tech for good
Each dot represents a school in Brazil and is colored based on its internet coverage .
weeks . Thanks to computing power from Dell and Giga ’ s ML models , Giga ’ s mapping team was able to identify 20,000 schools in Sudan , including over 13,000 previously unmapped schools .
Moreover , these HPC services reduced the timeline for the Sudan project from one year to six weeks .
Implementation on the ground Beyond location mapping of schools , Giga also determines the connectivity status in real time . As the project proceeds , the team has been updating a public map with this information .
“ Every three hours , we get information about upload and download speeds , latency and other service-related information about the schools ,” Zurutuza says . “ A live map helps us to troubleshoot on the ground as well .”
“ Governments [ often ] don ’ t have mechanisms to monitor this at scale , so this is a tool to make sure that the work that we ’ re doing is having the right impact and that the money we ’ re investing is reaching even the hardest-to-reach schools ,” Zurutuza says .
The school connectivity map is also a portrait of inequality around the world , Zurutuza points out : Often , richer areas are completely green ( fully connected ), while poorer areas are completely red ( not connected ). A similar situation plays out in Brazil : While large swaths of the country , especially in urban areas , are connected , many schools in difficultto-reach areas don ’ t even have mobile coverage .
Financing connectivity projects also is challenging . In Brazil , Giga worked with the government to sign a bill that ensures that the funds meant for rural connectivity are used appropriately .
Wider impacts of internet access Fabian and Zurutuza recognize that granting internet connectivity alone will not ensure that all children will be able to access education . “ UNICEF has a huge education team with other parts that are bigger than Giga to make sure that all the components are in place ,” Zurutuza says .
IMAGE COURTESY OF UNICEF
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