Technology
Digital Inclusion: What Does Equal Access to Education Mean in the Digital Age?
By Zohra Yermeche
The COVID-19 crisis and the impact, which it has had on learning across the world, has highlighted many of the digital disparities which exist in today’s world.
At a time when many of the world’s students shifted from physical to digital, we were also faced with the hard truth that today there are still 3.6 billion people in the world who are unconnected.
For students in the connected half of the world, the story is much different. While 1.2 billion children were affected by school closures across much of the world, our recent Consumer COVID-19 report found that students were able to substitute physical learning by spending 230 per cent more time on digital learning tools such as Google Class, Epic! and Seesaw Class.
This of course is a significant rise, but it is also an acceleration of a trend which we have steadily been tracking since our first Connect To Learn program exactly ten years ago.
The State of Broadband 2020 report estimates that there are twice as many people today who use the Internet compared to 2010. This rise in digital literacy, together with the imminent period of rapid digitalization of the economy, means that ensuring fair and equal access to both education and future job markets will rest on the extent of digital inclusion within our societies.
What is digital inclusion and why is it so important today?
Today, technology plays a much bigger role in the quality and scope of how we learn, such as new digital learning platforms which are estimated to reach $350 billion by 2025; what we learn, with a growing emphasis on programming, robotics, AI and automation; and how we can use it in the job market, with digital skillsets increasingly becoming a prerequisite of tomorrow’s workforce.
The changes which are happening today show the disparity between the developed and undeveloped world. If you are not connected, that shows you the leap which you have to make between the connectivity aspect, access to education and benefits which are derived from that.
Closing this digital divide, with those who are not connected or not considered to be digitally literate, is imperative to ensuring a fair distribution of digital opportunities across countries, locations, gender, socioeconomic status, and age.
Access to education in the digital age
In 2010, we co-founded the Connect To Learn initiative with the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Millennium Promise, with a focus on delivering connectivity and ICT tools to enhance teaching and learning in unconnected, underprivileged and largely unrepresented communities.
Since our first projects in the Millennium Villages, we’ve helped to connect and increase the digital inclusion of more than 200,000 students worldwide. As the program has evolved, we have increased our efforts to close the digital divide not just in terms of connectivity, but from a content, syllabus and platform side which is fundamental.
As a technology company, we quickly discovered that we can offer so much more than connectivity, but furthermore can help improve learning processes and methodologies so learning can become more impactful. For example, through partnerships with like-minded organizations, we have helped to digitalize and disseminate content through digital learning tools such as mobile apps.
One of the biggest differences from ten years ago is also that the nature of technology in an educational context, both as a medium and a means to enter the job market was still relatively immature as the landscape has evolved, we’ve come to understand the need to personalize and individualize learning so that we can improve learning outcomes in a meaningful way.
Giving people access to the right type of content is one aspect, another equally critical aspect is the human element. On top of the digital layer, students will still always need the engagement, inspiration and activation that comes from teachers and trainers who know about the topic. I believe that, even in the digital age, technology will never be able to replace this interaction, but rather can serve as an increasingly innovative medium for those critical learner-instructor interactions, such as through the Internet of Skills.
Digital inclusion through public-private partnerships
Today, there is a significant need for digital skills courses. Key technology areas such as AI, robotics and app development are advancing at such a rapid pace, which can make it difficult to ensure an effective transfer of competence to emerging workforces.
Such is the pace of change for topics such as these, public academic institutions will invariably struggle to take learning beyond a basic theoretical level. Public-private partnerships will therefore be key to addressing this, by developing advanced curriculums and delivering the necessary quality and scale of access.
As a sustainability pioneer in the private sector, we’ve understood the power of partnership, which is why we’re investing heavily in building out those partnerships with like-minded entities to create sustainable solutions in order to address the issues which the education sector faces today. A good example of this is the Ericsson Digital Lab program which is now live in several countries in partnership with local schools and community learning centres. The aim here is to share those competences that we have in-house on a much broader scale, addressing those critical skillset demands which are needed in tomorrow’s workforce.
This year, in response to the impact which COVID-19 has had on learning, we continuing these efforts by joining the UNESCO-led Global Education Coalition, launching Ericsson Educate and partnering with UNICEF to map school connectivity as part of the Giga project.
Through digital methodologies, and with a focus on improving digital skills for students across all communities, our commitment is to ensure that future generations continue to have the skills and knowledge to find opportunity in a changing digital world. This was what we set out to do when we launched Connect To Learn ten years ago, and this will continue to be our priority in this next critical decade of action.
Zohra Yermeche is the Program Director for Connect To Learn at Ericsson
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, Interswitch, has expressed its commitment to promoting a vibrant digital ecosystem on the continent.
The Nigerian fintech firm reaffirmed this by supporting the recently concluded Google Developer Groups (GDG) DevFest Ibadan, Oyo State.
The flagship conference, which held at the Aweni Arena in Ibadan, brought together developers, tech enthusiasts, and industry leaders for a dynamic day of knowledge sharing, networking, and exploration of cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, and mobile app development.
Now in its fifth edition, DevFest Ibadan has grown in scale and impact over the years, attracting thousands of attendees from across Oyo State and beyond.
