Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development

Sustainable development and the continuous pursuit of "responsible enterpreneurship" are a strategic orientation and commitment of the Quest Group and its subsidiaries. They are reflected in its vision, mission and corporate governance model.

Through a set of policies, principles, values, commitments and procedures, in accordance with the principles of Corporate Governance, the Group’s companies are seeking for the systematic expansion of their activities, the continuous upgrade of their human resources, the reduction of their environmental footprint and their contribution to the well-being of society as a whole, with full compliance with the legislation and active participation in bodies and organizations aimed at supporting the market and responsible entrepreneurship.

From the very first day, Info Quest Technologies - being conscious of its role as a leading company in the field of digital technologies - has been actively contributing at the utilization of new technologies for the development of the whole society and the improvement of the standard of living.

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Our Business Model for Sustainable Development

Contribution to the Field of IT and New Technologies

Info Quest Technologies, completing 40 years of activity in the field of digital technologies and an active participation in the shaping of the industry, has recorded in its assets the evolutionary course of the dissemination of new technologies in Greek society, having contributed:

The shaping and evolution of the Greek IT market
The development and diffusion of new technologies in Greece
The introduction and usage of IT in education
The diffusion and widespread usage of IT in our society

The education and development of Human Resources
The creation of new institutional frameworks pertaining to the acceptance and usage of new technologies
The modernization and improvement of the living standards of Greek citizens

Human Capital

Human Resources is the most important asset for Info Quest Technologies. We provide major opportunities for young people to apply their knowledge, to take initiatives, to collaborate with notable professionals and to evolve. We offer scholarships, mentoring, internships and organize digital skills enhancement programs. Many of the experienced IT and executives in the local market started their careers in our company.

Health, Safety & Well-being

Health, safety and well-being of our employees is our top priority. Our goal is to strive continuously to upgrade and create a modern and pleasant working environment that promotes teamwork, development and excellence and make employees happier and more creative.

Focus on Continuous Learning

In today’s world, continuous education is a necessary condition for development and progress. We fully share this view with Info Quest Technologies, having the development of our employees as a key priority, recognizing that achieving our goals and creating value is inextricably linked to the value and quality of our employees. In particular, as we are active in the field of technology, continuous training around new technologies is a prerequisite for the proper support of our customers, and consequently of our financial prosperity. Our goal is to involve as many employees as possible in the training programs and training to enhance both the soft skills and the specialized knowledge that each employee needs, in order to cope with their work, but also to evolve more widely.

Find out more about our HR initiatives & policies here

Responsible Supplies

Info Quest Technologies is part of a long supply chain of products and services that connects manufacturers with customers. As a result, the quality, reliability and support of these products and services are affected by the ability of our suppliers, or our partners, to live up to the standards we set.

Our company, given its leading position in the market and its standard goal of providing cutting-edge products and services, selects well-established suppliers, with good international reputation and strong dedication to proper business practices. We implement Group Policies that govern the relationship of our companies with its suppliers and partners, as well as the Procedures for selecting and annually evaluating these suppliers and partners in accordance with the ISO 9001:2015 standard and the Supplier Code of Conduct

Environmental Policy

As a responsible member of the supply chain, we develop our business being fully aware of our responsibility to reduce the potential negative impact on the environment, systematically adapting our business practices to the needs of environmental protection and resource savings. We are certified according to the ISO 14001:2015 Standard for the Environmental Management System that we apply, and we also follow the Environmental Policy and the principles and goals set by the Group.

Moreover:

We identify and manage risks related to environmental issues and set improvement goals.
We strictly adhere to our obligations concerning the payment of recycling fees resulting from our operation.
We invest in, develop and implement new digital technologies - which reduce resource consumption (paper, fuel, etc.) and improve productivity.
We provide technical services, device upgrade etc. - which help to extend the life of the devices and reduce their disposal.
We participate in the official schemes of withdrawal, upgrade and/or repair of materials of the manufacturers for which we operate as an authorized Service Center.
We make it easy for our customers and partners to promote products in our repair center.

We systematically measure our carbon footprint and seek to reduce it every year.
We systematically promote the recycling of materials and we have collectors for the main recyclable materials (paper, batteries, lamps, etc.) in all the facilities of the company.
We work with authorized bodies for the recycling of materials.
We replaced old type electrical appliances and lamps with energy-efficient ones in all the buildings.
As of 2018, we have been replacing the disposable plastic items we used, such as glasses, straws, stirrers, with biodegradable/eco-friendly products, while we systematically seek to reduce consumption of disposable products.
We systematically develop employee alert and mobilization campaigns towards a more eco-friendly lifestyle, indicating simple ways and ideas that everyone can apply to his everyday life.

