14th May 2012.-Fundación Telefónica's Classrooms Project is supporting a true “School of the Future”, with the latest in technology and a broadband internet connection based on the most modern and extensive fibre optic network in the country, deployed by Telefónica in Chile . All of it has been readied to contribute to the improvement of learning processes and the educational growth of the country, since these are the tools that build quality and equality.

This is not just about access to the internet; these are useful technologies applied to the improvement of the educational process. Hyperconnected rooms, interactive whiteboards, and classmate teams, as well as attendance records and online power supplies (capable of replacing the traditional student’s notebook) are just some of the new technological tools being made available to the students and teachers of the Hernando de Magallanes school in Punta Arenas. This is possible thanks to a strategic alliance with Movistar and a selection of its suppliers, together with the active participation of Fundación Telefónica, which will be monitoring this school and transferring all the knowledge necessary to integrate these technologies into the classroom in a way that promotes learning. To this end there will be a 3-year monitoring programme using permanent coaching, on-line and on-site training for teachers, as well as holding modelled workshops, that will allow the school to use the technology in the various subjects taught to students.

“Less than a year ago we presented the first project for connectivity in support of education in Santiago. That day we promised to reach other locations. Today we are connecting fibre optic cable at Escuela Hernando de Magallanes, marking a milestone in public education. So, with great pride, I can announce that we are fulfilling our commitment by introducing the first Public School of the Future in Magallanes and committing the support of Fundación Telefónica to ensure the project is sustainable,” said Roberto Muñoz, general manager of Telefónica Chile.

The Minister, Pedro Pablo Errázuriz, pointed out that “we have invested more than 34 billion pesos in national and regional public resources in the last 36 months as a subsidy so that companies would invest in and connect with distant regions, rural localities and low-income urban sectors; in short, all those areas where the market alone was not capable of solving the communication and connectivity needs of Chileans.”

Caracas, 13th May 2013.-The news that Fundación Telefónica Venezuela was, for the first time, presenting its books in free digital and downloadable format on its website www.fundacion.telefonica.com.ve was one of the most important developments unveiled at the Fundación Telefónica booth in the 5th Chacao Reading Festival, located across from the Obelisk in Plaza Altamira.

This annual festival, which is held every year in the same week as World Book Day, took place from 26th April to 5th May and served as a platform for three lectures on three Fundación Telefónica publications.

Fundación Telefónica opened the lecture series at the Reading Festival on 30th April, when the Venezuelan teacher and writer Rodrigo Blanco presented the book “La calidad del español en la red” (“The quality of Spanish on the Internet”), reflecting the results of a pioneering group research project conducted in Spain, the first to address the phenomenon of the emergence of new forms of communication in media, such as websites, e-mail, chat, SMS, blogs and other tools.

On 2nd May, before a large audience, Gina Biasini of Opportúnitas-Fundación para la Infancia y la Juventud (Opportúnitas-Foundation for Children and Youth) presented “Las Aulas Fundación Telefónica a favor de la educación” (“Fundación Telefónica Classrooms - Supporting Education”). This is a joint research project with Fundación Telefónica Venezuela on the systematisation of best practices being implemented since 2008 at Fundación Telefónica Classrooms in schools served by the Proniño programme in Venezuela.

The lecture series ended on 3rd May with the discussion of the book “Canto Electroacústico: Aves latinoamericanas en una creación colaborativa (Electroacoustic Song: Latin American Birds in a Collaborative Creation” by Adina Izarra and Luis Germán Rodríguez, research coordinators. This publication brought together a group of creators and critics in the fields of electro-acoustic music and technological tool use in digital art hailing from different Latin American countries, in order to develop an original musical piece. The piece was documented in the book, which also contains a CD with a recording of the piece.

Those who visited Fundación Telefónica’s booth, located between the Obelisk and the water mirror in Plaza Altamira, also had the opportunity to receive all the necessary information about the 7th International Education Meeting, a debate that Telefónica Foundation has been organising since April 2012 and which will be hosted by Venezuela on 27th and 28th June at the Andrés Bello Catholic University. Students, teachers, professors and parents took the opportunity to register for free on the website http://encuentro.educared.org and thus began toparticipate in the online discussions that are already being generated on this educational platform.

Creativity and books

During the Reading Festival's last weekend, Fundación Telefónica devised a pleasant and surprising way of giving away its books. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, hundreds of books were placed on the steps of the various entrances that lead to the Plaza Altamira, others in bushes and some on the benches in the square, so that passers-by could pick them up and take them away.

It was wonderful to watch children and adults alike being surprised to find several important publications of a social, cultural and educational nature scattered all over the square. It was a beautiful way of giving the gift of knowledge to all those avid readers.

• The regulatory situation is currently uneven and asymmetrical, not only between the EU and the US, but also among the twenty-seven EU states.
• The way in which the regulatory model is drafted will even affect Europe's position in the global context. Thus, the fundamental rule of the European regulatory model, the Data Protection Directive of 1995, has been undergoing a process of review and consultation since 2007.
• In the EU the right to privacy and personal data protection are an integral part of the right to private life, while in the US they are classed as antitrust and consumer rights.
• The lack of user awareness and knowledge regarding the data they provide on the Internet and the scope of their consent make it necessary to establish transparency standards.
• The risk of invasion of privacy is increasing and mechanisms of safeguard, protection, transparency and control need to be directed towards balanced legal frameworks and common jurisprudence.

Madrid, 9th May 2013.- The EU has yetto establish an appropriate regulatory framework for protecting the individual right of Internet users to privacy, according to the study “The debate on network privacy and security: regulation and markets” (Col. Fundación Telefónica / Ariel), coordinated by Jorge Pérez and Enrique Badía, who have studied the European situation within a global context.

The authors of the study have observed that the risk of invasion of privacy is increasing – private date capturing, processing, provision, management, etc. – and it is becoming increasingly necessary to direct the mechanisms of safeguard, protection, transparency and control towards balanced legal frameworks and common jurisprudence. The the way in which the regulatory model is drafted will even affect Europe's position in the global context.

For this reason, the fundamental rule of the European regulatory model, the Data Protection Directive of 1995, has been undergoing a process of review and consultation since 2007. The recent proposal for a General Regulation on data protection, put forward in early 2012, began an ordinary legislative process within which the European Commission, European Parliament and European Council will work on configuring the new European framework for data protection, which is expected to come into force between 2015 and 2016.

