Uganda: Bridging digital divide trough internet hubs

One tech-led charity organization is working in central Uganda to address digital gaps in hard-to-reach communities of Africa by creating internet hubs.

Daniel Okello is a very busy nurse at this health facility located 26 kilometres south west of Uganda’s capital Kampala.

He attends to at least 100 patients every day but Daniel is not limited by knowledge when managing their cases.

 “If I have a challenge with a patient and I am not seeing the best answer I want from the book, the clinical guide that we keep referring to, I can Google the condition of the patient or the clinical presentation or the symptoms that the patient has told me. And then after Googling, it will show me a variety of options or diagnosis or impressions and possibly even the lab tests required or requested for that patient.”

Daniel’s work is better thanks to a wireless internet connection, from this innovation called a Hello Hub.

 It is a solar-powered booth built by Hello World with support from partners and host communities

 “Our founder Katrin Macmillan paid a visit to Nigeria and some parts of Uganda and realized there is a very big digital gap between the rural and urban set-up. So in the communities that she visited, she realized that one in six children do not have access to education. They do not have access to tablets or digital devices. So bringing this set-up, it is meant to bridge that gap between communities in the rural set-up and those in urban areas.”  says Jolly Acha, Regional Manager, Hello World .

 About three out of 10 people use the internet according to the Ugandan government

 Here, each hub is equipped with eight tablets which have educational software for children and adults

 The hub’s impact to this community has been significant over the past 18 months.

 “One boy told me that in two weeks, he got a job using these tabs and internet. The hub has also helped, using these solar panels, to extend the power into our maternity wards. So the midwives are getting it easy whenever the power is off, they just use solar light to continue with their work. Even security wise outside, we have security lights.” explains  Christine Nantongo, Area Leader

 Uganda has 85 hubs and demand for more is on the rise.

 The innovators say they spend about 20 thousand dollars over a five-year period to set up and operate a hub.

 They hope that by training people to build their own hubs, more communities will become digitally empowered in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Nigeria.