Smart CSR programs vie for international awards

Various corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs of Smart Communications have been shortlisted at the Golden World Awards (GWA), which recognizes public relations practices that meet international standards of excellence.

Established in 1990, the GWA is organized annually by the International Public Relations Association. Winners will be announced on October 19 in Barcelona, Spain.

Smart’s umbrella CSR program Smart Communities is a finalist at the Corporate Responsibility category. Meanwhile, the TNT Tropang Ready (Team Ready) Disaster Preparedness Caravan is nominated in the Community Engagement category. Lastly, the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) made the shortlist for the Community Relations category.

Under the Smart Communities program, the company partners with different stakeholders and develops technology solutions that enable education for all, health for all, and disaster resilience for all. An example of these efforts is the School-in-a-Bag program, which involves the donation of digital learning kits to public schools, especially those in remote areas.

The 15-year-old SWEEP, on the other hand, entails partnerships with the academic community to enhance engineering and information technology education in the Philippines.

Smart conducts trainings for both faculty and students, accepts immersions in its field offices, sits in curriculum reviews to help course offerings stay relevant, and conducts an innovation awards program for college students.

Meanwhile, the TNT Tropang Ready program mobilizes the Filipino youth to advocate a culture of preparedness in disaster-prone Philippines, by using an infotainment (mix of information and entertainment) style of communications.

It engaged more than 8,000 students and teachers from seven schools in less than a year. Some of these students have conducted their own mini disaster preparedness programs attended by parents of government scholars.