PLDT mobile unit Smart Communications is shortlisted by the prestigious Asia CEO Awards for the Corporate Social Responsibility Company of the Year.
The Asia CEO Awards recognizes outstanding leadership achievements by individuals and organizations in the Philippines. The CSR award is for the company with the best projects on environmental protection and awareness, livelihood, and youth development.
Winners will be announced in a ceremony on October 18 at the Marriott Hotel Manila.
Smart CSR’s 5 pillars
Smart’s CSR program draws its strength from partnerships with communities, and aims to use technology for development. It has five pillars, namely education, disaster preparedness and response, health, environment, and livelihood.
Among its programs is the Smart TechnoCart, which aims to improve the literacy of kindergarten students in public elementary schools through online and mobile educational resources.
Each donated TechnoCart is 2ftx2ft tall and contains 20 tablets for students as well as a laptop, projector, tablet, and pocket WiFi for the teacher. The tablets are preloaded with the Batibot mobile application, the country’s first app for kids in Filipino aligned with the kindergarten curriculum of the Department of Education.
Improved students’ performance
Since June 2015, the TechnoCart has reached 30 schools with 246 classes and 6,173 students. Independent evaluation showed that the TechnoCart has helped improve students’ academic performance in various competencies.
Smart together with its employee volunteers have also been conducting tree-planting activities nationwide since 2003. Smart employees have planted more than 2 million seedlings and propagules for mangroves with the help of community stakeholders and volunteers from partner organizations.
Partnerships
Other activities aligned with Smart’s environmental pillar include reducing electricity consumption, recycling batteries, and exploring environmentally sound solutions like marketing materials made from stone and recycled paper.
Smart has also partnered with the Philippine National Police-Maritime Group, and USAID-ECOFISH for DALOY, an SMS hotline enabling concerned citizens to inform the police about maritime violations. It has generated 95,468 broadcast messages, and has resulted in 25 arrests and the seizure of more than 4,000 pieces of contraband worth nearly $135,000. (Press release)
