Close panel

Close panel

Close panel

Close panel

Close panel

Home

Financials

The Share

Shareholders

Debt investors

Sustainability and Responsible Banking

Corporate Governance and Remuneration Policy

Entrepreneurship & Startups Updated: 22 Aug 2017

The App Date in Colombia: how apps can help to increase social inclusion

On March 16, the BBVA Innovation Center in Colombia will host a new event, The App Date, in which four experts will bring us up to date on apps as tools of social inclusion.
Communications
Listen to audio

Making life easier for people with disabilities or limited resources. This is the main goal of the so-called social inclusion apps, which will be discussed at The App Date to be held on March 16 at the BBVA Innovation Center in Bogota (Colombia).

These kinds of apps have become indispensable tools in informing us about how to help people with lower resources.

Francisco González Rodríguez

Francisco González visits small business owners supported by BBVA Microfinance Foundation in Colombia

“It is really moving to see this type of initiatives and how a Foundation like ours can do so much in favor of society. These people have access to loan facilities, but they manage to move forward thanks to their own efforts and will to fight. Their work is spectacular and we are already seeing progress in future generations; their kids and grandchildren go to school and many even make it to college. For me, it has been an incredible visit,” said Francisco González during his visit to some of the projects supported by the BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF) in Soacha, a city just outside of Bogota (Colombia).

At the event, Juan Sebastian Sandino, manager of MinTIC's Apps.co, will explain the challenge of this project, which seeks to identify disabled people's needs and the barriers facing them in their daily lives, and to develop apps that help them undertake their activities with quality of life and autonomy in standardized environments.

The goal is to put apps developers in Colombia in contact with these communities, in order to contribute to the inclusion and improve the quality of life and autonomy of these people and their families.

Another presentation, given by Daniel Cardenas, manager of the Tatis Project, will describe to us the progress made in this initiative that seeks to develop “brain-computer apps” to improve the quality of life of people with cerebral palsy and other similar disabilities.

This project aims to demonstrate that if we put people with disabilities in contact with each other and with the rest of society, with apps as tools and inspiration, “the economic potential of accessing networks for exchanging goods and services is generated naturally”.

Ana Barrera, CEO and founder of Aflore, will analyze social inclusion from a financial perspective. Aflore is a network of advisers “based on trust”. This network aims to use tools and apps to help with "better money management and access to personalized loans".

BBVA will also take part in the event, with a presentation to be given by Mauricio Flores, BBVA Colombia's Communication and Image Director, who will discuss all the social entrepreneurship initiatives that BBVA is promoting in Colombia.