The presentation of the study recently released by Fundación Telefónica featured Pilar Castillo, member of the European Parliament and coordinator of the European Parliamentary Group for the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE); the global director of Public Affairs for Telefónica, Carlos López Blanco; the director of Public Policy for Facebook Europe/EMEA, Richard Allan; and both of the book's coordinators, professor Jorge Pérez from the School of Telecommunications at the UPM, and consultant and journalist Enrique Badía.

Privacy on the Internet: an individual, business and global issue

In the opinion of the authors of the study and in the interest of competitive fairness, there is a need for greater regulatory harmonisation in the European digital ecosystem, not only among the twenty-seven Member States of the European Union, but between the EU and other geographical and economic areas, particularly the United States.

Legal protection must also be increased for companies with an active presence in different markets and for users, so that their right to protection is not limited. In this regard, the study also indicates that it is important to avoid the appearance of privacy or data protection “havens” held offshore or in a particular physical or sectoral setting.

The risk of invasion of privacy is increasing – private data capturing, processing, provision, management, etc. – and mechanisms of safeguard, protection, transparency and control need to be directed towards balanced legal frameworks and common jurisprudence.

The lack of user awareness and knowledge regarding the data they provide on the Internet and the scope of their consent make it necessary to establish standards of transparency on data collection and new ways of giving consent. The formulas for authorisation of consent to transfer data need to be accessible and understandable to the average user, without requiring them to perform complex procedures or formalities and without requiring them to have specialist technical or legal knowledge.

There are three factors affecting privacy: the growing and strategic value of data for large companies, the influence of globalisation which means that the service provider and the user are subject to different legal frameworks and not always able to claim their right to privacy, and a more qualitative advertising model used in most onlinebusiness models, based on user behaviour that is monitored while browsing.

Differences between EU and US regulations

In the EU the right to privacy is considered an integral part of the right to private life, including the protection of personal data, while in the US, they are not referred to as fundamental rights, but rather as an issue related to antitrust and consumer rights. Thus, US sectoral laws at the federal and state level are rounded off by the competition regulator, the Federal Trade Commission.

The recently proposed Regulation launched by the European Commission focuses on the implementation of “use and obligation” models based on greater flexibility and on adapting obligations according to the risks and types of use of personal data; the “principle of responsibility”, which requires the owner and person responsible for the users’ personal data to comply with protective measures, and to use appropriate models of transparency and consent.

The volume contains contributions from the Vice-president of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding; the programme director from the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the USA, James Andrew Lewis; the global coordinator of Privacy, Data Security and Information Law at Sidley Austin, Alan Charles Raul; and researchers from the Interdisciplinary Centre of Law and ICT at the University of Leuven, Hans Graux, Jef Ausloos and Peggy Valcke, among others.

Caracas, 8th May 2013.-Fundación Telefónica continues its task of contributing to the growth, education and entertainment of children benefiting from the Proniño programme by inviting a total of 50 children to enjoy a fun afternoon at the UCV’s Olympic Stadium on Sunday 5th May.

The event allowed them and their families to enjoy the match between the teams Deportivo Petare and Atlético Venezuela, sponsored by Movistar.

Before the meeting, the children and the five members of the Jóvenes Fundación Telefónica programme (who until recently also took part in the Proniño programme) had the opportunity to get out on the field and be the stars of the football clinic, in which many showed off their sporting skills as they slotted goals past the Telefónica Volunteers who were serving as goalkeepers.

After that, they posed for a photo on the field and then spent an afternoon full of surprises, games and recreational activities that allowed them to meet the players from Deportivo Petare.

After the children and teenagers demonstrated their skills on the pitch, Jhonny Camacho, a member of the Venezuelan national team that recently reached the final of the South American Under-17s Football Championship in Argentina, went up into the stands a few minutes before the start of the match between Deportivo Petare and Atlético Venezuela in order to encourage children to play the sport, while sharing photos, hugs and offering advice to all the children.

Later, 22 of the children were selected to accompany the players of both teams during the opening ceremony by singing the National Anthem, much to the excitement of the other children who watched and applauded from the stands of the UCV football stadium.

Ana Mancera, Social Investment Manager of Fundación Telefónica, who was pleased to see the happiness and excitement of the children, declared that “these events are essential as part of our efforts to encourage the growth and development of children outside the classroom”.

At the end of the afternoon, the children received gifts from Fundación Telefónica and from Movistar, such as t-shirts, shoes, caps, tote bags and coolers, bringing to a close the various recreational activities that were carried out on a pleasant, fun-filled afternoon of football.

The day featured the active participation of Movistar talents Irene Arechavaleta and Jorge Rodríguez, who accompanied the group of children from Proniño schools at all times, encouraging them to have fun in each of the activities prepared especially for them.

The children who attended the football game are students of “Unidad Educativa Municipal Parroquial Sagrado Corazón de Jesús”, “Unidad Educativa Municipal Leoncio Martínez”, E.E.M. “Lisandro Alvarado”, “Centro de Capacitación Industrial Don Bosco” and the “Escuela Alternativa San Ignacio”, located in the area of Petare in Caracas.

• In the remainder of 2013, the Espacio will be hosting four new exhibitions and new conference series and workshops for adults, families, young people, children and students.

Madrid, 8th May 2013.- Espacio Fundación Telefónica, which has already received more than 260,000 visitors, celebrates its first birthday with a new programme on cutting-edge photographic and audiovisual art. So far, five exhibitions and over 160 activities and meetings have been held. Over the rest of this year, four new exhibitions will be hosted – Shirin Neshat:Escrito sobre el cuerpo (Writing on the Body); Colección de Fotografía Contemporánea (Contemporary Photography Collection); Terry O’Neill:el rostro de las leyendas (Faces of Legends) and Ryoji Ikeda –, as well as new cycles of conferences and workshops for adults, families, children, young people, children and students.

On 8th May 2012, the Espacio opened its doors with the aim of becoming a benchmark cultural centre for everyone in the heart of Madrid. Thanks to an innovative architectural project, a facility with an area of over 6,000 m2, innovative programming and unbeatable surroundings, the Espacio is already a must-visit venue for locals and tourists alike. Through the Espacio, Fundación Telefónica aims to contribute to society with technology, innovation and creativity.

