N50 Partners’ Collaboration with Local Government Serves as Force Multiplier for Launch of EduLabs Program in Multiple Low-Income Communities
SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, November 15, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — A historically-important ribbon was cut here at the first of 80 grade schools where an innovative Public-Private Partnership (PPP) was inaugurated that aims to help meet UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by delivering education and digital skills to 90,000 marginalized people in low-income communities of the Dominican Republic.
The PPP draws upon the combined resources of the local government, led by the Dominican Ministry of Education, together with ed-tech industry leaders and humanitarian Partners of “The N50 Project” – a global program focused on enabling increased participation in the digital world (www.n50project.org).
“This initiative is a perfect example of how partnerships can be leveraged to address SDGs,” said David Hartshorn, CEO of Geeks Without Frontiers, the global humanitarian organization that Program Manages the N50 Project. “By bringing together the resources of multiple partners – including local community members – we can accelerate learning, scale effectively, and problem-solve in ways that would be unimaginable otherwise.”
The N50 Partners expressed their solidarity and gratitude to the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Education, which endorsed the program and provided space for the EduLab centers. The lead N50 Partner for the program is Food for the Hungry (FH), a global NGO whose Dominican Republic team helped launch the effort on October 26 at the John F. Kennedy school in Santo Domingo Este.
A host of N50 Partners attended the ceremony, including:
Roger Clark, Director Connectivity & Education Technologies Solutions, Appliansys.
Rocío Cruz, Executive Director of FH Dominicana, and Dennis Mahoney, Director of Integrated Partnerships, FH;
Scott Gostisha, Chief Network Engineer, and David Hartshorn, CEO of Geeks Without Frontiers;
Luis Marin, Global Director of Education Ecosystem and Partnerships, Intel; and
Fernando Sanz, Senior Backend Developer, SMART Technologies.
A Commitment to the Most Vulnerable
The PPP Partners’ goal is to impact more than 23,000 Dominican families with technology laboratories and Internet access that can be scaled to public schools in Greater Santo Domingo, Monte Plata, Elías Piña, and San Juan de La Maguana. In addition to the school in Santo Domingo Este, a laboratory was also installed in the Buenos Aires school in Monte Plata during this pilot phase.
More than 90,000 children, youth, and adults are to be trained in digital literacy (online navigation, productivity tools, and online security); technological skills for employment; leveraging digital tools for education; and innovation. For children and youth, there will be additional educational reinforcement in literacy and mathematics, arts, and sciences.
The program has a strong component of result measurement and goal achievement, aimed at delimiting the effectiveness and impact of the initiative. Among the goals set during the first year of EduLabs implementation are a significant increase in the average grades of students from elementary to high school, and a 30% improvement in technical skills for employment among adult and youth program participants. The second year of implementation is expected to achieve a 40% increase in the technological competencies of the target groups and a 20% increase in the adoption and use of technology in the assisted communities.
About The N50 Project
The N50 Project is the Geeks Without Frontiers led initiative that is focused on the next 50% of the world’s population who have not been able to participate in the digital world. The N50 Partners’ primary focus is to launch projects for marginalized communities using best-practice playbooks for long-term delivery of ICT solutions.
N50 is an open ecosystem that is fueling transformation in some of the world’s most challenging environments. Its live ‘Digital Participation’ projects in the field are designed to enable communities to access the education, health, social and financial benefits that flow from affordable and sustainable digital inclusion.
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Geeks Without Frontiers
Geeks Without Frontiers is an award-winning non-profit organization whose mission is to bring the benefits of broadband connectivity to the estimated 3 billion people who remain unconnected in order to help close the Digital Divide and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Geeks Without Frontiers “For WomenKind” initiative focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment by providing access to connectivity, technology and innovation that will give women and girls unprecedented opportunities to boost technology-driven sustainable development and remove barriers to the advancement of women and girls. The project is actively seeking partnerships and sponsorships that will enable women to fully realize their ambitions.
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