The STMicroelectronics Foundation Celebrates 100,000 Digital Unify Beneficiaries in Morocco
Bouskoura (Morocco) – May 7, 2015 – The STMicroelectronics Foundation today celebrated the 100,000th beneficiary in Morocco of its society-empowering Digital Unify (DU) program.
Started in 2003, the Digital Unify program is the most important program of the ST Foundation. It aims at spreading the benefits of digital technology by providing both the technology as well as basic training courses to those who have no knowledge of how to use a personal computer and access to the Internet, free of cost.
The ST Foundation’s Digital Unify program relies on two main axes of activities:
- Set up of computer training centers (Labs), in collaboration with carefully selected local partners, such as secondary schools, NGOs, local administration or government agencies and
- Delivery of a free computer literacy “Informatics and Computer Basics” (ICB) course.
“Supported by ST, a global technology leader committed to making a positive and innovative contribution to peoples’ lives, the ST Foundation with its Digital Unify program has been successfully spreading the benefits of digital technology,” said Pietro Fox, President of the ST Foundation. “Our work has empowered more than 100,000 people in Morocco and 271,000 globally, and improved their communities by leveraging the contributions of ST employees and providing the tools and basic training to bridge the digital divide.
” Over the past twelve years, the ST Foundation has developed the Digital Unify program through 43 cities and smaller villages, covering 16 regions across Morocco, making the country one of the most active and successful in the program. The courses have been designed so that they are delivered to any part of the population, whatever the age, gender, location, education or culture might be. This achievement has been made possible thanks primarily to the commitment of STMicroelectronics which, on top of the initial financing of the Foundation, provides most of the labs’ material and encourages its employees to participate to the Foundation’s activities, as recently illustrated by the renovation of the lab “Idriss I” in Bouskoura, near Casablanca. These results are equally due to the cooperation and the continuous support of all organizations, schools, municipalities, public organizations (like the Ministère de l’Intérieur, the Foundation Rhamna, the Foundation Orient Occident and many others) with which the ST Foundation have signed one or several conventions, which generally provide the labs’ premises and associated facilities, and designate trainers in some configurations. Today, these successes would not have been achieved without the dedication of the more than 350 trainers that have been intervening in Morocco since the beginning of the program.
“The excellent level of activity of the Foundation in Morocco over the past twelve years could not be but the result of strong team work with ST, its employees, our local partners and ultimately our group of trainers, that I want to highlight and thank today,” said Patrice Chastagner, representative of the Foundation for Morocco. “As a former Vice-President of STMicroelectronics, I am also pleased that the Foundation can demonstrate its commitment to Morocco, a country in which ST has been active for so many years.
” Within a world in evolution, the STMicroelectronics Foundation intends to pursue its activities in Morocco, adapting itself to the locally expressed needs and making the country an area of experiment and new developments, as appropriate. Among the identified directions for the coming years will be the creation of new labs in those areas in which the Foundation is not present yet (notably small villages), an increased effort towards the civil population, the possible design of further courses which might be dedicated to targeted populations (small children, students, professionals…), and overall an effort to help our partners to develop and self-sustain their own activities. In doing so, the Foundation is convinced and satisfied to bring its contribution to the country development, with the ultimate goal of democratizing the information and knowledge sharing.
About the ST Foundation
The ST Foundation is the non-profit corporate foundation of STMicroelectronics, a global high-tech company creating semiconductor technologies for a smarter, greener, and more sustainable future. Established in 2001, we work to bridge the digital divide by building infrastructure, cultivating local expertise, and delivering comprehensive educational programs in numerous communities all around the world, directly and through various non-profit organizations.
As a hands-on foundation, the ST Foundation completely designs, develops and implements the projects on a long-term basis. Among the other active Digital Unify projects are those in Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, China, Congo Brazzaville, Congo (D.R.), Germany, India, Italy, Morocco, Philippines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan.
STMicroelectronics Foundation
Giovanna Bottani
39, Chemin du Champ des Filles
CH 1228 Plan Les Ouates – Geneva
Switzerland
giovanna.bottani@stfoundation.org
Phone: + 41(22)9302629
Mobile.+ 39 3333208696