KatangaNet

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT 

KatangaNet aims to build a digital ecosystem in education, health and business, enabling community members to leverage connectivity for socio-economic empowerment. This involves establishing an information access point at the Core23lab centre to serve women, youth, and students (setup of one Wi-Fi hotspot at the community centre; covering a 15 – 20 km range), but also providing training for teachers, youth, and women to equip them with digital literacy skills in order to participate in the digital economy. The project aims to connect one pilot community to the Internet in the Katanga/Lualaba provinces. 

WHY IS THIS PROJECT IMPORTANT? 

In the Katanga/Lualaba areas, connectivity is a challenge. These rural areas include many mining communities and have very low connectivity speeds that is often unreliable and may only available for mobile connection. 

Particularly, women and children in these communities are cut off from opportunities that come with being literate but also cut off from access to information. This was worsened by the onset of COVID-19, which left millions of students out of school for months.  

Gaps in digital literacy and access to information can be addressed with reliable connectivity. Among areas that can greatly leverage connectivity to help address challenges faced by these communities include health sector, where access to information on sexual and reproductive health and pubic health issues could be invaluable. The education sector could also greatly benefit from the utilization e-libraries and access points to further students learning and research.