Slovak
Telekom, a.s.

Awards: 

Via Bona Slovakia 2021 – Good Community Partner for the ENTER – Digital Education

Memberships:

Business Leaders Forum

AmCham – American Chamber of Commerce

SAEC – Slovak Agency for Electronic Commerce

CTF – Communication Technologies Forum

RUZ – Republic Union of Employers

AHK – Slovak-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry

ITAS – IT Association of Slovakia

PPP – Partnerships for Prosperity

ETNO – European Telecommunications Network Operators´ Association

SCC – Slovak Compliance Circle

In Slovakia, more than 50 percent of teachers teach computer science without any professional qualifications. Currently, a group of experts is laying the foundations for curricular reform, though this will not be put into practice until 2026. However, today’s children cannot wait. In 2020, Telekom therefore launched the ENTER program – the goal of this initiative is to help improve the teaching of informatics in schools, to increase children’s interest in technology and programming, and to create various prototypes, solutions, and innovations that will improve and increase the quality of people’s lives and help save our planet.

ENTER allows us to implement a number activities and projects. In cooperation with the not-for-profit organizations AJ Ty v IT and SPy supporting teaching with hardware, we train teachers. More than 750 of them have been trained to date. We have distributed microbits to schools worth more than EUR 350 000 and over 25 000 computer science lessons have been taught. In 2022, the ENTER Programiada was held for the first time and featured individual teams from primary and secondary schools presenting their prototypes built on microbit solutions. We don’t simply want to support the best, our goal is also to attract a broader spectrum of children to technology so that they embrace and experiment with it. We have several activities that are designed to create a safe and motivating environment for girls and children with disabilities. This year the focus was on children with hearing disabilities. The INAK Future project was tailored to the needs of children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. We support the Informatics 2.0 project to help teachers. This gives complete plans to primary and secondary school teachers based on the State Education Program. They can choose from them according to the level of difficulty and taking their own level of competence into account, and the level achieved so far by their students.

Digital technologies have brought enormous progress, but they also give rise to a lot of negatives. Many of these can be eliminated through education and training. Unfortunately, education did not even make it into the Top 10 of the last survey of values in Slovakia. In order to move forward in society and to avoid even greater polarization and differences than we already have today, the Teacher of Slovakia Award and the Comenius Award are designed to be part of the solution at school level. These awards are structured to help teachers and school principals change the climate in schools, introduce modern methods of education and increase the positive proportion of good and high-quality teachers in society. One approach involves supporting interdisciplinary education through technology. In practice, this means that students create a project in a series of lessons where they incorporate knowledge and information from informatics, biology, chemistry, etc.

The global COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digitization of our society, yet some communities and socio-demographic groups remained on the sidelines. 50 percent of seniors over 65 in Slovakia do not have any digital skills. Even if their motivation to join the IT society is not high, in many cases this can greatly influence their quality of life. In October 2022, we therefore announced the second edition of the Ripe for the Digital Age grant program. 

In the first year, seniors learned everything from the simplest things – how to work with smartphones and computers, how to use them to connect with loved ones and find the information they need – doctor’s office hours, opening hours for the nearest bank branch, and programming.

The beginning of 2022 was marked by the war in Ukraine. This resulted in an exodus of large numbers of families with children flowing into Slovakia. Since then, more than 850 000 refugees have crossed over the border from Ukraine into Slovakia. Some of them just wanted to transit through the country, while others decided to settle temporarily. During the biggest wave, Slovak Telekom set up three sales points at the border, where refugees were given free cards with initial credit worth EUR 10. They were also able to get the same cards at any point of sale. Preferential calls to and from Ukraine helped to strengthen the technological infrastructure, and we operated free WiFi at refugee facilities. However, communication was not the only need of the desperate people fleeing from Ukraine. They also required material, psychological, emotional and legal assistance. Telekom donated more than EUR 110 000 and continues to operate hotlines free of charge that allow refugees to get psychological help, legal advice, and other important information.

We care about the planet, we realize that its resources are not inexhaustible, and we are therefore also taking this aspect into account in our decision-making processes. One of the biggest burdens is electricity consumption through our technologies, so we work hard to ensure that this is generated from sustainable sources. Indeed, we now operate a green network. In addition to energy, we also look at the technological devices that make up our network, their lifespan, and energy load. We also adopted this approach in our stores. Some of our branches have been given a makeover and there you will experience a significantly smaller number of displays, the use of recyclable materials, and lots of other similar measures.

In order for our customers to be connected, they need devices, and these devices need to be upgraded. We are a supporter of circularity, and we therefore rent out end devices for Internet and television connection – set-top boxes and WiFi routers – overhaul them, and return them to circulation. Our customers can bring cellphones into our stores. This means they don’t end up in landfill, but are recycled. Our Slovak partner helps us to give these collected devices a new lease of life in the form of recycled materials or end products that are used in the construction industry. A prime example is interlocking paving located in front of one of Bratislava’s supermarkets – which was created from recycled materials.

In addition to measures directly linked to our business impact, we also help protect the environment by supporting afforestation and water protection. This year, we started cooperation with the Bratislava Regional Conservation Association. By saving the wetlands on Rye Island (Žitny ostrov), we are endeavoring to partially mitigate our carbon footprint.