Huawei to bridge educational, gender gaps in Caribbean

Experts in telecommunications and education discussed the challenges of improving connectivity in Latin America and the Caribbean at a panel in Santiago, Chile last Thursday, a release from Huawei said.

They called for more efforts to improve digital connectivity in the remote regions and bridge digital gaps in terms of gender and education.

The panel was organised by Huawei.

According to data from the world association of telephone operators GSMA –an English-based non-profit industry organisation that represents the interests of mobile network operators worldwide–, between 2014-2021 internet access doubled in this area, but there are still 230 million people who live offline.

Recent records from that organisation show that one out of three people in Latin America and the Caribbean live without connectivity.

Representatives of UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Unesco, in addition to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Chilean specialists in the area, participated the forum that addressed the topic Connecting the Unconnected, carried out by the company Huawei – global leader in infrastructure and intelligent solutions – in order to analyse the state of digitisation in the countries of the region.

One of the reasons, experts explained for this difference in connectivity is the education gap and internet usage rates are highest among people with higher levels of education.

Sergio Scarabino, ITU manager for South America, said at a global level in low-income countries connectivity is only 22 per cent versus 91 per cent in high-income countries, therefore, the challenge is to eradicate digital illiteracy.

Valtencir Mendes, head of education at Unesco said they are working on a joint programme with the Chilean Ministry of Education and Huawei to create a framework of digital skills for Chilean teachers, from pre-school to secondary education, so education professionals are able to make the most of digital alternatives in the teaching process. This is a pilot programme, which can be replicated in other Latin American countries.

ECLAC's co-ordinator of the regional digital agenda, Fernando Rojas said while addressing gender gaps, "The first problem is that the percentage of women entering STEM careers is very low and that percentage drops when you look at how many leave universities with a degree. One of the main reasons is that many women have responsibilities as caregivers and that makes it much more complex for them to finish their careers."

Huawei's release said, "As a company, we are pioneers in the deployment of wireless and fixed networks, we have installed more than 10,000 base stations for 5G and more than 150,000 kilometres (km) of fiber optics in remote areas in Central and South America."

The head of the development fund of the Undersecretary of Telecommunications of Chile, Marcelo Rute said, "Over the next few months, we will be launching 50 billion pesos in Last Mile projects in the regions of Nuble, Maule, Los Lagos, Magallanes, among others. We are taking care of those areas where the industry alone does not reach.”

He said, in 2024, a public tender will be announced for an amount of 60 billion pesos, to cover home internet with fiber optics in semi-rural and rural locations in the country.

The government representative added that they are working, so the fund under his administration can provide subsidies to the demand.

Rojas added, "We are working on a proposal for Chile on how to implement these subsidies to demand, since it would be very close to enabling the possibility of using those money."