On Monday, May 13, 2013 General Motors unveiled a state-of-the-art $130-million enterprise data center in Warren, Mich.  This comes less than one year after GM announced a plan to transform its global Information Technology (IT) department.  The company is betting a thoroughly transformed IT department will help accelerate GM’s global business operations.

The Warren data center is located in GM’s Technical Center just outside of Detroit.  Also announced was that GM will begin construction on a companion data center  this summer on the GM Milford Proving Ground. These two centers will integrate and streamline all aspects of product development, manufacturing, marketing, sales and OnStar applications to generate more functionality and faster access over time for any GM employee anywhere in the world.

Network Operator Adrienne Johnson at work in the IT Operations and Command Center

“The Warren data center has been benchmarked against the finest in the world – including Google and Facebook.  It represents a significant advancement in GM’s computing capability and brings information in-house,” said Randy Mott, GM’s Chief Information Officer. “This Data Center gives us a leg up on information security and functions as the company’s missions control center – supporting every critical element of our business.”

Housed within the data center is GM’s mission control center.  Boasting 48 work stations and a 955-square-foot video wall composed of 28 configurable screens to monitor data use across operations around the clock. It’s a tech-lovers dream and is the capstone of GM’s efforts to transform its IT operations to help the company work smarter and faster, as well as be more responsive to customers.

The state-of-the-art data center, benchmarked against the finest in the world, brings in-house work previously outsourced to multiple IT companies.

So why consolidate from 23 data centers to two centers? In this instance, GM will leverage the two data centers to create a secure, private cloud that allows super-computing applications, servers and data storage to be efficiently and quickly accessed among multiple users. This will help with business operations by increasing responsiveness to customers, speeding up marketing initiatives and delivering on objections to shareholders.

To drive increased innovation, GM also recently created four U.S.-based software and system development “Innovation Centers” located in Warren, Mich.; Austin, Texas; Roswell, Ga. and Chandler, Ariz. To date, 1,800 new IT employees have been hired at the centers and, in the next three to five years, GM plans to hire 4,000 more employees to staff the four facilities.

GM is heavily recruiting the best and brightest across the country and are having success. They are creating a world-class IT organization inside of a car company, and many IT professionals and college graduates want to be part of something big.

Combined, these four innovation centers and the two new data centers are the heart of GM IT’s initiative to better support company-wide efforts to more efficiently increase innovation and help the company deliver winning products around the world.

As a company, General Motors goes the extra mile to make sure employees can exceed at their jobs without disrupting their family lives. From benefits to job-skills training, GM does not fall short in supporting hourly employees.  “General Motors sets a standard of excellence for having not only work life programs and policies that supports this distinction, but for having a company culture that enables it to flourish,” said Ken Barrett, Chief Diversity Officer for General Motors.

Sponsored by Working Mother Magazine, General Motors was honored at The National Forum Supporting Hourly Workers in Maclean, VA. GM executives as well as hourly plant workers from Baltimore, Bowling Green and Spring Hill attended the ceremony and hosted media. Media had the opportunity to participate in a Twitter chat with Diana Tremblay, Vice President of GM North America Manufacturing and the chat turned out to be a great success. #GMWorkingMom was trending and reached over 1.1 million people while generating more than 6.5 million impressions.

GM Hourly employees at “The National Forum Supporting Hourly Workers” sponsored by Working Mother Magazine

Recognition as one of the best companies for hourly workers really sets GM apart from other corporations and proves that the company is dedicated to its employees. Be sure to check out the 2013 Working Mother “Best Companies for Hourly Workers” 2013 Executive Summary here.

“We were trying to find a 69 Camaro and never had any luck finding one. One day, we passed by a Chevrolet dealer in Gatineau, Quebec and saw this amazing Camaro in the lot and we fell in love with it right away. When we purchased the car we only made minor adjustments – the car had a red stripe on the hood and we had the color changed to orange stripes. We also painted the wheels (white outside and orange inside).

Since we have had this car we have met many other Camaro enthusiasts and made some wonderful friends. Everytime we take our camaro out on town we get many compliments on how beautiful it is.”

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There are many vehicle infotainment systems on the market today but Cadillac is setting a luxurious standard with its industry-leading technology. The Cadillac User Experience (CUE) debuted last year in the XTS and ATS luxury sedans and SRX luxury crossover.

Unlike other in-vehicle user systems, CUE is designed to reduce complexity and be unique to each driver, from the “simple user” to the fully connected “super user”. For example, most of today’s luxury cars have around 20 buttons controlling the radio and entertainment functions. CUE reduces that to just four buttons.

You’ll immediately feel comfortable with CUE’s design because its home page resembles your smart phone or tablet screen and functions like them with the familiar click-and-drag functions. Along with its clean, uncluttered design, CUE provides Natural Voice Recognition and responsive touch-screen technology. Similar to many smart phones and tablets, CUE is mostly computer-driven so drivers can update their system to get the latest offerings no matter how old their Cadillac is.

CUE’s app-like approach to accessing a vehicle’s traditional features allow for settings to be tailored to specific tastes, also known as “favorites”. Users can save their favorite locations, phone numbers, or customize and save radio tone settings for a personalized music listening experience. CUE interaction designer Cody Hansen discovered this technology comes in handy when you have a sleeping child in the vehicle.

“I’ve used this feature to create a “baby mode”,” Hansen said. “I set the fade all the way to the front and turned down the bass so it won’t wake my daughter when she’s napping.  When she wakes up and wants to hear music, I just tap my “regular” favorite and all my settings go back to normal.”

Another benefit, there’s no hassle when it comes to the navigation system. With CUE, users can manually or verbally input the entire destination address on one screen, which saves time and keeps drivers focused on the road. In some cases, the driver can input the partial address and CUE will help fill in the rest. Engineers even addressed security concerns in the development process.

“With ‘Valet Mode’, users can enter a four-digit pin and lock access to the center stack, steering wheel controls, and the storage cubby behind the center stack,” said Hansen.

CUE is elegantly displayed on an 8-inch LCD touch screen, seamlessly integrated into the top of the central instrument panel. A motorized capacitive faceplate is below, concealing a 1.8L storage area.

At GM, we and our joint-venture partners are capitalizing on this growth by introducing 60 new models or major upgrades in China between 2011 and 2015, including 17 this year alone.

At the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show, which runs through the end of April, we’re showcasing our strong product pipeline by displaying a record 53 production and concept vehicles under six brands: Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Opel, Baojun and Jiefang. Products range from small cars to luxury passenger vehicles to light-duty trucks.

One of the products on display is the new Buick Riviera concept vehicle, which is making its global debut at the Shanghai show. Designed jointly by GM’s Shanghai GM and Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) joint ventures, the Riviera concept offers a preview of Buick’s future design trends and a range of advanced technologies, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicle propulsion.

Among the vehicles making their debut for sale in China are the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback and Cadillac Escalade ESV.

The Chevrolet Cruze hatchback complements the Cruze sedan, which is one of the most popular Chevrolet models we offer in China. The hatchback is a great example of how we’re using our assets as a global company to serve customers in multiple markets.

The Cadillac Escalade ESV is one of 10 Cadillac models on display in Shanghai. Also on display are the new locally produced XTS featuring the revolutionary Cadillac User Experience, as well as the refreshed SRX luxury SUV, which is Cadillac’s best-selling model in China. Our plans are to bring Cadillac’s entire global portfolio to China, adding one locally produced model per year through 2016.

We’re also showcasing three new Opel models that are coming to China this year: the Zafira Tourer, Astra GTC and the newly launched Insignia Sports Tourer, which will go on sale nationwide early next month. Opel is also displaying its most popular model in the China market, the Antara SUV.

Opel Antara

From the Baojun passenger car brand, we’re showcasing the new 2013 Baojun 630, featuring dynamic design, a spacious interior and great performance, as well as the Lechi, a high-performance mini-car that joined the brand’s lineup in 2012.

Baojun 630

Finally, the Jiefang brand is displaying two new additions to its growing light-duty truck family: the new Jiefang S230 and Jiefang F330. Both models go on sale in China later this year.

Going forward, we are focusing on two of the fastest-growing mainstream segments in China, luxury vehicles and SUVs. GM currently offers five SUVs in China: the Buick Encore and Enclave, Cadillac SRX and Escalade, and Chevrolet Captiva. We plan to introduce another nine new or refreshed SUVs in China within the next five years.

GM has been the sales leader among global automakers in China for the past eight consecutive years. Coincidentally, we sold our millionth vehicle in China during the Shanghai Show. Last year, we reached the one-million milestone on May 7. This year, we hit it two weeks earlier and the fastest in our history.

GM and its joint-venture partners have enjoyed remarkable success in China in recent years. At Auto Shanghai 2013, we’ve made it clear that we intend to continue our journey and remain a leader in China for years to come.

Mary Barra was named Senior Vice President, Global Product Development effective February 1, 2011, responsible for the design, engineering, program management and quality for General Motors’ vehicles around the world. She is a member of the Executive Operations Committee and serves on the Adam Opel AG Supervisory Board.

Here at Chevrolet, we are always looking for new ways to meet our customers’ needs. This spring, Chevrolet is introducing our Chevy Cruze with a 2.0L turbo diesel engine—offering a domestic diesel option in the non-luxury car segment as well as viable solution to the need for increased MPG without sacrificing performance. In addition, the engine on the Cruze diesel is one of the cleanest turbo engines General Motors has ever produced.

