Mr. Carlos Slim Domit welcomed the more than 10 thousand Telmex Foundation young fellows, who gathered the morning of 5 September at the National Auditorium in Mexico City. Visibly moved, Mr. Slim thanked the presence of all the young guests who filled the seats of the auditorium.
This was the twelfth edition of this event, which takes place every year and was presented in this 2014 under the initiative of Honesty for Mexico. The event is characterized by the presence of important international personalities, who attend with enthusiasm and the disposition of sharing their life experiences with the young fellows. They are key representatives of different fields, ranging from politics, entertainment, sports and the arts, among others.
Mr. Slim, in his welcoming, talked about the important international activity of Telmex; which this 2014 reached 29 countries: 18 in America and 11 in Europe, serving over 300 million customers. He also mentioned, regarding the national activity, the commitment of continuing contributing significantly in Mexico’s digitization.
Mr. Slim Domit recalled the principles of the Carlos Slim Foundation, by contributing to education and health through technology, training and employment. In this regard, he spoke about contributions such as free access to educational content through diverse online platforms.
First, he spoke about Khan Academy in Spanish, which now have over a million users; and Coursera, with content from the world’s leading universities like MIT, Harvard and Berkeley, among others.
‘Capacítate para el Empleo’ (Get Trained for Empoyement) was released last April during ‘Aldea Digital’ (Digital Village), he mentioned. This is a training portal with complete occupation courses directed to the labor demand. The portal aims that anyone can freely be trained and certified, increasing their chances of obtaining employment. Just two months after its launch, 35 thousand people are preparing through it.
Then, Mr. Slim added that Acceso Latino.org was created to support migrants established in USA. The platform gives access to free education, health and employment; as well as English learning tools, information on procedures for their immigration status regularization and links to many other websites. Acceso Latino is a very powerful tool for accessing to better opportunities.
According with the welcoming speech, Académica connects 528 public and private universities in Mexico, Spain, Latin America and the United States; sharing, accessing and disseminating content and conducting joint research programs.
So far, it has been physically opened 3,600 Digital Libraries in different regions of the country, freely operating and with no-cost broadband access; he said.
On the health sector, he said that the Foundation continues to actively doing cutting-edge research to find the origin and cure of various serious diseases in Mexico and worldwide. Among the most prominent work is the one conducted jointly by the Broad Institute and the Carlos Slim Foundation “of which research specialists have already discovered the main genes causing type 2 diabetes, [disease] affecting Mexicans the most. [Those genes] make us 70% more vulnerable than the populations of the United States and Europe.” He also explained that the research team has discovered “some other genes that originate different types of cancer.”
About the CLIKISalud.net portal, he expressed that it counts with more than 100,000 monthly visitors and offers valuable tools and information, leading to a healthier life.
Speaking directly to the fellows, Mr. Slim said that they already form a community of more than 400,000 young people, the most prepared of Mexico.
The event was attended by US former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; the activist Lizzy Velázques, expert on bullying (one of the most important issues now a days); Mark Zuckerberg, creator of a community with a larger population than any country in the world: Facebook; Ronaldinho, one of the professional footballers with more experience in the international soccer field; and finally Antonio Banderas, major international actor, committed and active in social causes.
Mr. Carlos Slim Domit concluded by saying that ‘México Siglo XXI’ (Mexico XXI Century), is an event which aims to reinforce the preparation of the Foundation fellows. It is aimed for them to know and relate with people who are now making a difference in the world. But, “what makes México Siglo XXI more relevant, are all of you: the most outstanding students of Mexico,” he said to his young audience, and continued: “All of these opportunities have been designed to strengthen your hopes, enthusiasm and especially your commitment; with the transcendent responsibility you have in your hands: building a better country in full development and inclusive for all.”
