The LACTLD Anycast Cloud is a collaborative network that seeks to strengthen DNS infrastructure and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean. Anycast is an addressing technology that allows an optimal and efficient use of networks. In an Anycast Cloud, a series of nodes (servers) store copies of the same database, which is made up of the different Cloud client zones (list of managed domains, for example, .sv, .do, .gt). In turn, these nodes which are located in different places share and respond to the same IP address. Thus, when this database receives a query, the routing systems first decide which of the available nodes is closest to the point where the query originated and then direct the information to this endpoint, thus accelerating replies. The LACTLD Anycast Cloud is regional, collaborative and not-for-profit. This initiative has strengthened the infrastructure and stability of the Cloud’s clients and nodes as well as the entire regional network in terms of resilience, robustness, traffic load management, speed and availability. It is also worth noting that this is the first project of its kind in this industry, a highly sustainable platform with low participation costs and significant benefits for all participants involved.

The Mx Center for Women in Technology (CMTMx) is the result of the joint work of four women (Carmen Polanco, Mexico; Nathalia Sautchuk, Brazil; Paola Perez, Venezuela; and Erika Vega, Colombia) who are part of the regional Internet community and the collaboration of ANUIES, the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions. 

The project includes two lines of action. On the one hand, it will implement the #EllaEnElDesarrolloDeInternet initiative, which focuses on mentoring women who are studying ICT careers in the universities of Mérida. These students will receive training to help them develop their digital skills in Internet Resources, Network Management, Security, IPv6, and Basic and Advanced Routing. The young interns will contribute and participate in the deployment of Internet infrastructure at State Government entities and Educational Institutions that will be connected to the IXP node in the State of Yucatán.

The second line of action is the BootcampCMTMx experience. The Bootcamp will consist of a week of activities and workshops for girls and adolescents aimed at promoting the development of mobile applications, computer architecture, robotics and networking. The ultimate goal of the project is to contribute to the construction of a society where girls and women can actively participate in the broad world of technologies for Internet development.

The foundation offers legal and technical advice on digital violence to women in Argentina who contact them. Their direct contact with digital users across the country has led the foundation to identify that there is often a widespread lack of knowledge among users regarding their digital rights, the platforms they use, their devices and technological equipment and, above all, misinformation regarding computer security, privacy and how to responsibly manage information and communication technologies. 

The project seeks to develop its own platform to offer online digital literacy courses to women in Argentina and Latin America. The courses will focus on digital freedom of expression, digital anonymity, security in social networks and devices, digital violence against women, sexist trolls, digital communication with a gender perspective, Internet law, and Internet governance. A series of extensive virtual courses is expected to be launched in parallel with seminars, webinars and workshops. The activities are intended as a way to keep the community constantly informed, debating and up to date with the latest information. Work will also be coordinated with other related organizations and/or feminist activists.

The project seeks to reach more women throughout Argentina and Latin America and to build a community of women who are aware of their digital rights, who are familiar with Internet governance with a gender perspective, who will explore their own development on line and who, in turn, will also promote and disseminate these messages among their peers.

NuestraRed.org has been operating in the departments of Risaralda, Quindío and Valle del Cauca, Colombia, for four years. It includes 23 nodes intended to provide Internet connectivity based on a sustainable, community-operated model in different locations, which were fully or partially disconnected and isolated prior to this initiative. 

The project network is implemented using open software. NuestraRed.org constantly documents its technical efforts to make the initiative easy to replicate. https://nuestrared.org/Ibc5d00eb8738f07118b29e4dcfab6555. This has allowed them to provide technical support and advice to other networks in the process of implementation, including RedINC in Cauca and RedCoManí in Maní Casanare (Colombia). These networks are being built by peasants and rural communities with the support of Colnodo Civil Association (FRIDA Grant 2018).

NuestraRed.org has a captive portal that displays local content, Wikipedia, Wikicontended, content offered by the Rachel portal for education, health, guided and self-directed learning, books, a library, and a chat feature for local communication between users and nodes. All content is open source and receives an average of 150 visitors each day.

