Technological Innovation with a Social Purpose: The “Madrid Te Acompaña” Project

We live in a world that never stops. This frenetic daily rhythm sometimes makes us forget about the people and the environment around us. The global situation in which we find ourselves has allowed us to stop and pay more attention to our surroundings.

Loneliness has become one of the major problems of today’s society. In Madrid alone, almost 10% of the population has been affected by this silent and invisible “pandemic”, which leaves only emptiness. That is why, when the City Council of the capital asked us to help the program Volunteers for Madrid, we did not hesitate for a moment. From this partnership was born “Madrid te Acompaña”, an application based on Microsoft Azure that connects people who need it most with volunteers who can help them.

The official presentation was held at the Madrid City Hall, with the presence of the mayor of the city, the president of Microsoft, and our CEO, Pablo Pelaez. The event was very emotional and highlighted the importance of putting technology (Cloud Computing in this case) at the service of the people and the great social impact that initiatives such as this one have. We tell you everything!

Technological Social Responsability

Voluntarios por Madrid (Volunteers for Madrid) is the municipal citizen aid program of the City Council of the capital. It currently has more than 1,100 members who are responsible for participating in humanitarian projects and actions in all areas of social life in the city. As a result of the health crisis in which we have been immersed, they have performed even more actions to try to help those who need it most.

One of the most affected groups are the elderly, so we have created “Madrid te Acompaña”, an app that connects the elderly with volunteers in a simple and effective way when it comes to daily tasks such as shopping, walking their pets, going for a walk, going to the doctor…

As a company, we are committed to corporate social responsibility, and we strive to transform the society around us with innovative solutions that focus on improving people’s lives. That is why, when the Madrid City Council contacted us, we immediately set out to altruistically move forward with a project that is so necessary for our seniors.

Madrid te Acompaña

Madrid has more than 270,000 people over the age of 65, and many of them cannot count on family members to help them. Therefore, this app will help coordinate the efforts of Volunteers for Madrid, increase participation, generate more actions, and make it easier for volunteers to sign up. Everything thanks to a platform that efficiently and automatically connects both parties, in addition to having a user-friendly interface that is suitable for all ages.

The mobile application is 100% Azure-based, taking advantage of its wide flexibility, power, and scalability, and offers an experience specially oriented and optimized to the user of the application.

It is made of different technological components such as React Native for development, Identity Server, Backend REST, BackOffice developed with ASP.NET Core to manage services, Azure SQL Server for storage, Azure Redis as a cloud solution, and Azure Notification Hub to be able to send push notifications.

Thanks to this application, seniors are able to request help for their daily tasks and volunteers can query these requests according to criteria based on geographic proximity. Once the volunteer has selected the help, both profiles can communicate through a chat, where they can specify indications such as the time or place of the meeting.

NGOs and Technology

Although this application was born at a time marked by the pandemic, its projection goes much further, as it comes from the need to help the elderly in any situation. From now on, they will be able to get help whenever they need it, free of charge. This is a before and after in volunteer actions since it is now possible to connect both parties with a process that is simple, controlled, fluid, and adapted to the digital era. 

Such is the impact of this project that we have been recognized as Microsoft’s Partner of the Year in Social Impact.

It is time to be aware of the situations around us. Technology has managed to be as humane as possible, bringing out our most caring side, so that now no one feels alone or helpless. We believe that technology can be the centerpiece to change the society around us, to make a difference. That is why we reinvent the link between human beings and technology, connecting them through their best facets.