Ángel Córdoba Díaz

Introduction

"Nowadays governments realize that they cannot do everything, that society's objectives can only be achieved through cooperation and alliances with a wide range of actors, including the private sector, civil society and other groups." Kofi Annan

The object of this article is to extract, from the experiences and lessons learned by Caja Madrid[1] in the integration of the employees of the group and their families in the Information Society-- -"Project Internet at Home" and "Portal ePeople- concrete lines of action on the part of the private sector which can be transferred to other settings and other situations.

Private-sector initiatives in digital inclusion were, until recently, few and far between. Normally they were limited to advances in infrastructures by technology companies. Nevertheless, after our experience we understand that the private sector's range of possibilities for action is much broader than we expected. We now believe that the financial sector should be considered an essential actor in the task of driving the Knowledge Society, not only through the financing of projects but for its ability to approach different social layers from a standpoint of confidence and security. Financial institutions can play an active role in forming social opinion, awareness and customs.

Convinced of the activating role of the private sector and based on our previous success (§ 2. The Caja Madrid Initiative: Phases and Outstanding Aspects), we have opted, among all the possibilities for private sector action, for development, social compromise and technological partners (§ 3. Aportaciones del papel del sector privado a la luz de la experiencia de Caja Madrid. )

The Caja Madrid Initiative: Phases and Outstanding Aspects

Inicial Phase: Active collaboration with public administrations; involved partners/actors[2].

Since the planning stages of the project to approximate the Information Society to the employees of the group, along with their families ("Internet at Home"), Caja Madrid has had an interest in participating actively in all initiatives launched by the public sector to extend the benefits of the Information Society.

Aware of the fact that the Information Society requires the contributions of many actors with complimentary synergies, Caja Madrid has selected for the project the cooperation of Telefonica (wide-band communications networks) and IBM (infrastructures: PC's): first level of integration.

Development Phase: Initiative for the development of people: e-inclusion of people and companies + e-learning + the creation of virtual communities [3]

The next level of integration in the Information Society is the delivery of content by the creation of the "Portal ePersonas". Caja Madrid opted for a two-pronged strategy:

1. "Useful Internet" and the total integration of groups (e-inclusion) 2 : which is about reducing the digital divide from a double viewpoint:

. Developing quality content in Spanish - thus overcoming the language barrier, with friendly, familiar content aimed at a group the majority of which is navigating on Internet for the first time. We opted for secure access and navigation as important ways of avoiding user inhibition.

. Encouraging the incorporation into the Portal of online businesses - a virtual mall offering services to our families. Priority is given to small and medium-sized companies.

2. "The Knowledge Society": An integral plan to consider people as the essential assets in the Information Society (e-learning and virtual communities) 2: the economic assets of the New Economy are people.

3. On the one hand, Caja Madrid makes a special effort to reinforce our human capital through the training of people in the use of Information Technology. ("digital literacy training") and in the utilization of innovative and inclusive e-learning content ("at your measure, at your rhythm, on your schedule"). Members of the group and their families, aware of the importance of ongoing training and employability, appreciate the content which they receive as well as the necessity for training. On the other hand, Caja Madrid, has opted for a program of strengthening of its human capital through the constant flow of information among the members of the group, which creates true virtual communities, which benefit not only our business, but the members of the collective and the society in general.

Final Phase: Social commitment: employees and families as consumer motivators[4].

Employees and their families, incorporated in the Knowledge Society through the programs such as that sponsored by Caja Madrid, are the best group to promote the true social change necessary to make integration in the Knowledge Society possible.

The Role of the Private Sector in the Light of the Caja Madrid Experience

a. Development Cooperation

. Promoting the e-inclusion of people through content and applications:

. Creating initiatives and backing public projects which potentiate the concept of an Internet which is "useful," "safe," "familiar" and "friendly"

. Offering other businesses, institutions and governments the availability of quality content which overcomes the barriers related to the different cultural and educational levels and knowledge of languages, content fully adapted to the necessities of the object market in each country or area

. Collaborating in the development of content which simplifies people's lives and improves their quality of life.

. Potentiating the use of tools which permit people to create links to the community from all perspectives (friends, family, social circle, institutions, businesses.)

. Promoting e-inclusion in businesses:

. Encouraging the incorporation of businesses into the new economy, especially through support of initiatives by small and medium-sized companies. In this respect Caja Madrid created in the year 2000 a business specific to this area called Caja Madrid e-Business.

. Strengthening the development of human capital as an essential asset in the Information Society, putting special emphasis on e-learning content.

. Stimulating training in the Information Technologies as a key element in formation which the information society demands in order to eliminate the extension of "pockets of digital poverty"

. Promoting the acquisition in the company of "digital competence."

. Incorporating the massive use of e-learning and the ICT's in the workplace and personnel to help potentiate the employability of people.

. Promoting the interchange of knowledge and the integration in the Information Society through the creation of virtual communities.

. Creating a critical mass of persons connected to the Information Society (as key users in the society), which permits them to "create demand" for the services and, by doing so, lead the rest of the society in the same direction.

b. Social Commitment

. Creating a social fabric of companies with the commitment to incorporate their employees and their families in the Information Society

. Investing in people and in their competencies, avoiding at all costs any form of discrimination

. Stimulating the concept of company employees as social consumer motivators: employees as a privileged element and agent of change at local and national levels

c. Technological Partners

. Collaborating in development alliances and the execution of innovative initiatives among pubic administrations, private businesses and civil society: emphasizing the complementary character of programs and the necessity to join forces and establish common synergies, given the fact that no single actor can achieve the complete process of reducing the digital divide.

. Fomenting initiatives which permit people to accede to the Information Society at reasonable prices.

. Committing to offering services with quality, security and confidence.

Within the wide spectrum of cooperation in the reduction of the digital divide, our experience has been satisfied not only by the achievements of concrete business goals, but for our role as a social agent (principally in the development of people who are now digitally literate and are potential social opinion leaders in this area).

Caja Madrid, based on their own experience, understands that, if a large number of companies would assume the social commitment and were conscious of the necessity to generate opportunities for access to the Knowledge Society for their employees and their families, the private sector would play a proper role in the reduction of the digital divide. In any case, the support and incentive of the public sector ought to be firm, continuous and coordinated with private initiative.

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[1] (Private entity of the banking sector with a strong social compromise, manifested through their Social Program and the Caja Madrid Foundation)

[2] (SOCIAL COMMITMENT)

[3] (SOCIAL COMMITMENT)

[4] (SOCIAL COMMITMENT)

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[.] "Within the broad spectrum of cooperation aimed at reducing the digital divide, our experience has been satisfied, not only through the achievement of concrete business objectives, but in our role as social agents (fundamentally in the development of digital literacy among people who are potential social opinion leaders)."

Ángel Córdoba Díaz
General Subdirector of Caja Madrid and Managing Director of Human Resources of the Caja Madrid Group