Throughout the rest of this year, the Espacio will focus its exhibition activities on photography and the latest audiovisual trends. Its exhibition content will be renewed on 7th June with the exhibition by Iranian photographer Shirin Neshat:Escrito sobre el cuerpo (Writing on the Body), which includes , as part of PhotoEspaña, two documentaries and over 20 large-format images, one of which belongs to Telefónica’s Contemporary Photography Collection, which itself can be seen as an exhibition from November 2013. The collection includes the most representative trends in photography set over the last 50 years by Spanish and international artists, such as Cindy Sherman, Axel Hütte and Marina Abramovic.

In October 2013, it will possible to visit Terry O’Neill's'El rostro de las leyendas' (Faces of Legends), with 60 black and white and colour shots by the British photographer who portrayed great figures from the world of entertainment and cinema, such as Paul Newman, Ava Gardner, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra, to name a few. Another of the main features at Espacio Fundación Telefónica as from October 2013 involves technology, with Ryoji Ikeda, an audiovisual installation using the projection of images, light and sound organised by the Japanese composer. The exhibition will offer visitors a unique sensory experience, which, in turn, poses a challenge to human perception.

As always, the exhibitions will be accompanied by lecture series and parallel workshops that will explore the theme of each exhibition. New programme ideas are also being prepared for all ages. The Espacio will continue its educational activities with workshops for young people, children and families, as well as free and pre-arranged guided tours, also available for school groups.

Activities for all ages

In this first year, more than 260,000 people have enjoyed a broad and diverse cultural programme, including five exhibitions: the Telefónica Cubism Collection, rated as the most popular with 80,000 visitors, and the History of Telecommunications, both culled from the company's artistic and historical-technological heritage; Arte y Vida artificial. VIDA 1999-2012 (Art and Artificial Life. VIDA 1999-2012), a selection of the best prize-winners from this international contest organised by Fundación Telefónica; the exhibition by Galician photographer Virxilio Vieitez, which can still be visited; and, lastly, Fotógrafos..La voluntad de contar (Photographers. The Desire to Tell), a tribute to the Spanish photojournalists of the past 50 years.

Another great success at the Espacio has been the activity programme in the new Auditorium, adapted to suit all different audiences. More than 150 events have been held, including seminars, conference and film cycles, book presentations, workshops for families and schools, concerts, etc. In total, more than 18,000 people, including children, young people and families, have participated in these educational activities. For young entrepreneurs, the programme included “Friends of Talent”, a cycle in which the protagonists are young people from different professional fields who have excelled in their profession thanks to their talent. The singer Pablo Alborán, the chef from the restaurant Diverxo, David Muñoz and the stockbroker Josef Ajram are some of the participants who have revealed the key to their professional success.

For adult audiences, we have scheduled two lecture series dedicated to digital culture and the business world: “Empresa 2020” (“Enterprise 2020”), in which managers of large Spanish companies, such as Telefónica, Repsol, Privalia, ING Direct, etc., discussed how the business world has had to adapt to the digital world; and also the lectures on “Digital Culture and SMEs”, a reflection on how technology is transforming employment and the new challenges and opportunities it offers to society, and especially to SMEs. Among the activities aimed at general audiences, those related to films have been the most successful. The cycle “Technology and 7th Art”, presented by screenwriter and director David Trueba, has allowed us to learn from film-makers of the calibre of Álex de la Iglesia, Paco Plaza and Fernando Trueba, among others.

From Game of Thrones to Latin Jazz

The Espacio has also hosted special events such as the week dedicated to the TV series Game of Thrones, which included lectures on saga's literary and television phenomenon, the screening of an episode from the TV series and a meeting with George R.R Martin, the activity with the highest attendance in the auditorium. For the first time, the Auditorium hosted the event Thinking Party, which, under the slogan of “Reinventing”, featured stories about anonymous people who have been able to overcome the crisis and reinvent themselves professionally. The day included the involvement of two renowned speakers: Luis Rojas Marcos, head of Psychiatric Services for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation since 1981, and Mario Alonso Puig, communicator and author of the book ‘Reinventarse. Tu segunda oportunidad’ (Reinventing Yourself. A second Chance).

In addition, the Espacio has taken part in several activities undertaken by Madrid City Council throughout the year, such as World Book Day, turning the entrance hall into a reading room, where books from the Fundación Telefónica-Ariel Collection were given away to everyone who came to visit the facilities, or Architecture Week, with special visits to the Espacio in collaboration with the Architects’ Association and a lecture on the history of this landmark building.

At Christmas, the Espacio filled its music schedule with the Clazz Xmas cycle; unique Latin jazz concert nights for adults and master classes for all ages with the likes of Pepe Rivero, Reinier Elizarde and Georvis Pico. The festive season was also celebrated in a special way with the Christmas message “Regala Momentos” (“Give Moments”), a light creation involving more than 10,000 LED lights by the art collective Boa Mistura, which welcomed all the visitors to the Espacio.

Lima, 7th May 2013.- Fundación Telefónica and Alta Tecnología Andina present the exhibition “Arte y óptica. La velocidad de las comunicaciones” (“Art and Optics. The Speed of Communications”), an exhibition featuring photographs, videos, installations and environments that revolve around the concept of optics as a process of communication and transmission of information.

The exhibition offers a historical account of the phenomenon of optics and explores its relationship with electricity and the development of communications.The artwork on display narrates the history of communications based on the history of optical processes. This project focuses on generating discussions on topics of interest in the field of technology, science and culture.  Thus, the emphasis is on PUS – the Public Understanding of Science, introducing optics and their historical and current importance in the world of telecommunications.

In the words of the curator of the exhibition, Sean Cubitt, “the artists gathered in this exhibition peer into the light that makes our world. We are the electronic generation, our faces underlit by mobile screens, our cafés, shops and houses cast into sharp highlights and shadows, or suffused with warm glows, tied to the global economy of energy production, of the lithium in our batteries, the petrol in our generators. But we are also those who love firelight, and those who walk into the high hills at night to watch the timeless circling of the stars. At once the most ancient and most modern of media, light is the medium of our existence as historical animals”.

