Fundația EOS – Educating for an Open Society (EOS Romania – www.eos.ro) is a private, non-profit organization. Its main goal is to bridge the digital divide in Romania by helping people realize their full potential through the use of technology. The organization operates projects in two main areas: the education system (pre-university education & higher education) which consists of training students and teachers in the use of ICT and working with disadvantaged youth and the wider community which revolves around working with IT and knowledge disadvantaged communities to bring them on board of the information society.
EOS Romania was set up in 1999 and has implemented many IT related projects. EOS is a founding member of the European digital inclusion network ALL DIGITAL. As part of the wider European digital inclusion strategy, EOS has been instrumental in setting up the National Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs, a local response to the European Commission Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs. It was also the initiator of the Digital Agenda for Romania – a multi-stakeholder partnership.
As such EOS has been part of the consultative committee of the Ministry of Information Society on the EU programming for 2014-2020.
In the mainstream education sector, EOS has been involved in the development of the first ever optional information technology curriculum for primary, secondary and high-schools and has been part of shaping the IT agenda in education in Romania.
The organizational experience goes beyond this, with EOS having developed curriculum, resources and cloud-based technology assets for schools within two major European Social Fund programs – under the coordination of the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research. More recent activities include the development of 21st century learning design tools and teaching with Cloud technology projects.
Over the past 15 years EOS has been the Romanian coordinator of All Digital Week, an EU-wide digital inclusion campaign working with over 100,000 digitally excluded people and helping them to using the internet and digital devices.
EOS is continuously working in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Education to bring ICT closer to students to help them realize their learning potential. With the advent of the COVID19 pandemic Romania became a clear target on the map of digital inclusion and the need for digitization came to fruition in a project Together in Digital Romania, which targeted the large public in Romania.
The digital inclusion programs operated by EOS in Romania are also supported by technology companies like Microsoft with which EOS has had a long and strong collaboration over the years, INCO , a great developer of educational programs & trainings world wide, as well as with Certiport . Resources are often channeled towards programs supporting Romanian students and teachers, by offering them certifications in digital competences when it comes to IC3 – Digital Literacy Certification and Microsoft Certified Educator (MCE) through Certipro, the only certified provider of Certiport certifications across Romania.
Fundatia EOS is a member of the Partnership Brokers Association and is specialized in helping public sector, private sector and NGO sector organisations and institutions build sustainable partnerships, especially in the field of inclusive digital education.