We’ve seen that diesels are still a niche market for cars, but there is a lot of growth currently happening here in the U.S., and many customers are extremely enthusiastic about diesel. Specifically, we chose to offer the Cruze in North America because we have already seen success with a similar vehicle in Europe.  Here in the US, diesel passenger car buyers are limited- we hope to bring new people into the brand by offering a refined and well contented option.

Customers will also be able to tell the difference in performance when they get behind the wheel—it definitely has a different character than the traditional gas engine. The diesel has more torque and better acceleration while maintaining a smooth and quiet ride at highway speeds. People who love a powerful engine will definitely like driving the Cruze diesel—it really is a great reliable and durable technology and quite frankly, is fun to drive.

What’s great about the diesel is that it offers great highway fuel economy, power and torque. So it’s a fantastic option for those who want hybrid-like fuel economy and range without sacrificing performance.

The Cruze Diesel will eventually be available nationwide, but we will start by selling it in 13 key markets where diesel vehicles have already had high sales. We’re happy to offer the Cruze diesel and know we have an enthusiastic group of customers eager to drive one.

We are certainly excited about the entry of the Cruze and think it is going to continue to bring in new customers to the brand.  With more than half of all diesel purchases occurring in the passenger car segment, diesel is becoming more popular. We are pleased to be the first domestic passenger car diesel available in the US – and eager to become a leader in the segment.

Cristi Landy is the product marketing director for Chevrolet small cars, which currently include the Volt, Cruze, Sonic and Spark. Landy joined General Motors in 1989 as a product engineer for Saturn. Throughout her career, she has held a variety of positions in engineering, marketing and program management.

What we are hearing from our customers is that they are drawn to Buick because of the new exterior styling and vehicle designs. We are also hearing that people love the way their Buick drives and they appreciate that they are still receiving the quality and value for which Buick has always been known. Because of these factors, we have seen significant growth in 2013 sales thus far.

Buick’s first quarter total sales in the U.S. were up 28% and March was the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year increases in sales to retail customers.

Leasing has doubled as a percentage of total sales in the last year. Part of this is due to the unique leasing offers we rolled out in March of 2012 as a key component of  “Experience Buick” –The Experience Buick lease is a two-year term with a single monthly payment that includes SiriusXM satellite radio, OnStar Directions and Connections and routine maintenance such as oil changes and tire rotations. It’s another way we aim to please customers and provide the quality service they expect from Buick.

At Buick, we are listening to consumers and creating vehicles with attributes that are important to them. Our new vehicles are beautiful, quiet, comfortable and loaded with innovative, purposeful technologies. The 2014 LaCrosse and Regal we introduced at the New York International Auto Show in March for example, include next generation IntelliLink infotainment and a host of advanced camera- and radar-based safety systems.

Customers are also noticing the value that Buick has to offer.  Buick was recently named the Best Value Luxury Brand in Kelley Blue Book’s brand image awards as voted on by customers while visiting KBB.com.

Buick’s growth, fueled by the redesign of our complete lineup in the past few years, really puts the brand in a new light. However, with all of this change and innovation our dedication to providing customers with beautiful, high quality, comfortable, and luxurious vehicles remains the same.

Tony DiSalle became U.S. Vice President of Buick and GMC Marketingin 2011. In this position, he provides senior leadership and strategic direction for U.S. Buick and GMC marketing functions, including marketing, communications and product strategy.

Chevrolet Zone Manager Michael Stinson (right) accepts the American Carbon Registry’s Corporate Excellence Award from Nicholas Martin. The nonprofit organization recognized General Motors for its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and mitigating climate impact.

This is noteworthy considering that less than a month ago we were in Washington DC to receive an EPA ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence award, the organization’s highest level of recognition for corporate energy management.

People are taking notice of our company-wide commitment to the environment.

During the award ceremony, the American Carbon Registry mentioned GM efforts like reducing manufacturing emissions by 60 percent since 1990 and recycling 90 percent of our manufacturing waste. These are results we should all be proud of, even as we remain focused on continuous improvement.

They also sited our bold Chevrolet Carbon-Reduction Initiative, calling it one of the largest voluntary commitments to greenhouse gas reductions in U.S. history.

This initiative is an industry first and takes GM’s commitment to the environment a step beyond landfill-free leadership and ENERGY STAR recognition. It compliments Chevrolet’s other industry first, our Ecologic label, and goes beyond providing fuel-efficient and electrified vehicles. Our Carbon-Reduction Initiative is about getting consumers to see Chevrolet in a different light and connecting with our customers in a unique way…a way that directly impacts them and the communities in which they live and work.We’re making a difference with these investments in community-based projects that will reduce up to 8 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.

Even though these announcements lead up to Earth Day, I’m grateful to work for a company who is dedicated to this planet and looks for new ways to conserve, reduce and recycle every day of the year.  Thank you for your efforts to increase our sustainability and help us to leave a smaller footprint.