Regarding the artists, Cubitt also says: “Theyunpick the woven fabric of images, unfold the impenetrable surfaces, unpack the contents of the black boxes where we keep the engines of image-making. One makes us see, in the scanning electron guns, the remnant of the patient gesture of hand and arm. Another magics into existence a way of seeing bodies moving, neither slow motion nor fast but in a different time to the one we think we know so well. One makes us feel the weight of history, the long centuries of travel and trade that brought us to this moment when all the world’s goods can be dangled before the eyes of all its citizens. Another tells us of the geographies of transmission. The ancient light of fireflies inspires another with light that has no history, but comes to our city to tell us just how strange the city has become”.

“Bymaking experiences for us, (the artists) also bring before us the fragility and ephemerality of light, its unique moment in the sun, its flickering passage into night. Symbol of both mortality and immortality, our hearth of tradition and our beacon of progress, light complies with power, and complicates it. The order of light is the disorder of time, and the order of time is the freedom of light... By attending closely to the time of light, of the purest act of perceiving light, the artists in this exhibition invite us to consider its weight and density and its power to link us in myriad bonds to the history of light and the ways of seeing”, the curator writes about the exhibition.

More information on the exhibition

The exhibition will be presented at Fundación Telefónica (Av. Arequipa 1155, Lima).

Dates: From 9th May to 18th August 2013.

Schedule: Tuesday to Saturday from 12 pm to 8 pm / Sundays and public holidays from 12 pm to 7 pm

Free Entry

Espacio Fundación Telefónica: A New Space for a New Culture

Espacio Fundación Telefónica has been reopened with the aim of becoming an exponent of what culture will be like in the 21st century: a culture based on creativity, innovation and technology as pillars of social development. In this way we want to reflect a new way of seeing and doing in the culture, art and technology of the 21st century: we want to help to create it and present it so that society can participate in it and take from it.

This will be a cultural space that listens, grows and evolves through participation and dialogue, and which inspires and encourages creativity and innovation. A space focused on culture, art and technology that transcends physical space in the digital landscape.

Information on complementary activities: http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com.pe/arteytecnologia/eventos.asp

Montevideo, 3rd May 2013.-Under the recently signed agreement between the Ministry of Social Development and Fundación Telefónica, courses will be given regarding the issue of child labour in the collection and sorting of waste, in which representatives from local educational institutions and NGO partners will take part. The cycle began on 17th April in Montevideo, and will be repeated in all the country’s departments.

“Contributions to change” is the name of the training event, which aims to provide professional technical training input to tackle the situation of children and adolescents working in waste collection and sorting. The initiative comes from the recognition of the need for professional technical knowkedge in order to deal with this issue.

The workshop addresses different concepts of child labour focusing on children's rights, with an emphasis on the characteristics of work in waste collection and sorting, taking into account the special features of each area. Each event will end with a plenary meeting to discuss case studies and present certificates to participants.

Months ago, an agreement was signed between Fundación Telefónica and the Ministry of Social Development, which allows the joint organisation and execution of social programmes and projects. In the agreement, special emphasis has been placed on targeting and intervening in Child Labour involving Waste Collection and Sorting.

The signing ceremony was attended by: Daniel Olesker, Minister for Social Development; Paul Salterain, president of Fundación Telefónica in Uruguay, and José Pedro Derrégibus, director of Fundación Telefónica.

Mexico City, 2nd May 2013.-Children’s Day is an opportunity to remember the importance of enforcing children's rights, which is why the Volunteers have organised leisure activities to promote one of the most important of these rights: the right to play.

With this intention, Fundación Telefónica held parties in the states of Jalisco, Queretaro and Guanajuato, in which the children enjoyed a morning packed with fun activities and a clown show, as well as refreshments, toys and sweets, which they shared with beneficiaries of our Proniño programme. Proniño is developed in public primary schools to benefit children who are currently working or are in danger of having to work.

In the state of Puebla, the Volunteers delivered toys to municipal authorities so they could be handed out to children in need.

In Mexico City we were assisted by the TV presenter Faisy, who spent an enjoyable time in the company of the beneficiaries, as well as participating with the collaborators from Telefónica, whom he described as “one big family”.

In total, more than 170 Volunteers took part in four states in the Mexican Republic, benefiting 500 children.

Toluca, Mexico, 2nd May 2013.- In the presence of the municipal president of Toluca, Martha Hilda González Calderón, Fundación Telefónica has inaugurated the travelling photographic exhibition “La Hora del Recreo: Erradicar el Trabajo Infantil en Latinoamérica” (“Recess Time: Eliminating Child Labour in Latin America”) in the Parque Metropolitano Bicentenario of Mexico City .

La Hora del Recreo, supported by the Federal Government's Ministry of Labour and Social Security, is made up of 32 photographs taken by five internationally renowned photographers, which cast a committed, respectful and honest glance at the reality of child labour, through 16 stories told by beneficiaries of Fundación Telefónica.

The inauguration was attended by the Assistant Secretary of Labour Inclusion for the Federal Government, Ignacio Rubí Salazar; the Secretary of Labour for the Government of the State of Mexico, Carlos Alberto Cadena Ortiz de Montellano; the municipal president of Toluca, Martha Hilda González Calderón; the federal delegate for the Labour Secretariat in the area, Juan Manuel Martinez Nava; together with Giovanna Bruni Mondolfi, director of Fundación Telefónica Mexico, and officials from the three levels of government.

González Calderón pointed out that this exhibition will certainly make everyone think about one of the most lacerating issues in Mexico and in Latin America as a whole – child labour – and will allow forces to be joined to eliminate this activity that robs so many children of their childhood.

“I acknowledge the coordination between federal, state and municipal governments, private initiatives and international organisations to take action and not allow indifference to defeat us, in order to ensure that those childhoods affected can change their destiny. That is why, in addition to the exhibition, there will be various conferences in order to raise awareness on this issue”, she said.

In his speech, the Federal Assistant Secretary for Labour Inclusion, Ignacio Rubí Salazar, acknowledged the efforts of each participating entity in preventing and eliminating this problem, stating that in Latin America there are 14 million child workers, of whom more than 3 million are in Mexico, so it is vital to bring together the know-how and willingness to eliminate this problem.

For her part, Giovanna Bruni Mondolfi explained that Fundación Telefónica has made a commitment to help eradicate child labour by promoting access to education for working children who are at risk of having to enter the labour market, by means of the Proniño programme, which to date has served 67,000 children in Mexico and half a million in another 14 Latin American countries.

