Giga empowers communities in Asia and the Pacific through school connectivity

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) published a report on Giga: Empowering communities in Asia and the Pacific through school connectivity. Giga is a joint initiative between ITU and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to connect every young person in the world to information, opportunity, and choice. The report, which hinges on the four pillars of Giga (map, finance, connect, and empower), explores the feasibility of countries in the Asia and the Pacific region that are part of Giga initiative and realising their potential by exploring implementation. It advocates for a comprehensive approach in mapping school connectivity that involves different stakeholders and encourages leveraging existing government policies to deliver greater connectivity, including the effective deployment of the universal service obligations (USOs) and universal service funds (USFs) to connect schools. Additionally, The study underpins the importance of digital skills and how education ministries could help generate the conditions for long-term connectivity in disadvantaged communities and rural and remote regions.