Converge ICT Solutions Inc. fired up the first Stairway Foundation ICT Learning Center in Brgy. Baclayan, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, fulfilling its commitment to accessible internet for all by serving the needs of unserved and underserved Filipinos.
As part of the company’s campaign for Safer Internet, Converge has extended free internet connectivity and provided learning tablets for the use of the students and members of the Baclayan Mangyan community.
Converge VP for Strategy and Sustainability Bryan King Kay said the project is part of the company’s sustainability commitment of creating positive community impacts and is also in line with the company’s vision to ensure that every Filipino has access to safe, and reliable internet.
“Several years ago, having a reliable internet connection in the Philippines came with a premium and was only reserved for the rich. We at Converge do not want that. We believe that every Filipino should have access to safe, affordable, and dependable internet to enable human rights of access to information and freedom of expression that can help bridge the digital and literacy gap,” King Kay said.
“Stairway Foundation can rest assured that Converge will be here for the long haul. We will continue to work with the foundation and other partners in making the digital highway, or the internet, a safe and better place for everyone, especially for children and other vulnerable groups,” he added.
Stairway Foundation Executive Director Lars Jorgensen said the ICT Learning Center will help raise the level of education in the Mangyan community, providing them with better opportunities to learn in the digital age.
“This is a center for everybody to learn and develop their skills online. Let’s make this a beautiful beginning to something inclusive and constructive for children and community development,” Jorgensen said.
“This partnership with Converge is a huge enabler for us to push for our mission to serve communities like Baclayan. This allowed us to help empower communities and have the communities empower themselves in the process,” Stairway Foundation Child Protection Specialist Ysrael Diloy noted.
Since last year, Converge has been working with the Stairway Foundation in its campaign to foster safer online spaces for Filipino children and help combat various cyber threats such as online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).
Converge has also been aggressive in its initiatives to protect its network against illicit content, blocking more than 350,000 web addresses related to different types of cybercrime including OSAEC, illegal online gambling, phishing, terrorism, and voyeurism, among others.
The leading fiber broadband provider also enforces its child online safeguarding policy in its commitment to ensuring that its stakeholders, especially children, are given proper digital safety and security in their use of different products and services from Converge.
