Around 72 million people who live in rural areas of Latin American and Caribbean countries lack connectivity with minimum quality standards, according to the survey.\u00a0\u201cRural connectivity in Latin America and the Caribbean: status, challenges and actions for digitization and sustainable development\u201d,\u00a0<\/strong>presented by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), World Bank, Bayer, CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, Microsoft and Syngenta.<\/p>\n The figures from this study reveal an urban-rural difference of 36 percentage points and show that, although compared to the 2020 report, the percentage of significant rural connectivity improved in 12%, the connectivity gap between the countryside and the city increased by 2 points in 2022 in the region.<\/p>\n This data calls for decisive action and innovative solutions to overcome one of the main barriers that prevent Latin America from being equitable and inclusive, as well as its development. Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, so Microsoft has formed alliances with various organizations to help local communities solve \u2013 with a territorial and local approach \u2013 the problem of connectivity.<\/p>\n Internet access will allow communities to participate in the global economy and connect with opportunities they might not otherwise have. The initiative's actions seek to go further and give this access a real purpose: once broadband connectivity is in place, Microsoft focuses on digital transformation to improve productivity and livelihoods in rural communities. This includes agriculture, education, vocational training, entrepreneurship and rural health. For rural dwellers, this represents the opportunity to bring technology into their children's classrooms, the opportunity to speak to their doctors without having to travel to the city, and the opportunity to move forward with their small businesses and crops, in addition to increasing their productivity.<\/p>\n Latin America combines prosperous urban cities and large rural areas, with complex geographies and large territories with low population density, which creates unique challenges to promote connectivity in certain regions. As Internet access increases, Airband, through its partners, hopes to improve access to opportunities for rural communities as well as quality of life through increased connectivity.<\/p>\n Airband, along with Brisanet in Brazil, Anditel in Colombia, Fundaci\u00f3n Pa\u00eds Digital in Chile and Wayfree in Guatemala, will provide high-speed Internet access to 18 million people.<\/p>\n Brisanet was founded in 1998 with the aim of providing quality and accessible Internet access to underprivileged areas. Thanks to support programs for small producers and small local businesses, Airband's alliance with the operator has the potential to provide coverage to 11 million people in the 7 states of the northeast region of Brazil (Cear\u00e1, Rio Grande do Norte, Para\u00edba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Piau\u00ed and Sergipe) until December 31, 2025, accelerating skills and empowering small farmers through low-cost precision agriculture solutions.<\/p>\n The joint experience of Microsoft and Airband in transforming production chains such as coffee, cocoa, cotton and crafts, in addition to their close work with minorities and rural communities, is in a privileged position to contribute to the country's development and promote inclusive development. This alliance will work with some of the most important companies in the country to develop local economies and connect them with large production chains.<\/p>\n The focus of this alliance with Airband will be on two regions: Biob\u00edo, in central Chile, which has been significantly impacted by earthquakes; and Antofagasta, known for its mining industry. With the support of the initiative, in addition to connectivity, the program will aim to expand economic opportunities through training and generating jobs for local community members to maintain the new networks and provide internet access to an additional million people by the end of 2025.<\/p>\n Crossing the African continent<\/strong><\/p>\n Our efforts on the African continent are among the oldest and most far-reaching. Today, many African nations are rising economic powerhouses, but on a continent with so much vast rural areas, providing connectivity can be a challenge. On average, Africa has an Internet usage rate of 40 percent. Partnerships are critical to the success of the Airband model, and we are expanding existing partnerships, including with Mawingu and Tizeti.<\/p>\n These partnerships are essential to provide local knowledge and experience to help achieve a larger goal related to what can be leveraged in support of connectivity. As technology such as AI advances, being connected provides a pathway to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Por meio de novas parcerias, e a amplia\u00e7\u00e3o de outras j\u00e1 existentes, a iniciativa est\u00e1 cumprindo sua meta global de dar acesso a 250 milh\u00f5es de cidad\u00e3os at\u00e9 2025 A Microsoft anunciou novas parcerias e a amplia\u00e7\u00e3o das existentes para o seu programa de conectividade Airband. O objetivo \u00e9 levar acesso \u00e0 internet de alta […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":63407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39,19],"tags":[497,4114,4115,4116],"class_list":["post-63406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coluna-4","category-ultimas-noticias","tag-acesso-a-internet","tag-conectividade-airband","tag-economia-global","tag-internet-de-qualidade"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/abes.org.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Mawingu-Photoshoot-2-30-2048x1365-1-300x200.jpg\")
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