Join all of us at Giga as we mark five years of advancing school connectivity…and counting.
Five years ago this September, at the Broadband Commission’s Annual Meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, our global movement was launched. Back in 2019, half of humanity was offline, and the world was facing up to the increasingly urgent need to bridge the digital divide.
This divide is especially detrimental for young people as we seek to equip them for a better future for all. About half the world’s schools are still without an internet connection − a gap that puts disadvantaged communities at risk of falling further behind and deters progress on many of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations for 2030.
In response, Giga was born out of the Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity, which was organized to address the need to strengthen school connectivity plans and invest in quality learning.
This Working Group provided advice for the development of the Giga initiative, a partnership between ITU and UNICEF, combining the unique know-how, talents and expertise of both organizations and focused on one single mission: connecting every school in the world to the internet by 2030.
Since then, we’ve hit some major milestones:
Our Giga Maps platform now pinpoints the locations of 2.1 million schools across 141 countries.
Mapping unconnected schools is just the start. Our teams support the countries to assess their current and required connectivity providing governments with actionable information to finance and contract sustainable school connectivity. Taken together, these efforts have supported increased access to the internet for over 14,500 schools, impacting nearly 7.8 million students.
Collaboration with governments and other stakeholders is the fuel that drives school connectivity. To strengthen that collaboration, we’ve established centres in two locations: Geneva and Barcelona. The Global Connectivity Centre and Learning Hub will open in Geneva this year to strengthen capacity of stakeholders to achieve school connectivity. The Giga Technology Centre which opened in Barcelona in 2023 is developing a host to products to facilitate countries in designing, implementing and monitoring school connectivity.
With 34 countries now engaged with Giga, our first five years have equipped us with key lessons and generated the momentum needed to create new and exciting milestones in our continued journey to get every school in the world connected.
Join us in a #HighFiveForConnectivity!
High fives to all of you – our dedicated supporters – for championing and supporting our mission. To mark our milestone birthday, we invite you to join in and celebrate with us. Here’s how:
Share your own “#HighFiveforConnectivity.” Whether it’s a video, a photo or a story, why not share a virtual high five to celebrate Giga’s five years of connectivity on your social channels, making sure you use the #HighFiveForConnectivity and tag Giga’s social media channels on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram. Your story will be featured on our exclusive digital wall on Kudoboard. Our Giga Gang have already set the scene with their own High Fives!
Look out for: Our upcoming videos featuring Giga community leaders, students and changemakers who will look back at what we’ve achieved and look forward to what’s next. Plus, this month Giga is joining the UNESCO Digital Learning Week, the Open Source Summit, SDG Digital and more besides. Don’t miss our highlights from these important events!
Read our Giga Report and get involved. Drum roll… Our inaugural Giga Report newsletter is also being launched to mark the occasion so be sure to join our mailing list to keep with news, features and practical information on school connectivity!
Whether it’s through policy advocacy, investment or collaboration—your support can shape the future of digital connectivity for generations.
Thanks for being with us so far, and here’s to our next five years!