Connectivity initiatives.

 

The Partner2Connect Digital Coalition (P2C) is a global alliance launched by ITU in 2021 in cooperation with the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology and the UN-OHRLLS. The Coalition provides an open platform for resources, commitments and partnerships to be mobilized with the objective of fostering meaningful connectivity and digital transformation globally, in the hardest-to-connect communities, including those LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS. To date, the coalition has mobilized some 600 pledges coming from over 280 entities around the world, totalling nearly USD 30 billion in value for extending meaningful connectivity, with financial or in-kind commitments addressing key issues like infrastructure, cybersecurity, digital skills, inclusion, and socio-economic transformation. Giga is an ITU-UNICEF initiative connecting every school in the world to the Internet, and Connecting every young person to information, opportunity, and choice. 

Giga's work includes: 

1) mapping the location of schools and monitoring their connectivity status in real time; 

2) planning the infrastructure, policies, regulations, and investments needed to deliver sustainable school connectivity; 

3) designing solutions to finance the capital and operational costs of connecting schools; and 

4) supporting governments to contract connectivity for schools. 

Since 2022, Giga has helped connect more than 5,700 schools and 2.2 million children across 19 countries. Giga has also mapped 2.1 million schools across 137 countries.