For Digiworld, well known as a distributor of hi-tech products for dozens of international brands, community support is not limited to giving a fish to the poor, nor simply giving them a fishing rod. The company, in conducting its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, has developed a philosophy of its own: sustainable CSR strategy.
“That is the sustainable CSR strategy we are aiming for. Helping a person develop their capacity also means helping their family and the community to move forward,” said To Hong Trang, deputy general director of Digiworld. For the company, CSR activities need to help the beneficiaries how to fish.
And, among numerous CSR programs conducted by Digiworld over the years, its ambitious program to create a tech-savvy community so as to elevate the country’s level takes center stage.
Nurturing IT green buds
Since its inception 26 years ago, Digiworld has consistently pursued a mission of “development for the good of the community” and this year will see the company’s higher commitment to this goal: building up a community of young IT programmers for society.
In November last year, Digiworld anounced the establishment of a scholarship fund named “Digiworld Green Buds”, with a specific goal of training some 200 young IT programmers, almost free. Specifically, Digiworld will provide VND10 billion to the fund to cover the training cost for young people of difficult circumstances.
To execute this CSR program, Digiworld has signed a collaboration agreement with Rikkei Academy, with the latter responsible for the IT training. Candidates for the program will undergo a screening round, and the chosen ones will be provided 80% to 100% of tuition fees, so that “the young scholarship winner can feel relieved of the financial burden and focus on their studies to become IT programmers in the future,” according to the company.
The fund will award scholarships in the 2022-2025 period to some 200 young people who will be trained essential skills to become programmers after six months, with the full scholarship being VND69 million. Despite the shorter training time, it is expected the graduates will have the required skills to work for IT companies.
Young people enrolled in this IT traning program will also be supported to the study the Japanese language, and outstanding graduates will have opportunities to work in Japan, according to a representative of Digiworld.
Commenting on the reason to partner with Rikkei Academy in this CSR project, deputy CEO To Hong Trang said that both sides are players in the technology sector and have in common the strong will to contribute to the country.
Digiworld, with its scholarship fund “Digiworld Green Buds”, expects to bring about a turning point for each young people chosen for the scholarship so that they can thrive in their career in the IT industry and sustain the country’s IT workforce development.
Raising public awareness
The Digiworld Green Buds foundation, in fact, was built upon the success of a half marathon named “Bước chân ươm mầm xanh” that was first launched in 2020 to raise the public awareness on making contributions to the community.
For each runner finishing the run, Digiworld would donate VND1 million to the scholarship fund “Digiworld Green Buds”, part of which will be used to finance the IT programmer training courses mentioned above.
Given the enthusiastic participation of the community in the previous two years, Digiworld managed to expand the scales of the third running event in late 2022, engaging more individuals and organizations in this community project.
Specifically, the running event in HCMC was organized on December 4, 2022 at Sala urban zone in Thu Duc City, attracting 1,200 runners, while the similar event in Hanoi took place one week later at Yen So Park, with the participation of some 400 people. Following the 2022 marathon, Digiworld contributed over VND4.07 billion to the scholarship fund.
The “Bước chân ươm mầm xanh” marathon will soon return this year, scheduled for December 3, 2023 at Van Phuc City in HCMC’s Thu Duc City and December 17 in Hanoi’s Yen So Park.
The marathon’s key message to the community, as always, is to “nurture a green bud” with every runner joining the event.
Given the great social values resulting from the marathon events, Digiworld has pledged to gradually upscale running events to develop young buds so as to bring about greater benefits for individuals, the community and society, according to To Hong Trang of the company.
Digiworld after 26 years of development has now become a giant in the industry, distributing high-tech products, especially those in the ICT industry, for 30-plus international brands, including Xiaomi, Toshiba, Lenovo, Acer… with 16,000 sale outlets nationwide.
The company has won numerous awards in recent years for its business excellence and sustainable development, including Top 50 Best Value brands from the UK’s Brand Finance, Top 50 Best Performing Companies, Top 50 Best Listed Companies in Vietnam, Top 100 Sustainable Enterprises recognized by VCCI from 2016 to 2022, Top 500 Biggest and Most Profitable Enterprises (VNR500 & PROFIT500), and 11 IR Awards from 2017 to 2022 among others.
Source: The SaigonTimes