Third annual event addresses IT skills shortages in Costa Rica
BROOKFIELD, Wis. & BARREAL DE HEREDIA, Costa Rica--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced today that a software solution developed during the third annual Programathon®, sponsored by Fiserv and held in Costa Rica, will aid the development of thousands of small- and medium-sized (SME) businesses in the country and throughout Latin America.
More than 200 young software developers worked for 30 hours non-stop to create an application that will be donated to FUNDES Latin America — an organization that promotes SME competitiveness through corporate and government programs. The application, Voice of the Consumer (VOC), supports SMEs by capturing customers' preferences and opinions, analyzes them to gain insights, and responds to feedback in meaningful ways.
Programathon is a component of Fiserv Gives Back —the company's corporate social responsibility approach to make a positive social impact on the communities where we live and work, through financial contributions, in-kind donations, and volunteer service. More than 70 Fiserv associates volunteered to help conceptualize, plan and execute Programathon 2016, promoting employment for young people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
"Corporate social responsibility for Fiserv is a reflection of what we do every day, which is creating innovative technologies to improve people's financial lives," said Francisco Alba, director and country manager, Costa Rica, Fiserv. "Programathon provides opportunities for those who are passionate about technology, challenging them to grow their skills in order to positively impact economies in the region."
"Some 5,000 SMEs will directly benefit from this solution," said Fiorella Blanco, Business Development regional manager for FUNDES. "The VOC App will help organizations better understand their customers, enabling them to take actions to make their business more competitive in the market."
Programathon 2016 exceeded expectations by doubling the number of participants from the previous year. At the opening ceremony, Costa Rica minister of science and technology, Marcelo Jenkins, remarked that demand for IT professionals in the country is drastically outstripping supply, and that the initiative is aligned with government goals to encourage more young people to pursue careers in technology.
"Fiserv has operated for 12 years in Costa Rica, successfully innovating in financial services technology to enable best-in-class results for our clients," added Alba. "In order to continue to do that, we need to be able to attract the best talent in the industry, some of whom demonstrated their expertise during Programathon."
This year, participants were able to access the Fiserv recruitment platform and apply for open job positions. The Fiserv talent recruitment team was also onsite, engaging with the best and brightest at the event and sharing with them how Fiserv helps clients deliver solutions that are in step with the way people live and work today.
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Additional Resources
About FUNDES Latin America
FUNDES executes projects that capitalize on the value chains of its clients, strengthening the small and medium businesses integrated within that framework. FUNDES develops projects that improve the business environment, be it through programs that focus on distributors, suppliers, clients, as well as community development and entrepreneurship, amongst others. Since 1984, FUNDES has reached out to over 300,000 MSMEs.
About Fiserv
Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) enables clients to achieve best-in-class results by driving quality and innovation in payments, processing services, risk and compliance, customer and channel management, and business insights and optimization. For more than 30 years, Fiserv has been a global leader in financial services technology. Fiserv is a FORTUNE 500 company and in 2016 was honored to be named a FORTUNE magazine's World'sMost Admired Company for the third consecutive year. In 2015 the company was recognized among Forbes magazine's America's Best Employers. For more information, visit Fiserv.com.
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Fiserv, Inc.
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Julie Smith
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Fiserv, Inc.
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Source: Fiserv, Inc.
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