Giga connects 2.1 million students and 5,700 schools to the Internet

• The initiative promoted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) aims to digitally connect all schools by 2030.
• The results of the project and its scope so far have been presented at an event organised by Mobile World Capital Barcelona as part of MWC Barcelona 2023.

March 1, 2023

The event counted with the presence of Ángeles Moreno, Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs at Government of Spain; Carme Artigas, Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence at Government of Spain; Gina Tost, Secretary for Digital Policies of the Generalitat de Catalunya; Laia Bonet, Deputy Mayor of City Council Barcelona; Francesc Fajula, CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary General, Alex Wong, ITU Co-Lead and Chris Fabian, UNICEF Co-Lead.

According to Francesc Fajula, CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona: “Mobile World Capital Barcelona and Giga share a common challenge: to fight the digital divide and use technology to ensure digital inclusion”. Fajula adds that “Technology can provide solutions to human difficulties by creating meeting points with society. Giga perfectly fulfils this objective, because it acts as an advocate of universal connectivity. The new generations need access to education, also in digital, for everyone”.

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary General “As new online digital tools are transforming education at warp speed, half the world’s schools are still offline,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “Giga provides children with the chance to forge a dignified future where they can lead, enjoy and harness the power of technology – regardless of where they were born, or where they live.”