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1st Best national practice and experience from Spain

General information

 

Name of the good practice Rede CeMIT (CeMIT Network: Network of Centers for Technology Modernization and Inclusion)
Name of the organisation or institution in charge of the project Xunta de Galicia (Galicia Regional Government)
Address, City Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain)
Country Spain
1st project year 2009
Is the project ongoing? (time alive) Yes, for more than 10 years
The good practice is to be found at web.address https://cemit.xunta.gal/
Website of the organisations https://cemit.xunta.gal/
E-mail oficinacemit@xunta.gal

 

Short description of the project, of the method

The CeMIT Network is an initiative led by the Galicia Regional Administration which consists of a series of training centres across different locations in Galicia Region which offer different training courses related to digital technologies to a wide variety of citizens.Since its beginning more than 10 years ago, the initiative has been characterized by the high level of citizen demand for digital literacy, making it the action with the highest number of users outside of formal education in Galicia. In recent years, the Network also offers a digital training service that allows citizens to mature and evolve digitally as well as to work on digital social innovation.It is composed of 98 training centres with independent courses related to ICT, based on the existing demand of each location. It has the collaboration of 92 Galician municipalities.

Organisation:

In addition to the local and regional administration support, the CeMIT Network increases its scope through the collaboration and participation of entities and social agents with a common interest in promoting the socioeconomic dynamization of the Galician citizens in the Digital Society, making possible the exchange and sharing of information and experiences that lead to the creation of the necessary synergies that allow an optimisation of all the resources put into play, with objectives and results that are oriented to the benefit of the whole CeMIT Network and the corresponding collaborating entities.

Structure and Scope:

The CeMIT Network is composed of 98 training centres with independent courses related to ICT, based on the existing demand of each location. It has the collaboration of 92 Galician municipalities. It consists of 98 classrooms, reaching all points of the Galician geography, so successful that every Galician has a classroom half an hour away from home and can access training and training in line from any point.

The network is characterized by the provision of training activities in the field of digital literacy, digital training and digital social innovation.

All classrooms are equipped with the latest technology, Internet and videoconferencing systems.

Objective:

The objective of the CeMIT Network is to provide a territorial and social structure for Galicia region, especially where the digital divide is most evident, by promoting, enhancing and disseminating knowledge of information and communication technologies for Galician citizens.

General contents:

The courses are given in two modalities: in the classrooms of the Network or in e-learning. There are different courses based on the demands of the citizens, being some of the most popular trainings: “Online procedures with e-Government”, “Mobile devices: learn how to handle your device”, “Email management” or “Initiation to computer science”, among others.

In addition, the training courses are also complemented by a series of talks and events that reinforce the knowledge regarding the use and possibilities of the new technologies, as well as innovative projects with the aim to establish collaborations with the users, innovators and local community  in order to create knowledge and solutions to meet social challenges and needs by using the new technologies.

 

General objective

The objective of the CeMIT Network is to provide the territorial and social cohesion of Galicia, especially where the digital divide is most evident, promoting, enhancing and disseminating knowledge in information technology and communication (ICT) of Galician citizens.

In this regard, the initiative gives response to the high level of citizen demand for digital literacy, offering (based on the training needs of the target public in different locations) training actions aimed at improving the digital skills of people, especially those living in a rural context, with an ageing population that is demanding/needing such skills in order to break the digital barriers that affect their daily lives, as it is the case for the management of health, financial, transportation, security or communication-related  issues that are increasingly dependent on a basic knowledge of ICT.

 

Target groups – participants

The different training courses are developed in reduced groups of learners (maximum 20 people) to ensure the quality of the training.

  • Age: it depends on the training course; it could be from 1 to 99.

E.g.: in the case of a digital basic skills course there are not age limits, https://cemit.xunta.gal/es/actividade/10444

  • Nº people: Maximum of 25 people per training.
  • Knowledge: it depends on the training, but basically is for people without a deep knowledge/competences in the ICT field.
  • Recruitment method: The recruitment of the learners is done through different methods, such as:
    • Through social networks,
    • By the local administration training departments, through their communication channels at both physical and virtual means.
    • By the Galicia regional government,
    • By the own teachers/facilitators in charge of the training.
  • Number of hours per training: between 1 and 15 hours, depending on the training.

 

Which resources were necessary for the project? 

The Network of Centers for Technological Modernization and Inclusion (CeMIT Network) is an initiative launched by the Agency for Technological Modernization of Galicia (Amtega) of the Xunta de Galicia (Galicia Regional Government), which is part of the Digital Agenda 2020 framed in the Strategic Plan Galicia 2015-2020 that aims to achieve technological convergence with Europe by 2020.

The CeMIT Network increases its scope of action through the collaboration and participation of entities and social agents with a common interest in promoting the socio-economic dynamization of Galician citizens in the Digital Society. In this regard, this initiative is opened to the following actors:

  • A series of public and private entities (associations, organizations, voluntary action entities, foundations, technology centers, public administrations, universities, etc.) can participate as Collaborating Entities;
  • Companies can do it in the form of Digital Sponsors;
  • The professionals, entrepreneurs or entities, specialists in professional disciplines in the field of ICT, may collaborate as Digital Referents;
  • Active and committed people with knowledge to help others with creativity and digital social innovation, may participate as Digital Mentors;

 

Why it has been selected as good practice

With this good practice we would like to emphasize a series of aspects that make this initiative an interesting one in terms of becoming an example for the IT trainers of older people and transferability in other areas and contexts. These are, among others, the main issues why we have selected this initiative as a good practice:

  • Coverage and IT democratization, specifically in rural areas: The fact of establishing a wide network of centres makes possible that the target public from rural areas can access to IT trainings that can improve their daily lives.
  • Trainers specialized in dealing with elders and /or disadvantaged groups. As most of the participants are elders or belong to some kind of disadvantaged groups, the trainers are not only specialized in the specific topic of the course related to new technologies, but also are very used to providing training and support to the target public.
  • Flexibility / On-demand courses: Courses are offered and organized based on the existing demand in the different geographical areas of Galicia region.
  • Success: The CeMIT Network is nowadays a very well-recognized benchmark in Galicia region because of its impact, present in 92 municipalities. 

Regarding the Acknowledgements, it must be mentioned that the CeMIT Network was recognized in 2009 and 2011 as a good practice of communication and action co-financed by European funds in the period 2007-2013.

 

Final comment

As a final comment, it is important to highlight the aspects already mentioned in the previous paragraphs, and that make this initiative a successful one and that has become a benchmark in Galicia region, with more and more municipalities and collaborators interested in becoming an active part of it:

  • Its Coverage and Geographical impact, especially in rural and disadvantaged areas;
  • Its well-trained and experienced Trainers, who make possible the democratization of ICT Knowledge.
  • The Flexibility and Adaptability of its centres / classrooms and the trainings conducted in them, based on the demand and the specific needs of the target public.
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