Saragossa He is betting on new technologies, for achieving a digital transformation and, above all, so that all Zaragozans have digital skills that allow them not to be left behind in “that city of the future”. This was stated on Wednesday the mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, in the signing of a framework agreement with Orange and the Orange Foundation.
The objective of this agreement is to impart free workshops on the use of technology to reduce the digital divide through training in digital competences. Thus, these workshops are another example of the City Council commitment to the formation of the different population groups, especially with those that can most accuse the digital gap.
The workshops, as reported by the mayor, will begin having two target audiences. On the one hand, the elderly, through “workshops taught, in any of the 32 centers of the elderly we have, by qualified teachers and with a subject specially prepared and adapted for their needs”; And on the other, “all those unemployed people who want to access the labor market, because having digital skills today is essential to access many jobs.”
Responds to the needs of citizens
Natalia Chueca has signed this agreement with the general director of Regulation, Public Affairs and Sustainability of Masorange, Usamentiaga Luz, or in the Coexistence Center for Seniors Luis Buñuel, one of the centers that will host these workshops. In fact, the mayor has had the opportunity to meet these courses first hand, entering a class in which knowledge about the use of artificial intelligence was being taught.
The mayor has visited the Coexistence Center for Seniors Luis Buñuel Photo: C.M.
During the act, Chueca wanted to emphasize the responsibility they have, as a public institution, to “effectively respond to the needs of citizens. In the case of technological advances and digital transformation there are groups such as older people who may need support to function in a reality increasing objective of strengthening social cohesion. ”
For its part, Luz Usamentiaga has highlighted that “technology and digital skills are essential for all citizens, since they allow access to information, services and communication. For older people, acquiring these skills is especially valuable: they can make video calls to keep in touch with relatives who live far away, access online medical appointments or manage their finances without leaving home, among many other actions. This not only fosters their autonomy and participation social, but also significantly improves its quality of life in an increasingly digital world. ”
Formations for seniors
To contribute to the digital literacy of citizens over 60, the City Council will collaborate during the next two years with Orange, which have been awarded the Red.es Program for the digital training of citizenship within the recovery, transformation and resilience plan, which has European financing.
In this way, the City Council of Zaragoza and Orange will articulate the training actions of digital training with a minimum of 10 workshops, in any of the 32 equipment of the Network of Coexistence Centers of the Consistory. These learning days will be composed of 8 hours of classes and also 4 hours of optional tutoring, if the students wish. The groups must be between 6 and 12 people.
The aforementioned workshops will consist of the support, accompaniment, tutoring, training and training in digital competences, to combat the digital gap of this social group in particular. The agreement signed reflects that the Zaragoza City Council He will yield the enabled spaces to develop these workshops while Orange will be in charge of providing teachers, content, computer tools and material necessary for training the training.
Overcoming the digital gap of the entire population
The Orange Foundation has also been awarded aid within the National Digital Competition Plan that has European financing, in this case to train general population without knowledge about technology.
Chueca has emphasized the responsibility of “responding to the needs of citizens” Photo: C.M.
Therefore, in the agreement announced by the mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, and the Director General Regulation, Public Affairs and Sustainability of Masorange also contemplates future collaboration in order to apply the pedagogical experience of the foundation in the general population without digital competences, to expand its possibilities of employability and entrepreneurship.
This joint project, aimed at people over 18, contemplates the realization of at least 10 workshops (with the same hours and participants as the elderly), in locations or centers dependent on the Municipal Institute of Employment and Business Development, which will complement the formations made in these centers.
In this way, both entities, public and private, show their common commitment to train the entire population in digital skills, putting special emphasis on groups at risk of digital exclusion, such as migrants or unemployed people.