During the 4th International Conference on Child Labour, held in March by Fundación Telefónica, the Federal Department of Labour confirmed its interest in exhibiting “La hora del recreo” in several states, as well as working together with the three levels of government to prevent thousands of children in the country from becoming engaged in work activities.

The exhibition will be open to the public until 12th May 2013, at the Parque Metropolitano Bicentenario during the Park’s opening hours.

Guatemala, 30th April 2013: The Nutrition Monitoring Unit is part of the Mejores Familias project that promotes the development of skills and training of women in the areas of values, health, food security and nutrition (FSN), hygiene, quality parenting skills and productivity in everyday life.

Earlier today, the Director of Fundación Telefónica, José Antonio Fernández Valbuena, and the Director of Education of Fundazucar, Ms. Anita de Castillo, presented diplomas to the 164 women who have been studying for three years to obtain a Diploma in Food and Nutrition Security.

The women of Aldea Cerro Alto will be responsible for managing the clinic intended for the Nutrition Monitoring Unit, which will support the villagers in issues relating to health, nutrition and improvement of their quality of life. Its main priority will be providing care for pregnant women and children between 0 and 5 years to prevent malnutrition. The project will reach 2000 families in Cerro Alto and the surrounding villages.

The primary objective of the Mejores Familias project is to train women and develop their skills to improve their quality of life, that of their children and consequently, that of their families. It offers special care for women of reproductive age, pregnant women and children under five years of age.

Fundación Telefónica also carries out integrated actions with the children themselves, the family, the school and the community which are based on the following elements: schooling, covering basic needs, creative activities for leisure time, transformation of values and cultural patterns, teaching skills to parents and help in generating family income. In other words, what is known as co-responsibility.

This is our contribution to sustainable development, reaching thousands of poor families in the Department of Chimaltenango.

“For three years, Fundación Telefónica has invested more than US$75,000 in implementing the Mejores Familias programme and we know that the training given to the women of Cerro Alto will have excellent results that will help us to make good use of the Food and Nutrition Unit, which is essential for the project to have the desired success.

Today, the results of this investment are apparent, and with these improvements to infrastructure, and by offering the mothers in this community the necessary knowledge, we are contributing to the development of the community and nearby villages”, stressed José Antonio Fernández Valbuena, Director of Fundación Telefónica in Guatemala and El Salvador.

San Salvador, 26th April 2013.- The technical studies in which the young people graduated are: Software Development, Electrical Engineering, Tourism Management and Development.

With this support, Fundación Telefónica continually seeks to help improve the professional level of young people by helping them discover their potential, develop their talent and build a better future, with more opportunities of entering the working world.

The 16 graduates took their technical studies over two years at the Escuela Superior Franciscana Especializada (ESFE), located in AGAPE, Sonsonate.

“We are proud of all the young people who are celebrating the completion of their higher education studies today. They should feel privileged to be part of the small group of students who manage to complete a degree in El Salvador. We would like to thank Fundación Telefónica for the support it provides year after year helping young people to continue their studies”, said Ramón Vega, dean of the ESFE.

The graduation ceremony ended with the presentation of diplomas to each student.

Currently, there are over 180,000 child labourers in El Salvador, half of them working in agricultural operations, without access to education. Since 2005, Proniño has provided support to nearly 11,000 children from more than 170 schools located in 7 of the country’s departments, offering them new opportunities in terms of education and access to technology.

•  With the new R&D Award, one of the five winners in the category “Incentives for Production” will receive support from a team of Telefónica experts in research, development and innovation and will be able to spend a month at the Telefónica R&D Research Centre in Barcelona.
• In addition, the Special Audience Award, given to one of the seven honourable mentions in the “Finished Projects” category, will offer a cash prize of €2,500; in total, Fundación Telefónica will be awarding €82,500 to the projects selected in all the categories.
•  Art, science and technology converge in VIDA, inspired by the progress being made in behaviour, autonomy, simulation, evolution and adaptation through the latest research in biology and complex systems.
• The competition promotes the debate on the relationship between the natural and the artificial, favouring artistic proposals which invite a greater knowledge of the natural world and which pose creative and ecological dilemmas.
• The deadline for submissions is 31st July 2013, at 12:00 midnight (CET); the awards will be announced in October 2013.
• For more information, visit vida.fundaciontelefonica.comor send an e-mail to vida@telefonica.es

Madrid, 23rd April 2013.-Fundación Telefónica launches a new edition of the International Art and Artificial Life Competition, VIDA 15.0, to encourage creation in the field of artificial lifethrough recognition of the pioneering work of artists and researchers.

This year there are two major innovations. With the new R&D Award, one of the five winners in the category “Incentives for Production” will receive support from a team of Telefónica experts in research, development and innovation and will be able to spend a month at the Telefónica R&D Research Centre in Barcelona. In addition, the Special Audience Award, in the “Finished Projects” category, will offer a cash prize of €2,500. In total, Fundación Telefónica will be awarding €82,500 to the projects selected in both categories: “Finished Projects” and “Incentives for Production”.

Over fourteen years (since 1999), VIDA has become one of the most prestigious competitions in the art world and the only one in the world dedicated to studying life by encouraging and stimulating work in an area where art, science and technology converge. It aims to support those artistic projects that provide innovative visions of life through the use of technology and scientific thought, which express the complexity of the organisation of living systems and provide challenges to current ways of understanding life.

The deadline for submission is 31st July 2013, at 12:00 midnight (CET). The awards will be announced in October 2013, after a decision is reached by an international jury consisting of Monica Bello (Spain), Andreas Broeckmann (Germany), Rejane Cantoni (Brazil), Martin Kaltenbrunner (Austria), Seiko Mikami (Japan), Sally-Jane Norman (New Zealand/France), Nell Tenhaaf (Canada) and Laura Fernández Orgaz (Head of Art and Technology Projects at Fundación Telefónica).

“Finished Projects”

A total of €42,500 has been allocated to this category, which will be awarded to the three projects selected by the jury as follows: First Prize: €18,000; Second Prize: €14,000; Third Prize: €8,000.

In addition to these three prizes, seven honourable mentions will be made. The Special Audience Award will be given to one of those seven, offering a cash prize of €2,500. The winning piece in this category will be selected by public vote during the seven days following the announcement of the awards and will be processed electronically using the VIDA website and social networks.

