- A joint initiative between ITU and UNICEF, Giga was established in 2019 with the objective of getting every school connected to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity and choice
- The Giga Technology Centre in Barcelona is the initiative’s research and development arm, developing cutting-edge, open-source technological solutions for school connectivity
- The centre is also home to the Giga Accelerator Programme, which supports early-stage companies developing open-source digital infrastructure solutions to accelerate school connectivity
- Giga’s Connectivity Credits seeks to create a new market in digital public infrastructure by compensating Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for every day a school, health centre, or underserved community stays online
- The work of the Giga Technology Centre in Barcelona is supported by the Government of Spain, the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council
Barcelona, 3 March 2025. – This morning Giga hosted a session at the Mobile World Capital Barcelona stand at MWC focused on investment and financing for sustained school connectivity, during which Giga’s progress and plans for 2026 were also highlighted.
Connectivity can transform education and give young people real opportunities in the digital world, yet many schools remain offline or lack reliable access. Giga helps close this gap through four core areas—school mapping, infrastructure modelling and cost analysis, financing, and contracting—underpinned by capacity development to strengthen local skills.
Connected schools are the foundation for inclusion, socio-economic development and digital transformation of education,” said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary General, International Telecommunication Union. “By leveraging Giga’s technical expertise, tools and partnerships, we can accelerate progress towards universal school connectivity.”
In a session entitled “Accelerating Impact: The Road Ahead for Giga,” the initiative outlined its 2026 priorities, including building onto gains made so far, expansion to additional countries and strengthening partnerships within the United Nations and public and private sector actors. These partnerships seek to drive initiatives that strengthen the leveraging of digital infrastructure and scale connectivity for transformation of education.
At MWC, Giga plans to present two groundbreaking initiatives. Four of the startups from Giga’s Accelerator programme will pitch open-source, scalable solutions for strengthening school connectivity on 05 March at 4Y4N.
Also on 05 March at 4Y4N, Giga will showcase pilots implementing Connectivity Credits, and look ahead to how this initiative will work to co-create the rules, incentives, and architecture of this emerging marketplace.
“Connecting schools is essential public infrastructure. Through Giga, governments are making connectivity visible, measurable and managed at national scale, from mapping every school to monitoring real-time performance,” said Kaan Centinturk, Chief Information Officer, UNICEF. “Transparent data strengthens contracts, improves affordability and keeps schools reliably online.”
Francesc Fajula, CEO of MWCapital, welcomed Giga to the Foundation’s stand at MWC: “The future of Giga’s programme highlights collaboration between governments, international organisations, companies and research centres to address the challenges of digital inclusion and ensure universal connectivity in schools.”
The Giga session featured high-level representatives from the Government of Spain through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; from the Government of Catalonia through the Ministry for European Union and Foreign Action; and from Barcelona City Council.
The speakers of this session were Francesc Fajula, CEO of MWCapital; Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU); Kaan Cetinturk, Chief Information and Digital Impact Officer at UNICEF, Jaume Duch, Minister for European Union and Foreign Action; Maria Eugènia Gay Rosell, Deputy Mayor of Barcelona City Council; Lucía García Rico, Director-General for the United Nations, International Organisations and Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Government of Spain; Alex Wong, Senior Advisor for Strategic Engagements and Initiatives, Executive Office, and Co-Lead of Giga, ITU; Christopher Fabian, Co-Lead of Giga, UNICEF; Parviz Noriyon, First Deputy Head of the Communications Service of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan; Germán Cufré, Global Manager, Digital Infrastructure and Affordability, World Bank Group; Marina Madale, Executive for Sustainability and Shared Value at MTN Group; and Irene Kaggwa, Giga Programme Manager at ITU.