Giga

Giga connects millions of young people to the internet – Here’s how it works 

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Giga is making great strides in closing the digital divide. Since 2019, Giga, a partnership between UNICEF and ITU to connect all schools to the internet, has successfully helped connect more than 14,500 schools and nearly 7.8 million young people to the internet.  

Mapping the way 

Giga does this by supporting countries with school connectivity, a process that starts with mapping. Its maps are fundamental to its work on school connectivity. Through Giga’s school mapping, governments are better informed on the numbers and locations of schools that require connectivity.

Giga’s role in school connectivity

Historically, on the request of governments, Giga has supported with small-scale procurement of connectivity through UNICEF’s competitive bidding for 50-100 schools. However, Giga’s primary role in procurement is to provide technical expertise to governments seeking guidance as part of their own school connectivity procurement processes. In these cases, the government manages the procurement process independently. 

Partnerships to bridge the digital divide 

Over the years, Giga has partnered with several companies and non-profit organisations to achieve its goal of bridging the digital divide. These include partnerships with Ericsson and Dubai Cares.

For three years from March 2021, Giga was in a partnership with the Musk Foundation with a donation of US$4.9M. The partnership focused on school mapping in 35 high-priority countries and school connectivity to schools in Kenya, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone.  As part of UNICEF’s fair business principle, Starlink, which is owned by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, has never been contracted as a vendor.  UNICEF and ITU use Maxar images for school mapping.

To reach Giga’s 2030 goals, of both mapping and connecting every school in the world to the internet, catalytic partnerships are needed to achieve universal connectivity. 

Open-Source Data 

One of Giga’s key strengths is its commitment to open data. All the information gathered through its mapping efforts is open source and publicly available. Giga’s support to government is independent of procurement processes, limited to providing data and to aiding informed decision-making.

Connecting every school 

Giga’s mission is clear: To connect every school to the internet and every young person to information, opportunity and choice. Giga does this by empowering governments with crucial information and fostering collaboration, not by dictating procurement decisions.