Colombia Shrinks Digital Divide, Boosts Rural Connectivity to 56.9%

Colombia is making significant strides in bridging its digital divide, with rural connectivity rates soaring from 32.2% in August 2022 to 56.9% by December 2025. This achievement, primarily benefiting schools in the country's most remote locations, marks a critical step in ensuring equitable access to information and opportunities.

"Our emphasis has always been on connectivity with a purpose: communities must have access to the Internet, but also with the tools, programs, and knowledge to make the most of it," stated Colombia's Minister of Information Technologies and Communications (MinTIC), Carina Murcia. She asserted that the current government is actively "closing the gap in the country" and will continue expanding networks until the end of President Gustavo Petro's term on August 7.

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Our emphasis has always been on connectivity with a purpose: communities must have access to the Internet, but also with the tools, programs, and knowledge to make the most of it.

For the first time, more than half of rural households in Colombia are connected, a 13% reduction in the gap compared to urban areas since 2022. Rural school connectivity has seen a remarkable 4.5-fold increase, with 19,544 educational institutions now having internet access, particularly in hard-to-reach zones. This digital access has empowered over 1.5 million students in remote areas, who have also received 154,546 computers for their educational activities.

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In this Government, we decided that technology had to reach those who had never had it. That's why we connected educational institutions in rural areas and provided computers, because the Internet is useless if you don't have a way to use it.

Residents in areas like Quibdó, the capital of the Chocó department, have experienced the benefits firsthand. Paola, a resident in a rural area of Quibdó, noted how the internet has greatly benefited her community, which comprises indigenous, mestizo, and Afro-descendant populations, aiding in education and information dissemination. Similarly, in Villa Franca, Boyacá, over forty rural households gained internet access for the first time in four years, transforming daily life and eliminating the need for children to travel to nearby towns for homework.

Beyond connectivity, the MinTIC has also focused on digital literacy, training 1,020,181 people in skills such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and data analytics. Minister Murcia emphasized the government's commitment to ensuring that technology reaches those who have never had access before, providing computers alongside internet access. The goal, she stated, is to "make the most" of the internet by partnering with leading companies to offer free training in in-demand digital skills, ultimately delivering "opportunities and prosperity to citizens."

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The idea was to deliver opportunities and prosperity to the citizens.