Each participant may submit only one project, which must have been created after 2011. The winning artists from previous editions are invited to enter again, as are the projects prized in previous editions of the “Incentives for Production” category, which will have now been completed

In order to take part in the “Finished Projects” category, the project must be accompanied by graphic documentation: a high quality videotaped recording with voice-over narration or subtitles in English or Spanish describing the artistic concept and technological aspects of the project, along with at least 5 high-resolution images of the project.

“Incentives For Production”

In the “Incentives for Production” category, Fundación Telefónica aims to help fund as-yet-unmade art projects on artificial life by creators who are nationals of or permanently reside in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. The jury will evaluate the ability of the creator or creators to complete the proposed project and the management of its resources and budget. Thus, a total of €40,000 have been allocated for distribution among the five proposals selected by the jury in this category.

Furthermore, in this edition, VIDA 15.0 is inaugurating its collaboration with Telefónica R&D (Research and Development) to stimulate innovation in the filed of the latest artificial life technologies. Out of the five winning proposals in “Incentives for Production”, the jury and the Telefónica R&D team will select one project that will receive, in addition to funding for the Incentives for Production, support from experts in research, development and innovation in the latest information technologies. The creator will also have the opportunity to spend one-month at Telefónica’s innovation department in Barcelona, with all accommodation and travel expenses paid.

Madrid, 22 April 2013.- The debate was moderated by the journalist Antonio San José and the participants were María Beatriz Lozano, Training Manager at Indra; Patricia Hernández, HR Manager at Microsoft; Ignacio Baratech, Vice-CEO at Fundación EUCIP and Managing Partner of Élogos and Maximilien de Coster, Managing Partner of Ticjob. The event was presented by by Rosa María Sainz Peña, the Director of Management and Knowledge of Fundación Telefónica and the opening session was sponsored by Jesús Barroso Barrero, Assistant General Manager of Employment Policy.

“People are still afraid to use social networking services in the workplace,” declared Beatriz Lozano at the 3^rd  Session of the conference on “Digital Culture and SMEs: Digital Culture and Training. ICTs as a Medium and Object of Study”,on 16 April at Espacio Fundación Telefónica.

This session focused on the added value provided by ICTs in employee training and the need to include them within the educational system. It thus prescribed a not-too-distant future in which such knowledge should be learnt as part of a certifiable and quantifiable employee training programme.

Other areas of interest discussed in this session were the increasing importance of Big Data, the need to outsource some production processes and the need for companies to overcome their fear of using social networking services and the internet as key tools for successfully executing numerous functions.

• It will take place from June to December 2013, at Arenales 1540, and will be coordinated by Rodrigo Alonso andMariano Sardón.
•  In this edition, Espacio Fundación Telefónica will provide financial support to some projects to assist in their funding.

Buenos Aires, 22nd April 2013.-Eight years after having launched the “Interactives Workshop”, Espacio Fundación Telefónica, in conjunction with the workshop coordinators, Rodrigo Alonso and Mariano Sardón, presents a new edition of the programme for aesthetic, curatorial and assembly specialisation in technological artwork.

This workshop, which is aimed at people who have prior training in the field of technological art, will enable them to understand the whole process that technological artwork and its exhibition entails.

Participants will be accompanied by invited specialists who will help them to optimise their proposals. The results will be presented in February 2014 in an “Open Laboratory” exhibition which will be held at Espacio Fundación Telefónica, Arenales 1540.

During the programme, which will take place from June to December 2013, there will be alternating weekly meetings and online supervision by guest artists.In-depth work will be done on the project and its implementation, which will later be presented.

For this edition, Espacio Fundación Telefónica has decided to provide financial help for some projects to assist in their financing and development. The distribution of these resources will be determined after an evaluation of the different artworks by taking an average of the workshop development.

Requirements for submission

Applicants may make submissions individually or in groups of up to three people. To be selected it is essential to register by filling in a form which includes general information on the candidates, a conceptual presentation of the proposal, and a description of its structure, indicating the details of the project and how it works.

The deadline for submitting documentation is 18th May 2013 and the selection will be announced on 28th May, while the meetings will begin from 1st June 2013.

Programme

Stage 1. Analysis and development of the project:

Participants must attend face-to-face meetings, taking material to present to their peers and coordinators and, based on initial feedback, lines of research will be established that will serve as a guide to attendees to rework their projects.

Stage 2. Submission of the Reworked Project

On 17th August, the reworked project must be submitted and, based on the evaluation of these presentations, the projects to receive financial resources for their production will be selected.

The announcement of the selected projects will be made on 24th August.

Stage 3. Production

In this stage there will be an emphasis on aspects of the production and viability of each project, while analysing the presentation of the scale models in the final “Open Lab”. Projects receiving financial resources for their production will be monitored with particular care in order to ensure they are optimised.

There will also be work on the drafting of assembly and maintenance manuals for the artwork.

Stage 4. Curation and assembly

In this stage we will analyse the curatorial and assembly considerations of each project in the space itself.

Lastly, we will present the results of this final stage in a public exhibition called the “Open Lab” at the Espacio Fundación Telefónica.

For more information, please visit www.fundacion.telefonica.com.ar

About Rodrigo Alonso

He has an Arts degree, specialising in contemporary art and new media. A theoretician and researcher in the field of technological art, he is a major figure in this field in Latin America both in the past and in the present. He has published numerous essays and books on the subject and is a regular contributor to newspapers, art magazines and catalogues.

As an independent curator, he has organised exhibitions at major Argentinian and foreign institutions. His recent exhibitions include: Arte de contradicciones. Pop, realismos y política. (Art of contradictions. Pop, realisms and politics). Brazil/Argentina. 1960s (Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museo Oscar Neimeyer, Curitiba, Brasil; GAMEC, Bérgamo, Italy, 2012-2013, with Paulo Herkenhoff), Arqueologías a destiempo (Archaeology at the Wrong Time) (Galería Gabriela Mistral, Santiago, Chile, 2012), Situating No-Land (Slough Foundation, Philadelphia, USA, 2011), Tales of Resistance and Change (Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, 2010) and ¡Afuera! Arte en espacios públicos (Outside! Art in Public Spaces) (Córdoba, Argentina, 2010, with Gerardo Mosquera), among many others. In 2011 he was the curator of the Argentinian Pavilion of the 54th Venice Biennale and, in 2013, was part of the curating committee for the Transitio_MX Festival (Mexico).

