitable contributions from employees, executives, and Board
members exceeded $175,000, and more
than 4,725 hours of volunteer time was recorded. To assist local
communities with COVID-19 relief efforts, the company offered
virtual volunteering opportunities and increased its employee
charitable donation match to 2-to-1 through June 30, 2020.
To learn more about Nuance's sustainability strategy, policies,
and programs, as well as the company's ongoing commitment to
upholding the highest standards for its employees, customers,
shareholders, and communities, visit the Nuance 2020 ESG
Report.
About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance
Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN) is the pioneer and leader in
conversational AI innovations that bring intelligence to everyday
work and life. The company delivers solutions that understand,
analyze, and respond to people – amplifying human intelligence to
increase productivity and security. With decades of domain and AI
expertise, Nuance works with thousands of organizations globally
across healthcare, financial services, telecommunications,
government, and retail – to create stronger relationships and
better experiences for their customers and workforce. For more
information, please visit www.nuance.com.
Trademark reference: Nuance and the Nuance logo are
registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc.
or its affiliates in the United
States and/or other countries. All other trademarks
referenced herein are the property of their respective
owners.
Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this document regarding future performance and our
management's future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or
prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any
statements that are not statements of historical fact (including
statements containing the words "believes," "plans," "anticipates,"
"expects," "intends" or "estimates" or similar expressions) should
also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a
number of important factors that could cause actual results or
events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-
looking statements, including but not limited to: the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of competition, including pricing
pressure, and changing business models in the markets and
industries in which we operate; fluctuations in demand for our
existing and future products; changes to economic, political, and
regulatory conditions in the United
States and internationally; our ability to attract and
retain key personnel; further unanticipated costs resulting from
our FY17 malware incident including potential costs associated with
governmental investigations that may result from the incident; our
ability to control and successfully manage our expenses and cash
position; potential future cybersecurity and data privacy incidents
or breaches; our ability to comply with applicable domestic and
international laws and policies; fluctuating currency rates;
possible quality issues in our products and technologies; our
ability to realize anticipated synergies from acquired businesses,
to cut stranded costs related to divested businesses, and to
capture the expected value from strategic transactions including
the spin-off of our Automotive business; and the other factors
described in our most recent Form 10-K, Forms 10-Q and other
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim
any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result
of developments occurring after the date of this document.
Press contact:
Nancy Scott
Nuance Communications, Inc.
Tel: 781-565-5000
Email: Nancy.Scott@nuance.com
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SOURCE Nuance Communications, Inc.