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Óscar Vieira welcomed the
participants of the 2nd General
Meeting of Special PT Projects |
Committed to conceiving solutions and projects for special people in order to afford them a better quality of life, the PT Foundation works side by side with several partners.
On 27 October last, the Foundation listened to dozens of social solidarity institutions by organising the 2nd General Meeting of Special PT Projects. This meeting aimed to work in different projects, involving PT’s Digital Inclusion Centres installed in various social solidarity institutions, schools and hospitals throughout Portugal.
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Clara Cidade
Info-Exclusion and
Special Needs Department |
It should be highlighted that these PT Centres, more than 100 both on the continent and on the islands, have been created to respond to communication needs of citizens with disabilities, impairments or incapacitating illnesses through the use of information and communication technologies. The installation of these Centres was decided as a function of the partnerships established with several institutions of reference, enabling a greater proximity with the benefited populations.
Óscar Vieira, Deputy Board Member of the PT Foundation, recollected Portugal Telecom’s positioning in terms of sustainability and stressed that the meeting contributed “to making the work at the Foundation each time better. PT dedicates “a significant part of its resources to the support for an underprivileged segment of the population”. This is the space of intervention of the PT Foundation as the area of special projects will continue to play a central role in our concerns”.
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During the working session that took place at Forum Telecom in Lisbon, there was a sharing of experiences, concerns, contributions and viewpoints vis-à-vis projects on course since 2005, so as to create synergies among the various partners working at national level, but also, above all, at regional and local level. Therefore, Óscar Vieira added that the goal of the session was “to produce results” and to continue “betting on this collaboration”.
According to Clara Cidade, from the Info-Exclusion and Special Needs Department, the reason for the meeting was to bring everyone together” to congregate every single effort and to make every investment pay”. She added that besides creating a feeling of proximity among partners working every day on the field, these meetings allowed “listening to the voices of every partner sitting around the same table. We have to work in terms of partnerships to afford a better quality of life through the use of new technologies”.
During the meeting, the conception and development stage of projects on course was made known, which resulted from cooperation between several institutions, and there were eight workshops of basic training on essential areas for the work of health and education technicians as well.
PT GRID2 and TMN GRID Mobile, Introduction to 2nd Life in the rehabilitation work, E-Learning for Social Inclusion (FELIS) and Augmentative Communication and Support Tchnologies were some of the themes discussed in the workshops.
The “Strength of Words” closed this working session with positive balance. The dance group Dancing Wheels – “Strength of Words” from the John Paul II Support Centre for People with Disabilities performed for the participants to the sound of poems written by one of the elements of the group, a handicapped person. “A lesson of life”, said Clara Cidade.