The following is an excerpt from the OLI white paper, Beyond the Binary: The Power of Offline Internet, September 2024.
Makaia is a Colombian organization focused on leveraging technology for social change.
Recognizing that only 10% of rural communities in Colombia have internet connectivity, Makaia provides software, hardware, and technology training to civil society organizations, schools, community centers, parents and teachers to help them adopt and implement technology.
Makaia not only provides training on digital skills and computational thinking, but also timely issues like misinformation and online risks. Makaia’s goal is to create capabilities for social development with technology, resources and innovation.
The technology itself is not the end goal, but rather understanding how it can help solve problems for vulnerable groups like children, youth, women, elderly, disabled, and rural farmers.
Makaia works closely with local education communities not just to provide access, but to ensure the technology is used effectively to create opportunities and close inequality gaps in areas like jobs, health, education and services.
Currently, Makaia is supporting 19 community projects focused on building digital skills across Latin America.
By providing comprehensive technical assistance and transferring knowledge on ICT, the initiative improved not only the quality and productivity of coffee but also the socio-economic conditions of the local farming communities. These efforts fostered social inclusion, gender equality, and youth engagement, essential for the community’s sustainable development.
One such community project is “Empowering Briceño’s Coffee Community Through Digital Skills and Connectivity.”
This collaborative initiative aimed to redefine the future of Briceño by harnessing the potential of digital technologies and specialty coffee production. Central to the project was the ambition to elevate the coffee value chain in Briceño by focusing on the production of specialty coffees and integrating digital technologies.