After more than a year in operation, 1,000 students and 100 courses taken, “Benidorm TIC has more than fulfilled its objective of reducing the digital divide among the most vulnerable groups”
Benidorm TIC, the free training program in new technologies of Benidorm City Council, concludes successfully
The initiative is part of the EDUSI of Benidorm and has had an investment of 139,939 euros, financed 50% between Benidorm City Council and the European ERDF funds
Benidorm ICT digital literacy program, an action of the Sustainable and Integrative Urban Development Strategy (EDUSI) of Benidorm, ends today. “With more than 1,000 students and 100 courses learned, Benidorm TIC has more than fulfilled its objective: to bring new technologies closer to the most vulnerable people with quality training to reduce the digital divide,” explained Mayor Toni Pérez today, together with the Councilor for European Funds and Innovation, Aida García Mayor, he accompanied the students to their last class. “Benidorm ICT is the most far-reaching local training action in new technologies in Spain, even in municipalities with more inhabitants than in Benidorm,” he highlighted.
Benidorm TIC, an action by the EDUSI of Benidorm, started in September last year. Since then, 100 different courses have been completed on topics such as using smartphones, basic computer science notions, or electronic administration procedures. The free training included courses of up to 40 hours aimed at people with difficulties accessing digital tools.
“The high participation figures, during the 14 months together with the high levels of student satisfaction that are close to 100%, demonstrate the success of this EDUSI action,” he added. The Mayor has valued the fact that “some of the students have participated in more than one course to gain skills in different fields.” “With this initiative, co-financed with European ERDF funds, we have managed to foster faster and safer relationships with the administration, banks, and entities that we use every day in the most vulnerable groups of our city”
Benidorm TIC, with its varied offer of 100 different courses of up to 40 hours in duration, has been “one of the most ambitious media literacy programs in the Valencian Community.” Thanks to this, “people who are retired, disabled or at risk of exclusion have been able to access quality training,” highlighted Mayor Toni Pérez.
The classes took place in different locations in the city, in computer classrooms set up in municipal offices such as José Llorca Llinares and La Torreta social centers, Benidorm City Hall, and Pepita Puchades Employment Training Center. The most popular courses have been those on the use of smartphones and basic digital skills.
This media literacy program, which continues Benidorm's line of commitment to quality education as a tool for social integration, has had an investment of 139,939 euros co-financed between the Benidorm City Council and the European ERDF funds. Benidorm TIC is part of the EDUSI objective of “improving the use and quality of information and communication technologies”, promoting “social inclusion and the fight against poverty.”
After this last session of the program, the mayor has announced that "given the results and reception of these technological literacy courses, work is already underway on the tender for a contract to reissue Benidorm ICT initiative, in this case entirely with municipal funds.”
ABOUT THE EDUSI OF BENIDORM:
The Pluriregional Operational Program of Spain 2014-2020, and the Sustainable Growth Operational Program (POCS) promote the DUSI strategy, of Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development that Benidorm, as established in the Resolution of May 4, 2018, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of the Order of the Third Call HFP/888/2017, has managed to opt for and obtain FEDER aid financing of 10 Million Euros, through its EDUSI BENIDORM strategy.
The EDUSI BENIDORM is made up of a series of thematic, specific, strategic, and operational objectives, encompassed through 13 Lines of Action, whose social, environmental, economic, and urban impact on the city aims to transform a delimited urban area of the city into the to intervene and regenerate comprehensively, to produce a global impact and improvement in the city.