Digital Transformation for Inclusive Business Development - 2nd Edition
06.06.2023
The “Digital Transformation for Inclusive Business Development II” project is designed to build resilience in small businesses in the city of Madrid in the most vulnerable neighbourhoods to cope with the devastating economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
In the current socio-economic context, it has severe consequences for this group. Experts agree that we face a long period of recovery as we continue to go through extraordinary circumstances. The profound economic, social and cultural consequences will continue to affect our small businesses, which will need ongoing support to make their enterprises more sustainable.
This IE Foundation project recognises, as does the España Digital 2025 programme, that there is a gap in Spanish digital society, with many small or ‘micro’ companies excluded from the opportunities available to tech-focused entrepreneurs in the start-up ecosystem. To bridge this gap, this project focuses on leveraging existing e-commerce and online marketing tools for these small businesses. This ambitious and innovative project drives the necessary digital transformation and investment for the future and ensures the continuity of traditional enterprises by increasing their competitiveness through digitisation.
Values achieved by the project:
In the field of education, new generations consider sustainability as a critical variable in their choice of university, projects like this demonstrate IE’s real commitment to this issue.
The participation of MVDM students offers them an unforgettable learning experience that adds great value to the program we offer.
Strengthening our brand as leaders in training in the use of technology in business and leaders in training entrepreneurs, two of IE University’s core values.
It allows us to identify new teachers and develop new skills from the teachers we already have.
As a private university, we run the risk of being considered elite. The scholarships we offer solve the limitation of access to education for financial reasons, but not if the limitation of access is also due to the previous educational level or for not being able to speak English, for example. This project shows that we have strategies to adapt and deliver excellent education in a truly inclusive way.
This improves our employees’ identification with IE University and their pride of belonging.
The social objective of this project is to build resilience for small businesses struggling to survive in the current socio-economic context by accelerating their ability to drive an online strategy that strengthens their business model and enables them to generate income remotely and improve the quality of employment they provide. Similarly, the project aims to prioritise the benefit of small businesses located in relatively vulnerable areas of the city of Madrid, succeeding in promoting innovation and work in these areas. In addition, the project benefits entrepreneurs with little academic training, who in turn have little access to other assistance for entrepreneurs and/or who belong to minority groups.
In the final phase of the project, beneficiaries are supported by students from the MSc in Visual and Digital Media and the MSc in Communication and Marketing, thus not only getting to know the students involved in social impact projects, but also offering an opportunity for student-beneficiary knowledge exchange. Students have worked alongside entrepreneurs to apply and enhance everything learned during the project to improve online strategy. In the long term, the goal of this project is to bring more stability to these small businesses and help them generate more employment in the future, leading to a greater positive social impact.
Details
Target audience
Digital skills for the workforce
Digital technology
Web development
Software Engineering
Telecommunications