This project is part of the SDG 5, 8, 9 and 17

The Ovalle FOCO Digital Program (Ovalle Digital Collaborative Reinforcement) focuses on consolidating the economic activity of entrepreneurs in the tourism and gastronomic sectors of the Ovalle area, deeply affected by the COVID 19 health crisis ,  by training them in digitization, providing them with tools and guidelines that  should permit them to  transition to new ways of interacting with their clients and to promote and improve their commercial activities.

Several entrepreneurs from the before mentioned sectors were initially chosen, in conjunction with El Colihue OTEC and with the initial collaboration of the Department of Productive Development of the Municipality of Ovalle. To choose the correct participants, the current situation of the area´s entrepreneurial ecosystem  was evaluated   taking into consideration  the condition of the venture and the owner´ digital literacy, leading to a preliminary analysis that allowed to classify  the participants´ level of knowledge and digital access and eventually  set up a homogeneous group with the same level of digital skills.

This way, the program could focus on participants that do not necessarily have access to the Internet or the required knowledge to promote their offer in the digital market, but who are willing and need to access these tools and information technologies to digitize the management and the promotion of their offer. Similarly, the program methodology and contents centered on the  relevance that digitization plays in the development of the industry,  as well as  addressing teamwork and joint actions of communities that learn, share interests and act collaboratively.

Given the health restrictions imposed by the COVID 19 health contingency, sessions were offered by virtual means also allowing for extra practice in the use of digital tools. The training addressed issues such as Business Models and Digitization, CANVAS Business Model, Google Business, Google Drive, Digital Marketing, Market Place and sales techniques, Finance and Core, QR Codes, Social Networks and Associativity in Tourism , among others. The program took place between November 2020 and February 2021, concluding with a ceremony that certified that all participants completed it successfully also receiving  a free tablet thus helping to promote  digitization.

This first version included  13 entrepreneurs of whom  85% were women, and a second version with 20 participants  is expected to take place in 2021.