Large turnout at the launch of the Millennium Nucleus on Digital Inequalities and Opportunities

“Connected, unequal and challenged: The challenges of digitalization in Chile” was the name of the event that addressed the digital challenges that exist in the country according to different experts on the subject.

More than 90 people attended the launch of the Millennium Nucleus on Digital Inequalities and Opportunities (NUDOS), an instance in which the challenges faced by the country in terms of digitization, connectivity and development of digital skills were discussed.

The activity was held on June 20 at the Casa de la Cultura in Ñuñoa and was attended by the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Claudio Araya; the mayor of La Pintana, Claudia Pizarro; the president of the Chilean Chamber of Digital Infrastructure (IDICAM) and director of the Public Policy Program for Digital Development in Latin America and the Caribbean at FLACSO, Rodrigo Ramirez; and the director of the NGO Amaranta, Cecilia Ananías.

From their different areas of work, the guests pointed out the difficulties they have observed in terms of digitization. Mayor Claudia Pizarro referred to the lack of connectivity in La Pintana, one of the municipalities with the greatest need for digital connectivity and telecommunications infrastructure in the Metropolitan Region.

“For us the internet goes beyond Netflix or buying something, it is to allow our seniors to do business online (…) In my commune there is no Chileatiende, therefore, they must leave a lot of time in locomotion to go to do a procedure, we only have a compensation fund, a bank and we are a red zone of internet”, said the communal chief.

Además, la alcaldesa añadió la falta de habilidades digitales como una problemática presente a nivel local. “Nuestros vecinos carecen de habilidades digitales y se encuentran en desventaja permanente en términos de educación, de empleo y de acceso a servicios esenciales que los demás chilenos puedan tener”, concluyó.

Along the same lines, the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Claudio Araya, highlighted the difference that exists between the cities and the countryside. “In the urban world we have 64% access to fixed internet, there are places where there is a little more than 68%, but if I go to the rural world that 64% drops to 10% of access to fixed internet. So, be careful, because the urban and rural world have very different access possibilities”.

From the Chilean Chamber of Digital Infrastructure (IDICAM), a public-private consortium that seeks to reduce digital inequality through the deployment of digital infrastructure and data infrastructure throughout Chile, Rodrigo Ramirez emphasized the lack of a state policy that coordinates the various public institutions in order to reduce the digital divide in terms of connectivity and skills.

Finally, and as a representative of civil society, Cecilia Ananías of the NGO Amaranta focused mainly on the shortcomings we have as a country in ensuring the Internet as a safe space. The journalist from Concepción spoke about the proliferation of misinformation, verbal and sexual violence online and the lack of digital education.

“Access to infrastructure has to go hand in hand with digital literacy and I would say for all ages. We have to get rid of the idea that, for example, children or young people are digital natives, because what they may know is how to manipulate the phone or access the social network they like, but go and ask them about cybersecurity”, she closed.