Intel Ad Campaign Highlights Importance of Supply Chain Responsibility

Sep 9, 2016 | Lewis Golove
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The past two decades in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been characterized by civil war and mass atrocity, the staging ground of “Africa’s world war.” Since 1998, militias and rebel groups have killed over five million people. They have funded their operations by exploiting the country’s vast wealth of natural resources—through the extraction and sale of tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold. In many cases, mineral extraction involves forced labor and child labor.

These “conflict minerals” are integral to creating the technology and luxuries we enjoy every day, from laptops, phones, and tablets to cars, airplanes, lighting, and jewelry. After the Dodd-Frank Act passed in 2010, tech companies were forced to monitor their supply chains for conflict minerals. Many also took voluntary action to adhere to strict compliance standards and auditing measures. Yet reports continue to link some of America’s most beloved technologies to armed conflict and forced labor, renewing pressure on tech companies to take responsibility for how they source their materials.

Tech giant Intel has stood out as a leader in the push for greater supply chain transparency. In addition to ensuring that its product base is conflict free, Intel proactively supports the legitimate mining sector in the region, and raises public awareness in the United States about the importance of ethical and transparent supply chains.