«Safe Internet» Project is Extended to the Armenian Regions

Orange cares about safe surfing on internet

On February 7 Media Education Center NGO, with the support of Orange, launched a large-scale project «Safe Internet Armenia 2012». In the framework of this project, 300 teachers of high schools have already been trained on the principles of internet safety, and more than 6000 schoolchildren, which is more than the initially planned 5000, have participated in open lessons on this topics. Since the launch of the project, the website www.safe.am has had more than 7000 visits, the safe internet on-line game has been played more than 5700 times, and the educational and parental materials have been downloaded more than 3800 times.

The success of the project has led to the involvement of new partners, in particular the National Center of Educational Technologies, and thanks to this new cooperation the project has been extended, especially in the regions. During today, more than 500 schools will host an open lesson on internet safety, involving more than 10,000 schoolchildren in Aragatsotn, Tavush, Lori, Syunik and all other regions.

Bruno Duthoit, Orange Armenia CEO, said: «We offer to our customers Kaspersky Internet Security program, the best by the world leader for safe internet. However, offering a software solution is not enough in itself to ensure the complete online protection of our customers. Being a mobile internet provider, we have the resposibility of supporting, educating and directing customers in the safe usage of the internet. In the scope of our corporate social responsibility we have joined this initiative with great pleasure, which aims at giving the keys of safe use of the internet.»

The project is not limited to trainings. All those concerned for the nature and safety of the content their children consume on the internet can visit the website www.safe.am where all necessary information and advice about safe internet surfing can be found in the Armenian language. A collection of more than 10,000 educational sites and 3000 useful references has been created.

As a reminder, on 19 January 2012, through the initiative of the European Union, 25 companies from across the information and communications technology sector signed a declaration on «Safer Internet for Children» through which they have expressed their dedication to providing a safe online environment, especially for children. Along with France Telecom Orange, the declaration is signed by such companies as Google, Facebook, Deutsche Telekom, RIM, Nokia, Telecom Italia, Vodafone and others.