Participants enjoyed a variety of engaging activities, including thought-provoking talks, hands-on workshops, and hackathons designed to inspire innovation and foster collaboration.
Interswitch said it threw its full weight behind this programme because of its unwavering commitment to advancing Nigeria’s technology landscape and nurturing the next generation of innovators.
“At Interswitch, we recognise the pivotal role developers and tech communities play in driving innovation across the continent.
“Sponsoring GDG DevFest Ibadan 2024 aligns perfectly with our mission to equip these communities with the tools, platforms, and opportunities they need to innovate, collaborate, and succeed.
“We are committed to promoting a vibrant ecosystem that accelerates Africa’s digital transformation while nurturing the next wave of innovators shaping the future of fintech in Nigeria and beyond,” the Divisional Head for Growth Marketing (Merchants and Ecosystems) at Interswitch, Mr Olawale Akanbi, said.
In her presentation, a Developer Ecosystem Executive at Interswitch, Ms Elizabeth Okaome, highlighted the company’s robust suite of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and their use cases, supported with live demos.
Cutting across payments integration, transfers, bill payments and airtime recharge, identity verification or lending services, Interswitch APIs equip developers with tools to enable secure and seamless online and offline payment acceptance).
Another highlight at the event was the introduction of the Quickteller Business Referral Programme, also known as the ‘5 for 5’ Initiative, which offers developers or any referrer an opportunity to earn 5% commission on Interswitch’s share of every transaction charge, for five whole years, while enabling businesses to thrive.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian will today, Friday, January 10, 2025, know what they will henceforth pay to make calls, send SMS, and browse the internet as telecommunication operators have received the approval of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to raise tariffs.
This will bring an end to the long-term tussle for a hike in tariffs, which telcos wanted to be at 100 per cent, but the Nigerian government rejected.
Industry sources have shared with the media that the new tariffs will be announced by the NCC on Friday.
on Wednesday, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijan, at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, said the NCC would come up with modalities for tariff adjustment in the telecoms industry.
“We’ve look at a number of things in terms of how to ensure that can meaningfully contribute to the development of Nigeria.
“Some of those things include implementing the Executive Order around ensuring that we can protect infrastructure around telecoms, driving up significantly local content and importantly, ensuring the sustainability of the companies themselves that as we see inflation across the world that telecommunications companies, we don’t run them down but we allow them to continue to be sustainable so that they can contribute to our economy.
“You have seen over the past weeks that there has been agitation from some of these companies to increase tariffs, requesting for 100 per cent tariff increase. This is not something that as a government we will be able to subscribe to at the minute,” he stated.
Recently, the chief executive of MTN Nigeria, Mr Karl Toriola, said in an interview that although operators have put forward the 100 per cent suggestion, he doubts that the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), would accept.
“Now, we’ve put forward requests of approximately 100 per cent and type increases to the regulators,” he said.
The operators have also said the sustainability of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria needs to be addressed, if not, it could negatively impact Nigeria’s economy.
Mr Toriola’s counterpart at Airtel, Mr Dinesh Balsingh, in an op-ed published by this newspaper said it was needed to acquiesce to the proposed tariff adjustments in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector while unlocking significant benefits for Nigerian consumers.
“For over a decade, tariffs have remained static despite the dramatic increase in operating expenses, which have surged by over 300% in the last 18 to 24 months alone,” he wrote.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The prices of calls, data and others will not be increased by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Nigeria by 100 per cent as being proposed, the federal government has assured citizens.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, after a meeting with the operators on Wednesday in Abuja, however, said Nigerians should expect to pay more for call and data services very soon to keep the operators afloat, especially due to rising cost of doing business in the country.
The telcos had asked the government for permission to increase tariffs by 100 per cent because the current rates were no longer sustainable.
The chief executives of two of the leading operators in Nigeria, MTN and Airtel, said they would want tariffs to be raised by 100 per cent to guarantee qualify service delivery.
Operators in the sector had warned that if the rates were not raised by the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), they may begin to ration their services across the nation to remain in business.
“You have seen over the past weeks that some of these companies have been agitated to increase tariffs. They are requesting a 100 per cent tariff increase.
“But it will not be by 100 per cent; the NCC will soon come up with a clear directive on how we will go about it.
“We want to strike the balance as a government, to protect our people, but also protect and ensure that these companies can continue to invest significantly,” Mr Tijani said yesterday.
“As a country, over time, we have left these investments in the hands of the private sector. They typically invest where they can see returns in the short to medium term.
“We will not want this conversation to just be about tariff increase. What the world is talking about today is meaningful connectivity; people want to have access to quality service.
“A part of it that the consumers may not be aware of is the investment that needs to go into the infrastructure that is used to deliver these services,” he noted.
On his part, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Mr Aminu Maida, said, “We have looked at all of these factors, and that is why, as the Minister said, it is not likely that we are going to approve a 100 per cent tariff increase.
“I know that Nigerians are agitated to hear the exact percentage approved. We are still going through some stakeholder engagements, but you will hear from us within a week or two.”
“We are moving away from the regime where you will have a main rate, then you will now have a bonus which is at a different rate.
“It makes it often complicated and difficult for Nigerians to actually understand what they are being charged for. There is this agitation that the MNOs are stealing our data,” he added.
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