The Future of Work in Latin America: Connecting the Unconnected
This work is part of a series of workshops hosted by the World Economic Forum on partnering with civil society in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, co-chaired by Mozilla Foundation, Google.org, and TechSoup. Access the recorded workshop here (in Spanish).
The Fourth Industrial Revolution has accelerated rapid technological change in society and — with the impacts of the recent COVID-19 pandemic — bridging the digital divide and reskilling or upskilling existing workforces has become even more urgent for society during the crisis. Traditional approaches to connectivity, education and training are increasingly falling behind, and governments cannot rely on existing pathways alone to prepare the next generation of workers, especially those left more vulnerable due to the pandemic. Alternative, non-traditional solutions are needed towards a future of work centered on staying connected, continued learning and adapting to new social models in a changing context.
It is undeniable that internet access opens the door to an ever-growing array of opportunities for growth and development. These advances are merging the physical, digital, and biological worlds in ways that create both huge promise and potential peril. Since experiencing the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is predicated on being connected to the internet, those who are currently unconnected are falling further behind just by remaining where they are.
Great progress has been made in bringing people online — last year, the world reached a major inflection point with half of the world now connected. While this is something to celebrate, we also need to accept that it was the “easy” half of the world — and it wasn’t that easy! Connected countries and communities are urban areas and those that bring an obvious economic boon to telecommunications companies. Their inability or disinterest in connecting smaller and rural communities makes it clear that we are reaching the limits of traditional telecommunications companies to provide connectivity.
On average, 71.5% of Latin America’s population is connected to the internet (as of January 2018 [source]), but that can range for any given country from 93% connected to below 40% of the population having access to the internet, and only 3% of people in the rural Amazon are connected. Moreover, the top 5 markets in the region (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile) account for 80% of the region’s total users.
Connecting the other half of the world is going to require new thinking and creativity. The challenge of connectivity is systemic, so the solutions need to be holistic. We need more local network building capacity, focused on the benefits for the community, and building for long-term sustainability. We need a legislative environment that promotes innovative tactics, and doesn’t depend on traditional infrastructure or thinking. And we need to explore new business models that drive profit without exploiting people.
Civil society organizations have already been working with communities and leading the way to grow their opportunities; we need to invest in civil society to scale-up these successful efforts, and they must have a seat at the table when designing national action plans. Ultimately, connecting the unconnected needs to be a key part of any country’s development plan for everyone to benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Challenge
If we are to bring the internet to everyone and unlock the full potential of the open internet we must have a critical mass of network engineers in all countries. A healthy internet is built and maintained by local hands in each and every country in the world, cultivating local technical expertise. Yet in many countries, there is a serious lack of network engineering expertise to design and build the internet infrastructure that reaches everyone. Further, this gap in technical capacity can lead to national internet development policy and regulatory decisions being made by commercial interests. The result is uncertainty about the practical and sustainable development of an open internet.
Finally, a healthy internet ecosystem requires that every country has the technical resources and expertise to participate in global internet engineering standards development and governance issues.
Approaches
Spectrum policy reform
It is an undisputed fact that wireless spectrum is under-utilized in rural areas, where the biggest challenges to affordable access lie. Leadership should explore the terms and conditions associated with spectrum licenses, including the impact of the existing regime on the availability of digital services. Apart from existing access technologies, leaders should also review licensing conditions for new technologies being developed and tested that have the potential to provide innovative means of broadband access in rural and remote areas. Non-profit telecommunications operators should have access to free or shared spectrum usage. Organizations like Colnodo have been leading the effort since 1993, working with local communities and national governments to make spectrum available in Colombia and beyond.
Capacity building
In addition to increasing existing technical capacity, we need to build a talent pipeline of network engineers in underconnected countries, and bring them into a global community of network engineering experts. We need to strengthen partnerships among leading global organizations working on connecting the unconnected. Employing their training in open principles and practices, these network engineers will go on to build internet infrastructure and influence strategic policy decisions that build a more accessible and equitable tomorrow. The Mozilla Fellowship in Open Internet Engineers is one effort growing talent, pipelines, and partnerships with civil society organizations across the sector.
New financing models
The increasing challenge of building sustainable, affordable telecommunications infrastructure in poorer, more sparsely populated regions has led to the slowing of growth in large-scale mobile networks. Attempts to address this challenge with universal service funds have been met with limited success. Leaders must explore the kinds of financing mechanisms which are likely to result in affordable, sustainable, inclusive access for all, particularly in rural areas. They should review how the government, private sector and communities can come together to fund local projects that enable people to get online, increase their digital skills or help keep access relevant and beneficial for new users. And they should support non-profit telecommunications operators and organizations like Rhizomatica to facilitate individual and collective autonomy in these contexts.
This is just a start — but these three clear interventions can help pave the way to reaching people where they are to experience the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