Chris is the U.S. Vice President, Chevrolet Marketing and a 25-year marketing veteran, with more than 20 years dedicated to the automotive industry. His career spans agency, research consulting and in-house experience working for major international automakers. Chris’ expertise includes strategic planning, creative development, media strategy and planning for general market, multicultural, interactive and dealer advertising, and integration across all communication disciplines.

To further its commitment to education, the General Motors Foundation sponsored the Detroit stop of the NBC News’ “Education Nation On-The-Road” tour.

Education Nation seeks to create a thoughtful, well-informed dialogue with policymakers, thought leaders, educators, parents and the public, in pursuit of the shared goal of providing every American with an opportunity to achieve the best education in the world.

Image via www.EducationNation.com

Last month, Detroit was the 2013 tour’s first stop. NBC News and WDIV Local 4 hosted a week of events and programming at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History designed to engage Detroit-area business and civic leaders, elected officials, educators, parents, and students to share information, exchange ideas and inspire change.

“Education is the primary area of focus for the GM Foundation and NBC News’ Education Nation On-the-Road provides a forum for us to join key stakeholders to share best practices and inspire real, systemic change in our schools,” said GM Foundation President Vivian Pickard. “From birth through college, the GM Foundation is committed to improving education and changing the lives of students.”

NBC chose to visit Detroit because of the challenges Michigan has faced in recent years as well as the resilience of the people here. The GM Foundation supported NBC News’ Education Nation last year in New York, taking five Buick Achievers to the first nationally televised Student Town Hall. However, this was the Foundation’s first time supporting the national tour. The Foundation worked closely with NBC News, encouraging them to come to Detroit to discuss all of the wonderful work going on in education locally.

“Michigan has many positive stories to tell,” said Pickard. “Our goal in participating was to bring a national spotlight to the education issues and solutions that are important to our state.”

NBC News’ Chelsea Clinton and Rehema Ellis moderated the many panels that discussed early learning, new options and approaches in K-12 schools, and the 21st Century workforce.

The national NBC correspondents were joined by WDIV anchors Devin Scillian, Rhonda Walker, Carmen Harlan and Steve Garagiola. Detroit public figures involved in the program, or in attendance, included Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, and Mary Barra, GM’s senior vice president of Global Product Development.

“GM is committed to education at all levels,” said Barra. “Successful communities require successful school systems and a consistent, sustained commitment to quality education from the outset.”

The Education Nation bus toured around the Detroit metro area, collecting roughly 35,000 new and gently used books for United Way for Southeastern Michigan. United Way will donate these books to its Early Learning Communities, as well as its partner hospitals and local high schools.

Since April 2010, we’ve provided a service called First Assist , which allows specially trained OnStar emergency advisors to use Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) in order to provide necessary medical guidance to people in need while they wait for first responders to arrive.

In order to become a certified emergency advisor, one must complete six months as a non-emergency advisor handling non-emergency calls, four weeks of OnStar emergency training and a one week of training through the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch® (IAED™) that includes CPR and EMD certifications and software instruction by the IAED™.

OnStar obtained Accreditation by meeting the IAED’s™ rigorous 20 points of Accreditation requirements and for the company’s compliance with the Medical Priority Dispatch System ™ (MPDS®).

Being accredited proactively tells our customers that not only are we delivering a lifesaving service, but we are committed to doing so at the highest standard of excellence. Of the 2,780 agencies that use the MPDS® protocol, only 4.25 percent have actually achieved accreditation.

No other OEM in the world is delivering this kind of on-scene, emergency medical dispatch. In many cases, before the car has come to a complete stop during a crash, we’re connected and giving assistance. We’re filling a void for customers that no other automaker has even attempted to do. . We recognize how busy 911 call centers are, and in the spirit of cooperation, if we can absorb some of their burden and offer this service, then everyone benefits. We are filling an emergency response gap too where we can provide a first level of help that can prove to be invaluable

OnStar’s First Assist service is used approximately 1,200 times every month for a variety of emergency situations—from assisting women in labor, people with diabetic emergencies, and helping with choking victims..

All in all, the most important part is that we’re making a difference. Originally advisors had to stay on the line and just say “wait until you hear the sirens”. Now we are able to provide lifesaving instruction to these people in need. I take comfort in knowing that we are doing all that we possibly can to help people in their most desperate moments.

Cathy Bishop is OnStar’s Global Emergency Outreach and Strategy Manager. She is responsible for leading a team charged with strengthening OnStar’s relationship with the emergency services community globally through educational, collaborative and partnership opportunities. She also collaborates with GM Safety and Public Policy to influence improvements in crash safety technology to improve emergency response and treatment for crash survivors. Prior to working at OnStar, Cathy managed a 9-1-1 Call Center in Michigan for 18 years.