“Just because digital technology makes connecting possible, doesn’t mean you’re actually reaching people.”
Despite the potential of digital technologies to peomote access and empowerment, 2.6 billion people remain offline — mostly women, older adults, and rural populations.
Among populations (including in high-connectivity countries), low-income communities face structural digital exclusion.
For early users, barriers such as safe access and usage; and challenges of mis and dis-information on the internet remain.
Key Barriers to Inclusion
Digital literacy gaps: Most tools assume a base level of literacy and confidence with interfaces.
Safety and trust issues: Excluded groups are more vulnerable to scams, misinformation, and surveillance.
Lack of community-integrated training: Top-down digital literacy programs lack cultural relevance or follow-through.
We are doing this by:
Researching root causes of exclusion in digitally saturated ecosystems.
Curating culturally relevant content for digital access, safety, and participation.
Testing and prototyping hyper-local training models with community groups.
Facilitating partnerships with technology companies, NGOs, grantmakers, and local governments.
We are building capabilites of people to safely access, use and adopt digital tools and systems.