The network now covers 200 square km with approximately 250 users per month, having reached a total of 12,000 users in its four years of operation. Its monthly traffic is 2,000 MB, totaling 96,000 MB over four years. There are approximately 5,000 clicks per month to Wikipedia (a total of 240,000 visits) and close to 4,500 clicks to multimedia content (a total of 216,000 visits).

Colnodo provides communications services to Colombian and regional organizations to facilitate the sharing of information and experiences at the local, national and international levels using low-cost networks. Through its strategic programs, the organization has prioritized issues such as human rights, the improvement of conditions for women, governance, democracy and citizen participation, sustainable development, the democratization of knowledge, digital inclusion, and the strategic use of information and communication technologies for development.

They are currently working on the implementation of connectivity services through wireless mobile telephony and Internet networks in rural areas. They provide advice and support for the design, installation and maintenance of community networks and services, supporting the definition of strategies for their appropriation and sustainability.

With the support of the Frida Program, Colnodo seeks to:

• Promote the development and approval of regulatory and programmatic proposals to strengthen the community network system in Colombia, considering, among others, the following aspects: social telecommunications programs, use of the spectrum, community operators, and spectrum sharing.
• Specifying the process of implementing a community network in the rural area of ​​the municipality of Maní Casanare, using TVWS technology. The model of quality broadband connections in different communities will be evaluated, considering the sustainability and appropriation of the network with a focus on gender.

This initiative is also supported by Rhizomatica, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and the Internet Society, and it involves the active participation of the community.

The great challenge for humanity —a challenge that involves governments, private actors, academia, civil society and society in general— is to connect the next billion individuals to the Internet, those whose access has been identified as a fundamental right, essential for the realization of their freedom of expression, association, access to information and other economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, as well as for meeting the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (resolution A /HRC/32/L.20 of the UN Human Rights Council, 2016).

Despite the above, many regions are still unable to access the Internet. Those installing infrastructure often ignore remote communities from which companies will not derive any commercial benefit.

In Brazil, many rural and urban communities have no Internet access at all. In certain communities in Amazonia, connecting to the Internet is the only way for people to communicate with the outside world, as they lack fixed telephony and postal services as well as any other conventional form of communication. In this sense, the digital divide adds to the pre-existing vulnerability of these communities, thus increasing economic and social inequalities.

In light of this situation, ARTIGO 19 has designed a project to support two communities and help them establish community Internet access providers for the purpose of promoting their digital inclusion and reducing the inequalities generated by the current divide. Based on a pilot that has already been implemented in some communities in Amazonia (Brazil), the initiative seeks to: organize activities and events in the different communities to present the model; plan and install the corresponding networks (donating the necessary equipment); train the population on the safe and secure use of the Internet, and influence regulatory frameworks for the establishment and development of community networks. The organization will also facilitate the creation of support networks comprised of technical experts and the participating communities themselves, who will be able to share their different experiences and optimize their use of the provider.

By articulating outreach and teaching activities, female teachers and students of the Institutes of Computer Sciences and Electrical Engineering at Universidad de la República have developed an initiative to bring aspects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) closer to female secondary school students with the aim of encouraging them to pursue training in this area.

The project began in 2016 with activities aimed at groups of teenage girls in secondary and technical schools as well as spaces for reflection for the public in general that would help break down stereotypes about women and technology. The goal is for these adolescents to have the chance to meet and interact with engineers who are working as teachers and researchers in the field, following the role model approach. Under the motto “actions, not words,” the initiative organized robotics, programing, electronics, communications and geographic software workshops.

During its execution, the project has been able to verify the existence of a significant demand for this type of activities among both girls and educational institutions, who have shown great enthusiasm in continuing their participation. Six hundred Uruguayan adolescents aged 12 to 15 have participated in these activities. The program also included the development of training materials with various activities, user guides, conceptual presentations, as well as software and hardware kits. All of this has strengthened the institutional coordination between Universidad de la República and the country’s secondary education centers.

Future editions plan to extend the initiative by bringing on board mathematics, physics and chemistry teachers from some of the university’s other institutes. At the same time, a project called MATE (a Spanish acronym for Women in Science and Technology) is also underway and offers intensive one-week courses on robotics, programming, electrical circuits and mathematics at the School of Engineering during the summer and winter holidays (in addition to the workshops), applying the role model approach.

