Wednesday 9 December 2020, 00:15
Yolanda Rueda has always fascinated fascination for technologies and entrepreneurship to do new things. First he created the party campus in the late 90s. When he started talking about the digital gap in 2001, he discovered his passion for volunteering in the technological world. For example, Cybervoluntaries was born, the presiding basis and fighting to eradicate that gap.
– Although he created Cybervoluntaries in 2001, it took four years to launch the foundation. Were there many difficulties?
– I saw many possibilities that were in cyber volaties as a movement, but I missed knowledge to materialize them. Many people were pointed out as a volunteer, although that management capacity was missing. I did a master’s degree and that gave me a lot of knowledge when I saw what the projects are like, how I wanted the organization to be and how I could manage the basis to survive.
– You are what is now called a social entrepreneur. Was he at that time on something like that aware?
– No. I have simply raised a series of vital decisions. I see everything through technology. I saw that he was very strongly guessing on technology, which has become an impressive thing that could change the world and create many needs. I wanted citizens to have that strength of technology, because I think there should be another use of it. From the administrations they promote technology from the most administrative perspective, that is, because a citizen could communicate with them. But they did not take all possibilities into account, such as more direct communication. Some volunteers thought they just gave a course, and that is not the goal of the foundation. We do something else.
– What is your role, your position?
– Technology must have a good cause for people. It can help them communicate, to look for a job, to train themselves, to put a company … Awakening that is vital to me. They can be some processes to achieve this, we can replicate them in others. It is a fascinating but very difficult path, because I had to set up the basics without any company to place the resources. Now we are 15 people for the more than 1500 cyber volume that we have. And we do many activities after every exercise. In fact, we have trained more than 30,000 people in the last three years.
– Do you think there is still a digital gap?
– I’d rather talk about the double digital gap. The first is that of access. I have to have the tool, but there are many people who, although they have it, do not use it for something that can really help you in your day. Many companies were not digitized to keep doing their business when COVID-19 has arrived. They have the tool, but they don’t know how to use it. This pandemic brought a reality for a mirror that we had warned a long time ago: people can have the internet and not know how to use e -mail. There is false safety of the feeling that you are on the network when there is actually a knowledge and content gap to know why and for which the internet can be useful. We are still a long way to go. For example, things are not digitized. They have a connection, but there is a lack of training to know how they can benefit from these tools and adjust to any needs.
– Can you even talk about digital vulnerability?
– Yes, and can influence us all and in different areas. Works on a professional level in itself; at the highest at social level. That is why we always talk about helping people, not about groups. And we do workshops from many different areas.
– Is what means what it means, and what it means, digital and technological volunteer work?
– It cost us a lot. When we started, it was believed that it was an ‘online’ volunteer, whom we had the website or social networks of others. But we learn what technology and the tools are so that people can use it. That is often confused with activism. We have the registered trademark and we had to ask political parties not to use it in those conditions. We turned 20 in 2021 and in Europe they have already rewarded us, precisely for helping digital transformation.
– Technology has changed a lot in 20 years. How have the cyber ventures changed?
– Keep in mind that half of the world’s population does not yet have internet access. They are the voice. They come from very specific countries and in general digital vulnerability influences them more. Digital volunteering is understood more than in the beginning, but I think that many tools are still needed to carry out the closure of this digital gap, especially in the third sector. Employment is no longer a complicated social level. But if you have a good idea, a good ending and you are clear about your goal, you must persist. You can’t let yourself be beaten by difficulties. You have to see that what you get is stronger than those obstacles.