He works as a lecturer in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in universities in Argentina, Latin America and Europe. He also works as a jury member and advisor for international contests, awards and foundations. He lives and works in Buenos Aires.

About Mariano Sardón

He is an artist, researcher, lecturer and coordinator of the Electronic Arts Department at Tres de Febrero National University (UNTREF). He studied Physics at the University of Buenos Aires and Fine Arts at the Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Austria. He has also worked in the field of painting and installation with simple technologies.

Later he incorporated some electronic methods including video and video installations. Using the confluence of his artistic and scientific training, he researched interactive sensory environments at the Hypermedia Studio of the Theater, Film and TV Department at UCLA in 2001 and 2002.

As an artist he has had numerous solo and group exhibitions. He won the Konex Prize 2012 for Visual Arts in the Installation and Experimentation category and the Award for Non-Traditional Formats and Video of the Argentinian Association of Art Critics (2008). His installations and interactive artworks are a feature of private collections and museums both in Argentina and abroad.

He was a consultant for the Arts, Science and Technology Scholarship Programme at the Daniel Langlois Foundation, Montreal, and a member of the jury for the MAMBA-Fundación Telefónica Prize for Art and New Technologies. He is currently the co-director of a research project on art and neuroscience conducted jointly by the Department of Electronic Arts at UNTREF and the Integrative Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Buenos Aires, and a member of the jury of the Ars Electronica 2013 festival in the Interactivity category. He lives and works in Buenos Aires.

Santiago de Chile, 19 April 2013.- When Fernando Chomal was named Archbishop of Concepción in May 2011, he had no way of knowing he would soon be reacquainting himself with an old favourite pastime: photography. While in his youth this priest used a Minolta 102 to depict life, he portrayed Chile's Eighth Region using a Canon 7D, applying the technical knowledge he had learnt from local press photographers.

“When I arrived, I was stunned by the beauty of the landscapes, the intense colours, nature as such. It was then that I realised how much I wanted to photograph this wonder, not knowing that my work would later be exhibited”, explained Monsignor Chomalí, who last year exhibited his photographs at Chile's El Manzano prison under the title Dios anda por estos lados, yo lo he visto (“God moves through here, I have seen him”). The same collection, featuring 12 new photographs, can now be seen at Espacio Fundación Telefónica.

“These 42 images depict an unmissable journey from Alto Biobío to Tirúa, in Arauco Province. The photographs for the exhibition were selected with the help of four artists,” added the Archbishop.

“Southern Chile has a geography much admired by inhabitants and tourists alike. Freezing a piece of this place and bringing it to Plaza Italia is a gift to those who visit this exhibition in the middle of the city,” said Andrés Wallis, Vice-chairman of Fundación Telefónica Chile, who encourages everyone to  stop by and see the exhibition from Monday  to Sunday.

Buenos Aires, 15 April 2013.- Fundación Telefónica, with support from Wayra Argentina, announces “Ideasqueinnovan”, a contest for young technology entrepreneurs aged 15 to 18 who are currently enrolled in secondary schools throughout the country. The goal is to encourage students to make an effort in their educational process, promote the development of innovative projects and reward the entrepreneurial spirit.

To participate, young people must submit an idea for a new technology-related product and/or service by 5 May. The proposal must involve new information and communication technologies and its purpose must be to improve welfare or solve problems within the community. All projects must be unique and original and created by the participants. Projects pending a rating or that have already received an award in other contests will be disregarded. The submission period is now open for all eligible participants, by filling out the registration form available at www.ideasqueinnovan.com

"Ideasqueinnovan" welcomes both individual and group submissions. Groups must be formed by 2-4 individuals who attend the same educational institution. They must propose a tutor or mentor. The contest will in turn be divided into four categories: individual, to be developed within the school; group, to be developed within the school; individual, to be developed outside the school; group, to be developed outside the school.

Once the registration period is closed, the jury will check that the submitted ideas meet all the contest requirements and then move on to the first co-creation process, in which participants will examine their proposal through exchange and debate with different stakeholders, including community members, entrepreneurs, and professionals. They will also be required to register their findings using web 2.0 tools in order to be evaluated. After the co-creation stage, the jury will select a maximum of twenty participants, based on the originality and level of innovation of their proposals, their feasibility and their impact on the target community and the environment.

Shortlisted contestants will take part in a workshop that will be carried out on 8 July at Espacio Fundación Telefónica, during which they will discuss their ideas with their peers in order to enrich them. Then they will present their co-creations to the jury, taking into account the economic and social benefits of their idea, the number of jobs they will generate and their level of innovation. They will also be required to present an actual programme detailing the stages required to carry out their project and what inspired it.

The jury will select the Contest's best three innovative ideas, and the project that takes first place will be awarded with a full scholarship to attend a Seminar for entrepreneurs at Naves en IAE (Austral University Business School), if the idea was presented individually. For group projects, the prize will be a full-scholarship for one of the participants and a Samsung Galaxy TAB GT-P1000L Tablet for the other members of the winning group.

The contest will be held through "Polisofia", one of the winning projects in the 2011 Edition of Wayra Argentina, an initiative by Telefónica Digital that seeks to retain young entrepreneurial talent and creativity within the region. Polisofia was endowed with the technology tools, expert guidance and financial support required to boost their idea and develop it within the market.

The "Polisofia" project proposed a web platform through which companies, universities and social and governmental organizations would be able to set forth innovation-related challenges to be solved by the community, following a crowdsourcing approach.

For more information on the contest and its terms and conditions, please visit www.ideasqueinnovan.com

Mexico City, 15 April 2013.-Coordinators of Fundación Telefónica Classrooms from 13 Latin American countries attended a three-day meeting hosted at Centro Cultural España, in Mexico City, for the purpose of renewing Fundación Telefónica's technology classroom project, implemented in education centres and hospitals.

Attendees from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Guatemala, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay learnt about work assessment carried out to date by Fundación Telefónica regarding the implementation of ICTs in the pedagogical models and the new strategy developed on the basis of the results obtained.

