Red Conecta & Conecta Joven

Acronym of the case:

Conecta

Web address of the case:

http://www.conectajoven.org

Country of the case:

Spain

Posting Date:

28 November 2007

Last Edited Date:

07 January 2010

Author:

Pedro Aguilera (FundaciÃ³n ESPLAI)

eSkills | Networking | literacy

Type of initiative

Project or service
Network

Case Abstract

Conecta Now offers a new focus on the strategy to overcome the digital gap in Spain working in two projects: Red Conecta and Conecta Joven. The key ideas of both projects are: Going beyond the existing network; Improving efficiency; Extending the community work. Conecta Now is one of the most important telecentres network in Spain and collaborates with several public telecenters. The program runs across 61 NGOâ€™s in Spain and provides e-skills to more than 19,000 people every year and by December 2008 we expect to be training 24,000 people.

Description of the case

Domain

eInclusion

Topic

Digital literacy and competences | eAccessibility | Geographical eInclusion

Sector

Education, Science and Research | Employment | Local/Regional Community Development

Start date - End date

January 2001 (Ongoing)

Date operational

January 2001

Target Users

Target Users Description

Disadvantaged groups, mainly young people, women, unemployed, inmigrants and ethnics minority groups.

Scope

National

Status

Operation

Language(s)

Spanish

Policy Context and Legal Framework

Project Size and Implementation

Type of initiative

Training and education

Overall Implementation approach

Partnerships between administration and/or private sector and/or non-profit sector

Technology choice

Proprietary technology | Standards-based technology

Funding source

Public funding national | Public funding regional

Project size

Implementation: €1,000,000-5,000,000

Yearly cost:

€500-999,000

Implementation and Management Approach

> Red Conecta
The program is based in digital literacy training, community strengthening and access to labor market. Objectives: 1) To favor the reduction of the digital divide with groups in risk of social exclusion and/or in deteriorated areas, and finally to improve their social inclusion, 2) To improve the employment of young people, unemployed of long duration and women, 3) To take advantage of the potential and proximity of organizations rooted in the territory, and 4) To eliminate mental and physical barriers in the use of ITC's by different groups.

> Conecta Joven
It is a project that prompts the participation of the youths in their community by means of formative actions oriented to teaching digital literacy to adults and elder people. It is directed to younsters between 16 and 18 years. Its objectives are: 1) To improve the social participation and the solidarity of the youths; 2) To facilitate the access to ITC's of adult people and improving their social inclusion, and 3) To promote the creation of synergies and of contribution among the different actors of civil society.

Technology solution

All our telecentres are equipped with broadband connectivity, 9 pc's minimum Pentium III, 512 Ram and 40 Gigs. Web cam in every pc station, headphones and mousse. Also there are 2 printers in each center and a scanner.

Impact, innovation and results

Impact

Our network has 61 telecenters trough Spain. All of them ara hosted in local NGOâ€™s who know very well the situation of people in social risk in their areas.

Our model of telecentre is focused in three values: a) Social and comunnumity orientation b) Digital literacy as a way to favor social inclusion c) Full integration in host organization.

University of Barcelona (CREA) has done an external and independent project evaluation. The main results are:
- 100% of Conecta eInclusion users have incorporated the acquired knowledge in their daily life
- 82% of users use the acquired knowledge to look information in internet about their subjects of interest
- 64% use it to communicate through e-mail
- 69% use it to elaborate their own documents
- 49% use it to communicate through messenger
- 44% use it to look for a job

Track record of sharing

Our project won the annual â€œRed de Redes de telecentros de EspaÃ±a â€œ award in 2005 for â€œLa idea mÃ¡s innovadoraâ€ (Most innovation idea).

Conecta Joven won the â€œLa Caixa: Youths and Values awardâ€ in 2006.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - ONGâ€™s partnerships in collaboration with multi-stakeholders are key to reduce the digital divide.

Lesson 2 - The project must be focused in people, not in technology.

Lesson 3 - The learning curriculum should be based in actions and practice (action-error-action) in order to facilitate the management of the target group.

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