IBM Sponsors "La Familia" Technology Week

Technological literacy and access to high-technology are essentials for survival in the Digital Age. This universal truth applies pointedly to the many cultural groups that make up the U.S. Hispanic community. As Hispanics grow in number and economic and political influence, quickly becoming the nation's new "minority majority," it is vital for the group, and the nation as a whole, that the gap in technological empowerment between Hispanics and the U.S. mainstream be closed. The La Familia Technology Week national public awareness campaign, founded by the minority-owned media services company Career Communications Group, Inc. and sponsored by IBM, will address this "Digital Divide," by focusing attention on the importance of technology and the opportunities it offers -- through the media, family educational programs, and local, community-based initiatives. La Familia Technology Week will take place on October 7-13, 2001, during Hispanic Heritage Month. The awareness campaign will create an umbrella beneath which the Hispanic community can comfortably address technology issues and create an environment where children, parents, teachers, and community leaders can find ideas and programs to address the Digital Divide. The La Familia campaign consists of four segments: 1. Recruitment of organizations to host activities during the week-long event. 2. Distribution of a self-contained planning package to hundreds of community organizations. 3. Attraction of media attention to the topic of Hispanics and technology. 4. Provision of tools and programs to individuals to address technology issues. Simply getting the message to millions of people through newspapers and magazines, the Internet, and other mass media is a key component of the campaign. But La Familia will go beyond that, by providing families and community organizations with the necessary tools to implement their own programs. Organizations and families will be given a list of program suggestions and materials, ranging from a speakers' bureau to a children's activity book. In addition, preexisting programs and activities will be folded into the week and branded with the La Familia name. The founder and sponsor hope to build La Familia on the success of the four-year-old National Black Family Technology Awareness Week, an annual event held during Black History Month and coordinated by IBM and Career Communications Group. "La Familia is a reflection of our ongoing commitment to help ensure that no family in America is left out of the technology revolution," says Tyrone Taborn, CEO of Career Communications Group and publisher of Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology magazine. "Access to technology alone does not guarantee success, but there cannot be success for all without it. Through the La Familia program, we want to help Hispanics become fully involved participants in the new economy." La Familia will have official activities in 9 cities. The public awareness component of the week will reach 1 million people. For more information about La Familia Technology Week or the National Black Family Technology Awareness Week, please visit www.lafamilianet.net or contact Michelle Wilson at (410) 244-7101.