“Munich’s Excellent Companies 2022”: CANCOM receives award from the City of Munich for a social inclusion project with the Pfennigparade Foundation

• CANCOM was awarded for a social inclusion project with Pfennigparade Munich Foundation, in which the Test.Labor for accessibility was installed
• Parts of the installed hardware of the Test.Labor as well as services and working time were provided by CANCOM
• The project demonstrates the importance of digitization in improving participation in the daily lives of people with disabilities

On November 24, 2022, the City of Munich awarded the price "Munich's Excellent Companies 2022" for social commitment. The honor is presented annually to companies that show outstanding commitment in improving the city's society and the living conditions of Munich residents. This year, Verena Dietl, Mayor of the City of Munich, ceremoniously gave the award in the category "Large Companies" (over 500 employees) to the IT service provider CANCOM.

The independent jury of experts from the fields of social commitment and Munich city politics selected CANCOM as this year's winner with the inclusion project "Test.Labor Accessibility" of the Pfennigparade Munich Foundation. CANCOM beat out three other finalists with equally great projects. Reason for the award was that the company saw equipping the “Test.Labor” not as a profit opportunity, but as a project for social commitment, and realized it by contributing its own expertise, knowledge transfer, and pro bono services, as well as ongoing support.

The newly established “Test.Labor” of the Pfennigparade Munich Foundation is the first of its kind in Germany. It is a place where people with disabilities test the accessibility of important everyday contact points, such as websites or ATMs, whose use is taken for granted by people without disabilities. Companies, municipalities and public authorities can therefore already take the aspect of accessibility into account when developing products, services or other benefits. CANCOM supported the Munich-based Pfennigparade Foundation in equipping the laboratory by providing expertise and advice, and by tailoring the equipment precisely to the needs and requirements of the employees. Led by their trainer and various experts, a group of CANCOM trainees set up the innovative laboratory with the necessary hardware.

"We are pleased that we were able to use our knowledge and experience to do something good for the Pfennigparade and the people behind it", sums up Thomas Stark, CFO at CANCOM. "It shows once again how digitalization can simplify and improve everyone's lives. Particularly when it comes to accessibility, digital technologies and clever ideas ensure greater participation in social life. There is still a lot to be done here, and the Pfennigparade does very valuable work in this area every day! We are very pleased that we are contributing to making everyday life in our society even more barrier-free with this project."

The Munich-based Pfennigparade Foundation supports people with disabilities and is committed to their inclusion and participation in society. In previous years, the foundation has already been supported by CANCOM through fundraising campaigns. "We did not just want to help the Pfennigparade with donations, and fortunately we are in a position to do even more with our expertise in the area of digitalization. That is how the joint project came about, which was basically about the modernization of Pfennigparade's Test.Labor", says Daniel Friedlmaier, Trainees & Talents Manager at CANCOM, who led the project. "A great social project in which our trainees learned a lot for their future, both personally and professionally.”