Globe-Isla creates a techie world for the youth

"Let us continue to work together. We cannot give up. We must not give up," said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her speech at the Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility this year where she underscored the role of private companies in uplifting the lives of Filipinos. She noted that with the Philippine economy on the rise, business is sending the message loud and clear that Philippine business is unequivocally committed to corporate social responsibility. Globe-Isla shares the President’s commitment in carrying out wide-ranging pro-poor projects. Since 1994, Globe-Isla has put social responsibility on equal footing with its corporate business. Its objective goes beyond providing telecom services to millions of cellular phone users but more importantly, to changing lives of families nationwide.

Globe-Isla invested heavily as a corporate citizen in education and youth development. Through the years, Globe-Isla has spearheaded several projects and programs for millions of students and teachers in public and private sectors.

There is the Connect Ed.ph program, a nationwide campaign aimed at providing public schools with easy access to computer education and the Internet. Under this program Globe-Isla provides free unlimited Internet use for the first year to public high schools, while these schools enjoy a 50 percent discounted rate from the second year onwards.

The Youth Tech Project, a partnership between Globe-Isla and Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI), aims to provide Internet access to public schools, computer peripherals and provides teachers with the skills to use the Internet laboratory as a learning facility. In Luzon, 18 schools are already connected to the Internet under the project through Globelines Net Express and Globequest Internet dial-up service. A total of 13 schools in the province of Batangas, one each in Makati, Marikina, Mandaluyong, Cavite and Pasig are now learning basic computer skills. While in the Visayas, 14 schools are part of the project.

The Coca-Cola ed.venture Center Project, a partnership between Globe-Isla and the Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development (FIT-ED), aims to provide computers, Internet connectivity, training and post-training support services to 15 pilot public schools. FIT-ED operations director Evangelina Lourdes "Luli" Arroyo does her part in IT education and youth development. In the Visayas, nine schools are part of the program.

The partnerships between the Philippine Business for Social Progress, Globe-Isla and educational stakeholders aims at providing personal computers to public high schools in support of the government’s thrust of providing and intensifying IT training in public high schools and preparing students for employment in the future. In the Visayas, one school is included in the project.

The Local Governance Network Projects (Logonet) is a Globe project in Bulacan which serves as a tool for information dissemination among local government units (LGU) and non-government organizations to improve governance at their level. In the Visayas, the Barangay.Net Project is a Globe-Isla project run by the Barangay.Net Cebu Alliance Inc., a consortium of the leading agencies and organizations involved in the Information Communications Technology (ICT) sector. Its aim is to push for an e-governance agenda in eight pilot barangays in Cebu City: Basak-Pardo, Lahug, Apas, Hipodromo, Careta, Luz, Kamputhaw and Mabolo.

Globe-Isla’s Provincial Telecom Centers (PTC) in the Visayas uses a second party as agent to operate the PTC within a designated territory. Baybay Institute of Technology in Baybay, Leyte and Dumanjug Multi Purpose Cooperative in Dumanjug, Cebu use Globe-Isla’s network facilities to provide NDD/IDD and Internet access service.

"Sa Aklat Sisikat" program, a collaboration between Globe Telecom, Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation, The Department of Education, LGUs and other business establishments, is a literary campaign of the Museo Pambata in Manila. Globe Telecom has donated P175,000 to three schools: H. Bautista Elementary School in Concepcion, Marikina and Bunducan and Utod Elementary Schools in Nasugbu, Batangas.

i-Link centers on community involvement to ensure that education goes beyond donating computers and Internet access. It serves as both a laboratory and resource center for students, teachers and the adjacent communities.

Globe-Isla-CITE Technical Scholarship Programs provides for the promotion and development of telecommunications technicians in Cebu through educational opportunities. Globe-Isla offers the following to the scholars: payment of 50 percent of the scholars’ annual tuition for three years.

The team up of Globe Telecom with AFI and Intel Corporation has resulted in the formation of two Intel Computer Clubhouses in East Rembo, Makati and General Trias Cavite. The project aims at providing a creative and safe after-school environment for the youth from poor communities. With the vast development of Computer Clubhouses worldwide, the Philippines is lucky to be one of the beneficiaries of this project.

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, says that Globe-Isla strongly values social impact projects. Aside from the educational projects, the company’s other social impact projects are: Globe Telecom Academic Achievement Awards (GTAAA), medical/dental missions, Book Donations, PC donations, Habitat for Humanity, Centex, Children’s Hour and sponsorship/outreach of various charitable institutions. Globe-Isla emphasizes the importance of its role as a corporate citizen in bringing the much-needed change to ensure the sustainability of communities around the country.