GINFED, the Spanish acronym used to refer to the research group working on the use of computer technologies for education, is planning to create a STEM lab for training students and women who have obtained their bachelor’s degree in Childhood Education from Universidad del Magdalena on the use of robotics applications (Scratch Jr, Scratch, and MBlock). The goal of the initiative is for graduates to incorporate knowledge of a programming language into their pedagogical practices, thus enriching their teaching abilities and providing them with the ability to use technology to create their own educational resources.

A mobile lab will be created that will be taken to different kindergartens in the department of Magdalena (Colombia), allowing teachers to replicate the knowledge they acquire and contribute their experiences so that more girls will decide to pursue training in technology.

The program focuses on preschool education, leveraging the opportunities offered by tools such as Scratch to encourage the development of STEM skills and abilities in children by creating fun, educational and rewarding classroom activities.

Editatona, a women’s editathon, was born at the end of 2014 with the aim of reducing the gender divide in Wikipedia. As many other technological projects, the online encyclopedia suffers from an unacceptable gender divide which is reflected in the number of collaborators (only 1 out of 10 wikipedians is a woman) as well as in the content created for Wikipedia – only 16% of all biographies available in Spanish on Wikipedia are women’s blogographies, and many articles have a sexist bias.

Based on an idea proposed by a group of female wikipedians working on Wikimedia Mexico (the Mexican Wikimedia chapter) and supported by several civil society organizations such as Luchadoras, Social Tic, Impetú and others, Editantona is an event exclusively for women that allows them to learn about Wikipedia and digital skills in general, within an environment free of prejudice and ridicule.

An edithathon is an event where participants edit, create and improve Wikipedia entries, using reliable and verifiable sources on a specific topic. It is a participatory activity that adds an in-person dimension to the voluntary online work of men and women which, in addition to helping the community socialize, increases its visibility in the eyes of the general public.

The first Editatona was held in January 2015 and was attended by a broad audience: 84 women registered for this event. Now that the event is international, more than 50 Editatonas have been held in different Latin American cities and have resulted in more than 200 new articles and more than 1,000 edited entries. A safe, friendly space has been created where women can participate without encountering any barriers.

Since 2014, Atalaya Sur has been developing a proposal for the popular appropriation of technology in Villa 20 (Buenos Aires, Argentina), for which the association has been addressing three lines of work: the fight for the Internet as a right, the democratization of the production of content and discourse, and the promotion of technological vocations through ICT workshops in one of the largest informal low-income settlements in the city of Buenos Aires (a socially and economically vulnerable population of 30,000).

Just as there is a lack of basic services and proper infrastructure, there is also no possibility of subscribing to a legal Internet provider. Atalaya Sur has developed a free public WiFi network. This strategy represented a technical challenge because there were few precedents for this type of experience, as well as a challenge in terms of usability, as the goal was to transform the market’s prevailing consumer logic and replace it with a new logic based on participation, democratic communication and technical inquiry. Using fiber optic technology, the Internet was brought to Villa 20 from a residential complex located 1.5 km away from the settlement. The installation was implemented with point-to-point links with two towers installed within the settlement and 27 public access points, lighting the main streets and certain secondary roads on which community centers are located. These devices are installed in the houses of neighbors who support the installation and expansion of the network. While planning and installing the necessary infrastructure, training courses were offered to the community. This allowed consolidating a technical team consisting mainly of young people who monitor and provide support to the network. Likewise, the portal www.villa20.org.ar was developed to promote community participation in the construction of a public space for the sharing of information, opinions and cultural content. Along with the organization of audiovisual production and community communication workshops, this portal allows promoting inclusive access to digital resources and increasing the visibility of the neighborhood’s issues and experiences. These actions were complemented with technology workshops for all ages, with a focus on telecommunications, robotics, electronics and programming. Thus, the Atalaya Sur Network allows the community to organize itself based on a shared resource which is a tool for both communication and participation. The network currently allows 800 simultaneous connections and the portal receives 4,000 visitors each day.