Daring innovators: Creating community impact in Ecuador
On September 28th, after three months of pre-service preparation, an inspired team of 15 IBMers from 11 different countries landed in Quito, Ecuador, for the 2018 IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) Ecuador deployment with Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT).
The IBM CSC deployments are part of IBM’s global Corporate Social Responsibility program that sends IBM staff to different areas around the world to volunteer for one-month periods and provide pro-bono consulting expertise to local stakeholders comprised of public sector institutions, including universities, governments and non-governmental organizations.
At DOT, we implement and facilitate the CSC program, which means that we set up the IBMers with meaningful and impactful opportunities to be daring social innovators in local communities — applying their skills and knowledge in support of local organizations facing complex challenges.
Pictured below: an orientation session, a city tour, and a fun welcome dinner were some of the activities that awaited the IBMers upon arriving for their first weekend in Ecuador.
Following their arrival and welcome activities, the CSC team flew to Loja, where they would spend their month-long deployment completing local community projects. The activities and projects were facilitated in partnership with four fantastic local host organizations: FACES Foundation, the Municipality of Loja, the Provincial Government of Loja, and the Private Technical University of Loja (UTPL)
"15 IBMers, 11 nationalities .. an extraordinary mix of cultures to start our projects in Ecuador and more specifically in the south, in Loja #IBMCSC #CSCEC5", Nathalie Labeaux, IBM France shared via Twitter.
The official deployment kick-off ceremony was held on October 1st in the Marcelino Champagnat Auditorium of UTPL. The event brought together many community leaders and representatives from the four host organizations and other companies. Esteemed guests also included Mayor Piedad Pineda Astudillo José Bolívar Castillo Vivanco; Rafael Dávila Egüez, Prefect of the province; José Barbosa Corbacho, Rector of UTPL; and Luis Eduardo Palacios Burneo, the Executive Director of FACES, who welcomed IBMCSC team members and thanked IBM for supporting the creation of innovative solutions to pressing community challenges.
During the deployment, the group was divided into four sub-teams who then participated in diverse activities to engage with the local population and deepen their project impact. These activities included field trips, interviews with various stakeholders and local farmers, and participating in “Design Thinking” workshops so that the IBMers could incorporate new, creative ways of thinking and planning to better understand community challenges and design better solutions.
"The Provincial Government of #LOJA together with the group of professionals of #IBMCSC work on a proposal that allows us to deliver climatological information to the producers so that they can work in a more technical way and improve productivity."
On October 13th, marking the end of week two, the group of daring innovators participated in the Community Service Day with local youth, organized in collaboration with the CAJE Foundation. The day’s activity, the IBM SOCIAL HACK challenge, saw 70 young leaders from Loja work closely with the IBMers in order to find solutions for the challenge: “How to use youth entrepreneurship as a tool to reduce emigration of talent from Loja?"
"Now, young leaders from different educational institutions, universities, and social organizations come together to propose a solution to the challenge: How can we use youth entrepreneurship as a tool to reduce emigration of #Loja talent"
The local social media engagement was key in communicating and sharing the work developed by the CSC group with the local community during their month in Loja. One member of each sub-team (Rebecca Riebeling (Germany), Sara Wiederkehr (Suiza), Arturo Guerrero (Spain), and Ravi Raghunathan (India)) even had the opportunity to talk to local TV Channel, CANAL SUR about their projects and overall experience!
Also interviewed by the CANAL SUR was Corporate Citizenship Program Manager from the IBM Andean Region, Jesús Tabares, (who assisted in the planning and execution of the mission), and Hugo Goicochea, General Manager IBM Ecuador, both of whom shared additional background information on IBM’s CSC programs and the impact the programs were having in Loja.
Leading up to the end of the deployment, four weeks of hard work culminated to a final presentation day with the sub-teams presenting their findings to the leaders and stakeholders of each of the four host organizations.
"The group of professionals from IBM #CSCECUADOR5, presented to the prefect @RafaelDavilaE, the final report of the project that was developed together with the Planning Department of the #GPL carried out in the Province: [IMPLEMENT A MANAGEMENT AND DISSEMINATION PROCESSES OF METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION]"
Finally, on October 25th, the team’s last day in Loja, the Marcelino Champagnat Auditorium of the UTPL once again hosted the IBMers for the Closing Ceremony. Each CSC sub-team shared a short presentation about their experiences and their recommendations delivered to city officials, partners, and community members.
After the formal ceremony, Jesús Tabares moderated a Fishbowl Panel where the interpreters assisting with the program work and the main stakeholders of each host organization also shared their reflections on the experience in a round table with the IBM team.
The CSC team then travelled back to Quito where they spent a productive day at the IBM Ecuador headquarters, sharing short presentations about their projects and their experiences with local IBM staff. Hugo Goicochea, General Manager IBM Ecuador, led the session and delighted the group with inspirational messages and words of encouragement.
The success and future impact of this project would not have been possible without the dedication and support of the CSC team and local stakeholders. The CSC team brought positive energy, creative ideas, and unique tech skills, leaving with beautiful memories and creating lasting positive community impact.
The host organizations, FACES Foundation, the Municipality of Loja and GIZ, the Provincial Government of Loja, and UTP enabled the success of the program; their hospitality, collaboration, and generosity assisting the CSC team made their work possible and efficient, contributing to the final recommendations which have already begun to be implemented.
Additionally, the city of Loja and its citizens were wonderful hosts who made the team feel welcome with their warmth and appreciation, showing that Ecuadorians always welcomed foreigners with love. On behalf of the IBM CSC Ecuador team, “THANK YOU IBM ECUADOR for your kindness and courtesy!”
Thank you IBM CSC Ecuador team for your impactful work!
DOT is one of IBM’s implementation partners for the CSC and SCC programs. The DOT-IBM partnership started 10 years ago and, to date, DOT has implemented 95 IBM deployments in 22 countries.