The event opened with a welcome speech by Carmen de la Serna, Director of Fundación Telefónica Social Programmes at a global level; Giovanna Bruni, Director of Fundación Telefónica Mexico and Ana Tomé, Director of Centro Cultural España.

The event was also attended by Antonio Purón, Director of Innova y Moderniza tu Aprendizaje A.C. (Inoma) and Enrique Tamés, Director of the School of Humanities and Social Studies at the Monterrey Technological Institute in the Mexico City and the Santa Fe Campus, who spoke about the innovative projects that combine education with Information and Communication Technologies.

Fundación Telefónica Classrooms is a digital inclusion project. Since 2008, it has been promoting the use of new technologies as essential tools to improve educational quality in Latin America. Its purpose is to contribute to helping children develop 21st Century skills.

To achieve this goal, Fundación Telefónica is working on a management model that includes:

• Connectivity: equipping educational centres, hospitals, and community centres with computers for the pedagogical use of technology
• Training and guidance: offering online and onsite training and implementing a network to allow teachers from 13 countries to share best practices
• Educational experience: implementing didactic methodologies developed with support from our allies, that promote the acquisition of technology skills potentially applicable in different educational environments.
• Measuring the impact of the three aforementioned points

The new strategy for the classroom model seeks to strengthen the lines of action that they have already worked on, while also directly participating in the creation of educational experiences that generate a digital culture. It likewise aims to build innovative educational models, approved by the academic authorities, and to ensure the sustainability of the classrooms by involving other stakeholders in the larger society.

The project is made up of: Fundación Telefónica coordinators, Non-Governmental Organizations with expertise in the implementation of ICTs in pedagogical models and local training staff, who provide guidance to school teachers and Principals.

The Principals of the schools benefiting from Fundación Telefónica's programmes were also invited to take part in the development of the new management model in order to, through their involvement, build a feeling of co-responsibility for the implementation of the technological classroom project in their schools. In this way, it is hoped that they will continue to be the engine driving the teachers in their schools to implement the ICTs in their pedagogical practice, so that students can develop 21st Century technology skills.

The Fundación Telefónica Classrooms project was launched in Spain in 2008. In that same year it was also launched in Mexico, specifically in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Globally, 183 classrooms have been installed in 13 countries, benefiting 630 schools with 200,000 users. In Mexico there are about 40 Fundación Telefónica classrooms spread throughout 12 states of the Mexican Republic, which have benefited over 60,000 people.

Buenos Aires, 12th April 2013.-Until 4th May, Espacio Fundación Telefónica in Buenos Aires is hosting a “Technology Fair”, showcasing the projects undertaken by participants in the workshops on Development of Mobile Objects, Assembly of Analogue Synthesizer Modules, Precarious Projectors and Audiovisual Projects, which were held at Espacio Fundación Telefónica between June and December 2012.

The “Technology Fair” is an event dedicated to the development and production of art linked to education and technology. For three weeks following the themes of music, electronics and audiovisual media, visitors will be able to experience and explore various free activities such as workshops, exhibitions and interactive events.

The first week, 15th to 20th April, will be devoted to music, with different courses and workshops focused on music and technology. The week of 22nd to 27th April will be dedicated to electronics, including workshops on art and technology and on the development of mobile objects, both given by the artist Leo Núñez, the course on art and programming given by Tomás Rawski, and the Augmented Reality and Artificial Life Laboratory led by the Proyecto Biopus group. From 20th April to 4th May, the event will focus on audiovisual art, with workshops on video art by Gustavo Galuppo, one on animation, and the course on precarious projects given by Carolina Andreetti and Azucena Losana.

Madrid, 11th April 2013.-Espacio Fundación Telefónica hosted the launch of the book “ICT, Inclusive Development and Business” (Original title: TIC, desarrollo y negocios inclusivos), published by Fundación Telefónica. The book focuses on the role of new technologies in projects aimed at improving the lives of people at risk of exclusion.

The presentation of the book, which is part of the Fundación Telefónica-Ariel Collection, was attended by Elena Valderrábano, CEO of Fundación Telefónica; Alberto Andreu, Director of Corporate Responsibility and Social Innovation at Telefónica; and Sonia Navarro, coordinator of the report from ESADE.

Sonia Navarro, Associate Director of the Institute for Social Innovation at ESADE and coordinator of the book, explained the situation facing these countries and stated that “Technology can drive social innovation”, highlighting the importance of ICT in the conversion of developing countries. Along these lines, Alberto Andreu, Director of Corporate Responsibility and Social Innovation at Telefónica, said “ICT is at the heart of the solution”.

During the presentation, a video was shown which included some of the initiatives that our company is carrying out in Latin America. A typical example is Fishing with 3G Nets, a project that is being implemented in Brazil which allows fishermen to create a virtual fish market using their mobiles.

ICT is a powerful ally in areas such as health, education, economics or disability; the key now is to strengthen ties and encourage participation in these communities at risk of exclusion.

The book “ICT, Inclusive Development and Business” can be downloaded hereand the presentation can be viewed here

Mexico City, Mexico, 10th April 2013.- Fundación Telefónica and the Ateneo Español have signed a partnership agreement for a study entitled "Nuevas Ciudadanías Españolas en México" (New Spanish Residents in Mexico), which will take place between April 2013 and August 2014.

The agreement was signed at the Ateneo Español of Mexico with the presence of Giovanna Bruni, director of Fundación Telefónica México, and Carmen Tagüeña Parga, president of the Ateneo Español of Mexico.

At the press conference, they commented that the goal of the project is to understand the evolution and demographic and social features of the new Spanish citizens in Mexico, as well as the main indicators that define them.

This project was proposed to Fundación Telefónica by the Spanish Consulate after ascertaining that the number of Spanish citizens who live outside Spain currently totals 1,816,835, of whom 94,617 live in Mexico, 9.2% more than in 2011.

This project aims to provide a representative methodological model for the study of different Spanish communities in other countries and will conclude with a publication by Fundación Telefónica and a travelling photographic exhibition.

Giovanna Bruni explained that Fundación Telefónica is interested in promoting projects that document the intrinsic relationship between Mexican and Spanish culture, while stressing the importance of the use of Information and Communication Technologies to develop this kind of research.

Fundación Telefónica promotes the dissemination of knowledge through contemporary artistic creation related to technology, research, specialised workshops and debates on topical issues with a large social impact, all of which form the basis of more than 100 publications.