Prague, January 25th, 2022 - Czech civic-tech startup Česko.Digital was created thanks to the energy of the technology community and inspiration from abroad. After two years of bringing a wealth of experience with non-profit digital projects, the organization is now receiving funding from the Avast Foundation to invest in development, scaling, planned activities and international cooperation.
"With the Avast Foundation we share the view that we need to strengthen the openness and accountability of individuals, communities and civil society through technology. We support primarily the non-profit sector, but also the state, which also provides a service to its citizens, communities and disadvantaged groups. Our goal is to help connect all these actors and create a functional ecosystem where we can work together to find effective solutions," says Eva Pavlíková, CEO of Česko.Digital.
Avast Foundation's programs are designed to bring about meaningful change and help create a world where technology plays a positive role in building and sustaining communities.
"Through the activities of civic-tech organizations like Česko.Digital, which support and connect the nonprofit world, state organizations, communities and vulnerable groups, we can look forward to a better connected modern world where there is a place for everyone. By focusing on sustainable digital solutions that accelerate the impact of the social sector through volunteering, Česko.Digital is advancing an important model of digital citizenship and civic participation," says Avast Foundation Director Shane Ryan.
The size of the Česko.Digital community of experts has already exceeded 4,400 volunteers, making it the largest civic-tech organization in Europe. It continues to experience growth and see strong interest in getting involved. In light of the organization's growth, the team at Česko.Digital is working to streamline and make itself and its operations more transparent on all fronts, from communications, to processes and methodologies.
"We are also introducing state-of-the-art tools to areas that often don't have experience with them and involving expert volunteers as much as possible. To better organize activities, we are working on a new ‘Volunteer Portal’, which aims to simplify engagement, offering relevant content and opportunities to anyone who wants to get involved in any way," summarizes the plan’s project owner and software engineer Tomáš Znamenáček.
A main portion of Avast Foundation's funding is earmarked for these activities.
“Česko.Digital is a very important community whose volunteer activities have a real impact - whether it's on the digitization of non-profit educational projects, the development of civil society, the fight against fake news or helping in the health sector. I have seen and experienced for myself during the pandemic the power and unexpected possibilities of the global tech and science community's voluntary involvement in solving critical human problems, and I am very happy that the Avast Foundation can now begin to systematically support activities developing digital freedom in the Czech Republic," said Michal Pěchouček, Avast Foundation Board Member and Avast CTO.
VIDEO: Michal Pěchouček, Avast Foundation Board Member and Avast CTO. in conversation with Eva Pavlíková, CEO of Česko.Digital.
Avast Foundation's funding will be also used to fulfill two more goals. One of them is Avast employees' involvement in expert volunteering as part of the Avast Foundation's upcoming programs for staff. Česko.Digital is ready to plug in development, design, and project management professionals as well as security and data experts into Česko.Digital volunteer mentoring and consultations programmes for NGOs and state administration. As for all Česko.Digital volunteers, Avast volunteers will have access to training programs and networking sessions.
The third goal of the collaboration will be to strengthen digital competences and the principles of transparency, openness and data protection through Europe. In fall 2022, Česko.Digital plans to organize events bringing inspiration from abroad including Avast's global experts and partners and thus connect the global civic-tech network.
VIDEO: Erin Gallegos, Head of Partnerships, Avast Foundation in conversation with Eva Pavlíková, CEO of Česko.Digital
About Česko.Digital:
Česko.Digital is a community of professionals from many fields, ranging from IT to project management and marketing, who want to utilize their free time to help state institutions and non-governmental organizations to make Czechia a better place to live. Česko.Digital was founded by Jakub Nešetřil, Radka Horáková and Eva Pavlíková in 2019.Nowadays, the community consists of more than 4485 volunteers, and this number makes us the biggest civic-tech organization in Europe.Our goal is a future where technology serves people regardless of time, place or social circumstances. Visit www.cesko.digital to find out more about our community.
Contact for media: Martina Habová, martina@cesko.digital
About the Avast Foundation
The Avast Foundation envisions an ethical digital world that is inclusive, transparent, and safe. We work with people and communities to remove barriers to digital freedom and to create empowered digital citizens across the globe.
Contact for media: pr.foundation@avast.com
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Further information about Avast can be found at: