Cybervolunteers, a social network to promote the social inclusion

Acronym of the case:

Cyber

Web address of the case:

http://www.cibervoluntarios.org

Country of the case:

Spain

Posting Date:

7 December 2007

Last Edited Date:

10 May 2009

Author:

Yolanda Rueda (FundaciÃ³n Cibervoluntarios)

volunteers | ICT | trainig

Type of initiative

Project or service
Network

Case Abstract

Cibervoluntarios (Cybervolunteers) born in December of 2001 as a social movement that became an association. During the first two years it extends as a large program on ICT, which main function is to recruit Cybervolunteers and give initiation courses. In this period came to be over 1300 Cybervolunteers and digital literacy was reached over 10,000 people. From 2003 to 2005, the Foundation focuses its growth on the deepening and formation of the Third Sector, the one of the NPO and volunteering, in order to learn to adapt the particular characteristics of the technologic volunteering and the growing professionalisation of the sector, our goal was much to attend the needs of the Cybervolunteer, to go deeper into his meaning and potential and canalise his efforts, than to give courses.

After four years of existence and experience Cibervoluntarios became Foundation in July 2005. Today we have over 1300 Cybervolunteers, but this time they are real because each one has attended to a course, know what the organization is, know how to coordinate him with the foundation and with its colleagues, and which functions he can develop in.

There has been an internally and externally macroevolution, we now not only give courses, but we also organize hundreds of initiatives, adapt our physical and organizational infrastructures needs, we are speaker and we are exposing and trying that happen a social change through the use of ICT, that is our greatest strength.

Description of the case

Domain

eInclusion

Topic

Digital literacy and competences | eAccessibility | Geographical eInclusion

Sector

Social Services

Start date - End date

December 2001 (Ongoing)

Date operational

January 2009

Target Users

Any citizen

Target Users Description

We dedicate our work to groups that could be excluded from the Information Society due to their gender, age, job or social environment, lack of time, lack of economical resources and/or lack of knowledge or skills, or that could be referent in their environment such as: elderly people, women, disabled people, people living in rural areas and small towns, groups under the risk of social and/or working exclusion, people with a low level of education, volunteers and other NGO's.

Scope

Local (city or municipality) | National | Regional (sub-national)

Status

Operation

Language(s)

Spanish

Policy Context and Legal Framework

Project Size and Implementation

Type of initiative

Training and education

Overall Implementation approach

Non-profit sector

Technology choice

Not applicable/not available

Funding source

Public funding national | Public funding regional | Public funding local | Private sector | Charity, voluntary contributions

Project size

Implementation: Not applicable/not available

Implementation and Management Approach

The Cybervolunteers are social change actors who use ICT as a way to impulse social innovation and to solve social problems.
They are curious are pro actives, they like to learn and they have a real passion for sharing and enthusiasm for ICT.

The Cybervolunteers offer to know, in person, the possibilities that give the use of ICT in an useful, easy and efficient way for the daily life; to people with fewer possibilities of access and formation, trough courses, workshops, conferences, events, etc.

Through our initiatives we have a vital role regarding the connexion between the local and the global in the information society.

For our daily work, we can count with a structure at national level which coordinate and centralize the management of the movement. We also have regional and local structures with area coordinators in more than 15 places in Spain. We can count too with around 1300 Cybervolunteers, 68% of them being ready to develop initiatives.

Impact, innovation and results

Impact

- Multisectorial labour
- Participate in using the existing resources and in converting them in paces of refrent in terms of innovation and social development through the use of technological tools.
- Generate impact and continuity
- Creation of an on-line and off-Line Network that permits to share fears, to generate demands and to give support
- Cybervolunteers qualified that contribute to its realisation, to the incorporation of a social aspect
- Respond to very specific needs and demands in a close environment
- Give voice to the beneficiary public trough initiatives and tools in its own language
- Foment the divulgation of an other way to use internet by the beneficiaries

Track record of sharing

* Best Non-profit entity Project 2007, for the project "Social Network to bridge the Digital Divide and foment the Knowledge Society", awarded by the Foundation Bip Bip.

* Received the II Prize for Citizenship Dinamization, framed within the Avanza Plan, from the Ministry Industry, Tourism and Trade.

* Organisation of the e-STAS, Symposium on Technologies for Social Action and Human Capital Development.

Lessons learnt

Cybervolunteers is an initiative that could be adapt to other countries. The methodology of the â€œhowâ€ transmit to Cybervolunteer the philosophy and the values of the organisation, to support him regarding the educational, materials and human resources, and to offer a structure that back-up and support his exceptional work as an actor of the social change that will certify and detect the needs that can be reached through the use of technological tools.

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practice Cybervolunteers, a social network to promote the social inclusion