USA / BRAZIL – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched the Digital Connectivity Collaboration Hub (DC2H) platform, which will support Brazil’s efforts to boost broadband access and promote digital inclusion in Latin America’s largest economy.
This online platform providing georeferenced information on Brazil’s connectivity supply and demand will allow the public and private sectors, civil society, and academia to have access to essential information to design and implement effective solutions for closing the digital connectivity gaps still open in the country.
While Brazil’s broadband internet supply already reaches around 90 percent of the population according to the National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL), there are still around 19 million people living in areas where fixed or mobile connectivity is not available.
In this context, DC2H will facilitate the analysis of data on mobile and fixed broadband services coverage in relation to the location of the population and urban infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. It will also provide users with information on the estimated costs of connecting areas still lacking broadband access.
“Providing high-speed connectivity in remote and rural areas is one of the most complex challenges for digital inclusion. DC2H will be a key tool for the formulation of policies promoting public-private participation to close connectivity gaps in Brazil,” said Susana Cordeiro Guerra, manager of institutions for development at the IDB.
Platform users will have the ability to produce visualizations using different layers of information, download the layers with their associated data table, and create maps to visually compare the data of two or more layers, among other options. To facilitate data analysis, the platform’s information is classified into four categories: regulatory, financial, educational, and subnational.
“Data is a great ally of public policies,” said Morgan Doyle, IDB country representative for Brazil. “With detailed information and in a timely manner, we hope that public managers in Brazil will use this platform to effectively provide connectivity to those who do not have it yet.”
This platform is the result of the Crowdsourcing Project for Digital Connectivity in Brazil, a joint initiative of the IDB and ANATEL, whose goal is to diagnose and analyze connectivity conditions in the country.
The launch of the pilot version took place today during the seminar Meaningful Connectivity, a new challenge for Brazil, organized by the IDB and ANATEL. In this testing stage, only selected users will be able to access the platform once the IDB approves their registration. Soon, any public or private entity or civil society organization working or interested in contributing to improve connectivity in Brazil will be able to access the platform’s information and will even have the ability to upload their own data independently.