You can learn more about our Environmental Policy here and about the actions we implement in our recent Sustainable Development Report.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Supporting Society in dealing with Covid-19 Pandemic

In 2020, the Quest Group, as an active member of our society and with great empathy, stood by the collective effort of our country to respond to the effects of the pandemic. Info Quest Technologies actively participated in all the initiatives of the Group, which focused mainly on the field of education and the fundamental priority to continue the educational process, in the provision of technological equipment to critical bodies.

• Distance education - Total Group Donation over € 400,000:

Significant donation to the Ministry of Education and Religions, offering 1,018 iPad 4G to meet the needs of primary schools in distance education, along with training and support services for teaching staff, who were invited to use this technology, bringing Public Education in contact with Apple's innovative digital learning curriculum.

• Health Units (Donations over € 100,000):
Provision of state-of-the-art IT equipment to the National Organization of Public Health (EODY) - 120 laptops and desktops and 15 multifunction machines in order to meet its demanding work.
Provision of 2 high oxygen flow devices (respirators) at the "Attikon" hospital
Provision of 5 special screens in the hospital "I Pammakaristos", in order to monitor the recovery of patients.

Sponsorship to the "Greece 2021" Commission

In 2020, the Group responded to the request of the Committee "Greece 2021", supporting with free distribution of IT equipment worth over € 100,000 the work of the Committee.

Quality Education

Info Quest Technologies, implementing the Group's Sustainable Growth Vision, summarized in the three-pillar "Technology, Innovation, Entrepreneurship", has long been close to the educational community, and systematically supports organizations through actions, products and services promoting and enhancing the use of information technology in the educational process. A flagship of our actions is the "Assembling the Quest Computer" program, the only one for Greek data, a program for the hosting of pupils of public and private schools in the Quest computer production and distribution center, which has been systematically implementing the last fifteen years. The aim of the program is to offer high school students a substantial experience of familiarity with the PC Components, a presentation of modern technology trends and a first acquaintance with a structured corporate environment and executives with experience and ability to communicate their knowledge and encourage innovation.

Every year more than 350 students participate in the program.

The implementation of the program is in line with "Quality Education", the 4th UN Objective for Sustainable Development.

We also support important initiatives and actions in the field of Technology & Young people. We systematically support as sponsors initiatives . and we participate in the Group’s program ”Mind the Code” that gives scholarships to young people to learn coding ant the opportunity to join the Group’s Companies.

By linking quality education to full-time work, we are constantly working with Higher Education Institutions, and we offer students the opportunity to practice. At the same time, we have IT equipment in secondary and tertiary public education units.

National Cybersecurity Team Support & National Youth Informatics Team Support

We support, over time, the National Cyber Security and IT Teams as a Sponsor.

Entrepreneurship and Career Panorama

We systematically participate as a Sponsor in the "Panorama of Entrepreneurship and Career", actively contributing to the very important initiative of connecting the business with the educational community.

Support for innovation and coding actions

We systematically support actions and initiatives that promote digital skills by having an open channel of communication with the youth community and the development of innovation, such as IT Pro | Dev Connections, CodeBiz, MS Azure Bootcamp, etc.

In 2020, Info Quest Technologies supported the operation of the Innovation Center created by Cisco in Thessaloniki, with 17 workstations for the operation of the training room. When conditions allow, the Cisco Innovation Center will act as a vehicle for disseminating innovative ideas and initiatives.

Fighting poverty, hunger and inequalities

We systematically supports the work of the Organizations "The Smile of the Child", "Make a Wish", “Diazoma” , "The Center for Reception and Solidarity of the Municipality of Athens" (KYADA), as well as the "Mother" Children's Protection Center of Attica with a Charity Bazaar organized by the employees.

Sustainable Development Report

Since 2014, the Quest Group has been publishing an annual Sustainable Development Report, reaffirming its commitment and responsibility to stakeholders and society. Info Quest Technologies’ information and data are incorporated in this Report.

The Report is prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards and is based on the 17 UN Global Sustainable Development Goals to identify the impacts of its core sustainability issues and to establish performance indicators. The Report also presents the compliance with the Greek Sustainability Code and adopts international standards and initiatives as the 10 Principles of the UN Global Compact.

Aiming at greater transparency and better focus, since 2019, the Quest Group carries out a separate study of materiality and analysis of Sustainable Development issues for its largest subsidiaries, among them Info Quest Technologies. Since 2020, the Sustainability Report includes selected core, advanced and sectoral indicators of the ESG 2019 Information Disclosure Guide issued by the Athens Stock Exchange. External Assurance of the report was carried out by an independent external body [TÜV HELLAS (TÜV NORD)] for compliance with the above standards. In particular, in order to verify compliance with the requirements of AA1000AP (2018), the provisions of the AA1000 Assurance Standard (AA1000AS v3).

In brief, you can see our 2020 progress on Sustainability Issues here

For comments and suggestions regarding the main actions of the Group and the company for Corporate Social Responsibility as well as for any remarks regarding the publication of the Sustainable Development Report, you can contact pr@quest.gr