Daring innovators: Creating community change in Querétaro
Fifteen IBMers travelled to Querétaro, Mexico from September 21 to October 20, 2018, to work as pro-bono consultants for three government institutions and one NGO. While there, the IBMers implemented a digital transformation that benefited the most vulnerable people of the State of Querétaro.
Their mission was part of part of the IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) Program, 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.
Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) implements and facilitates the CSC program, setting 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.
The IBM Mexico team was comprised of IBM staff from nine different countries: Australia, United Kingdom, Hungary, Rumania, Zchech Republic, India, China, USA, and Canada.
Continue reading to check out the IBMers’ full experience below as they share details of their deployment via Twitter (and local news coverage clips).
Kick-off Ceremony
On September 24, 2018, the IBM CSC 10 team was welcomed by representatives of their four host organizations in a ceremony attended by Arturo Torres Gutiérrez, in charge of the Office of the Social Development Secretariat of Querétaro; Ofelia Nassar de Hernández, President of AMANC Querétaro; Carlos Saucedo Maciel, Manager of Corporate Citizenship at IBM Mexico; Calixto Corzo González, President of the Private Assistance Board of the State of Querétaro; and the First Lady of the State of Querétaro. The ceremony was held at the Ministry of Family Affairs of the State of Querétaro Auditorium.
Deployment Activities
During the deployment’s implementation phase, IBMers were divded into sub-teams to work with AMANC, DIF, Junta de Asistencia Privada del Estado de Querétaro (JAPEQ), and the Secretariat of Social Development of the State of Querétaro (SEDESOQ). The sub-teams conducted local interviews, went on field visits, and attended workshops facilitated by their host organizations in order to produce the best solutions for the community challenges they were working to overcome.
Community Service Day
Community Service Day was held at the Polytechnic University of Querétaro on Friday October 12th. It included keynote speeches from hosts and partners, and seven different workshops on the cloud, blockchain, watson, AI, flexible electronics, and human capital. The Community Service Day event was attended by more than 670 students and gave participants the opportunity to work with IBMers through an additional three mentoring sessions surrounding three of the University's faculties: industrial, IT, and economic administrative.
Final Presentations
Just before the end of their deployment, the four sub-teams presented their final deliverables, reflected on their experiences, and shared their recommendations to the host organizations.
Closing Ceremony
Held in the Government Palace of the State of Querétaro on October 18th, each IBM CSC 10 sub-team presented their executive summary of their recommendations. A representative from each host organization thanked each of the sub-teams, as well as IBM and DOT, for the high impact results delivered from the programs, and made the commitment to implement the IBMers recommendations in order to further transform their community.
Visit to the IBM Mexico HQ office
For the last event of the deployment, the IBM CSC 10 team held meetings with the Country General Manager of IBM Mexico, Eduardo Gutierrez, and local IBMers. Both Mr. Gutierrez and the local volunteers made a commitment to follow-up with each of the host organizations and support them to implement the recommendations that the IBM CSC 10 team presented. They promised to uphold the recommendations through relationships with local business partners, in partnership with the university, and in collaboration with the local IBM volunteers program.
Thank you IBM CSC 10 Mexico team for your impactful work in Querétaro!
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.
