OREANDA-NEWS. The Vodafone Foundation today announced a partnership with UK-based paid internships website Intern Avenue to expand the service across Europe and help connect thousands of students and graduates with suitable employers. The partnership will be announced at the Vodafone Foundation and Vodafone Instituteв's Digitising Europe event in Berlin today, which will include a keynote speech from the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

The Vodafone Foundation-Intern Avenue partnership follows an independent report commissioned by the Vodafone Institute which recommended that digital services that match young people with employment opportunities should be expanded across Europe. The report by the independent think-tank, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, recommended that public and private sector organisations should expand their investment in digital recruitment services to enhance access to careers information and potential employers for a new generation of Europeans seeking to enter the workplace for the first time. The Vodafone Foundationв's funding will be used to help Intern Avenue develop a mobile service to complement the organisation's existing web-based tools.

Intern Avenue matches candidates (typically at undergraduate and graduate level) with employers using a data-based scoring system. To date, around 2,000 employers and 40,000 intern applicants have registered with the service.

Vodafone Group Foundation Director Andrew Dunnett said: "The next generation in the European workplace was born digital and thinks mobile, with smartphones and apps at the centre of daily life. Finding the right work opportunity is tough. Intern Avenue can really make a difference, and we're delighted to help them expand across Europe and into mobile."

Intern Avenue Founder and CEO Dupsy Abiola said: "We believe that the support from the Vodafone Foundation will allow us to make significant strides towards creating a unique and scalable mobile solution to help young people find work. Our organisations share a passion for technology, innovation and tackling the problem of youth unemployment. We are truly delighted to be working closely with such a major player in this space".