More ICT officers to help with online procedures with the administration

A team of eleven professionals offers digital support for people unused to the e-administration and information and communication technologies. The size of the team has doubled since October 2020, when this skills acquisition programme developed by the Fundació BIT Habitat was launched as part of the Neighbourhood Plan.

Agent Tic assessorant al Casal Barri Besòs
03/08/2021 - 14:06 h - Digital Rights Ajuntament de Barcelona

The advisory service uses an appointment system and is housed in the offices of the Socio-Economic Response Network (XARSE), promoted by the municipal company Foment de Ciutat: Trinitat Nova community centre, the Neighbourhood Plan office for the Zona Nord area (district of Nou Barris), Trinitat Vella community centre (Sant Andreu), Sala Pepita Casanelles (Sants-Montjuïc), Besòs community centre (Sant Martí) and the Neighbourhood Plan office for the Raval Sud and Gòtic Sud area (Ciutat Vella). The team has also been boosted in five more facilities in four city districts.

In the period up until June, ICT officers helped 8,031 people, most of them women (57%). Four out of five had primary or secondary school qualifications and were aged between 25 and 55.

In terms of online procedures, the team helped users complete 13,800 of these. Half were for requesting and downloading information online, particularly official documents, and for booking appointments with different administrations. Other notable procedures included requests and queries on the use of digital certificates, the modification of data in e-headquarters and queries relating to various other administrative processes.

The extra staff represent a boost to the strategy of the shock plan on digital inclusion, which backs equal opportunities in a scenario where the digital divide has become a social and educational barrier for the most vulnerable. This reality is reflected in the figures from the report ‘The Digital Divide in Barcelona’, presented at the start of the year.