Colombia update

In regard to our Colombian deal, this is how it’s reported on the website of the National Service of Training (SENA), of the Ministry of Labor of Colombia:

(an excerpt; a translation can be found below)

Colombia update

Of interest:

SENA Promotes the Country's Digital Transformation with a New Innovation Hub and international Alliances
Medellin
Tuesday, September 7, 2021

SENA held the inauguration of the Innovation HUB of Medellín, a commitment to strengthen the use of 4.0 technologies in the department, and the signing of an alliance with SheWorks!, to promote the employability of women.

With the participation of the President of the Republic Iván Duque Márquez; Carlos Mario Estrada Molina, General Director of SENA; Juan Camilo Viana, Termos Company Manager; Silvina Moschini, CEO of the SheWorks company; Luis Fernando Suárez Vélez, Governor of Antioquia; and Daniel Quintero Calle, Mayor of Medellín, SENA presented its new Innovation HUB, a modern infrastructure located in the Perpetuo Socorro Creative District, a sector known as the first Orange Development Area of the Paisa capital.

"Our Innovation Hub is a modern space of 1,357 square meters, distributed in three levels, in which we will serve 5,000 people who have needs to appropriate, implement or develop solutions related to Industry 4.0 technologies, thus achieving, promote and train to face the disruptive changes generated by the Fourth Industrial Revolution "commented Carlos Mario Estrada, General Director of SENA.

This space, which had an investment of COL$11 billion, seeks to benefit entrepreneurs, businessmen, creators, apprentices, instructors and the community in general, through the appropriation and implementation of industry 4.0 technologies: Big Data, Internet of the Things, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Additive Printing, Rapid Prototyping and Virtual and Augmented Reality. In addition, it is an initiative that seeks to close gaps and strengthen innovation processes, allowing to collaboratively address challenges regarding the change of mentality and cultural transformation.

"For me this type of news is very motivating; it is a motivation to move forward, it is an impulse for an entrepreneurial territory such as Medellín. This space, which has been given thanks to the work of SENA, the Mayor, the Governor and the entrepreneurs, is growth, employment, innovation and competitiveness "emphasized the President of the Republic of Colombia, Iván Duque Márquez.

Within the framework of the event, an alliance was signed between SENA and SheWorks!, an international company that uses technologies such as machine learning and data analytics to connect talented women with opportunities for remote and flexible work on a global scale.

"This alliance is an evolution of the work that we have already been doing together since last year (2020), when we developed a first training pilot delivering digital skills for remote work and their incorporation into the digital labor market. The program that we will launch soon. Its general objective is to join forces to promote and reactivate female employment in the new digital labor market, through the development of actions that promote the transversal inclusion of women and the elimination of racial, cultural and disability biases, "said Silvina Moschini, Founder and CEO of SheWorks!.

The agreement has the purpose of promoting employability in Colombia, thanks to the training of up to 15 thousand women in essential skills for remote work and the execution of seminars for entrepreneurs, citizens and for the SENA Employment Unit on topics such as benefits telework, how to implement this modality in accordance with current legislation, contracting processes with a gender perspective, among others.