Access to the Digital world starts with access to the electricity grid and connectivity. With the Digitruck, Close the Gap removes these barriers for isolated communities.
Presently, Close the Gap deploys 11 Digitrucks with the help of various partners and sponsors.
In 2015, Close the Gap, in collaboration with Arrow Electronics, built this Digitruck, which is currently at the Neema Orphanage in the Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. Having this phenomenal classroom in the middle of a village is a fantastic opportunity to give children a second chance at a brighter future through education.
Close the Gap collaborated very closely with Deloitte Belgium to build this Digitruck, bringing computers and connectivity to students in the Western Cape region of South Africa in 2016. After a programme run by Quirky 30, based in the township of Langa, the Digitruck was moved to Philippi Village, where it is currently providing shelter for temporarily displaced families. Once they can return to their homes, the Digitruck will be used in a programme providing support for vulnerable women. The programme will also include ICT skills training on mobile devices.
DRC Bianca Debaets, the Brussels-Capital Region’s Secretary of State and responsible for Development and Cooperation, sponsored the construction of this Digitruck which was delivered to the non-profit organisation ‘La maison des Savoirs’ in Kinshasa in 2016. The mobile unit offers IT classes and activities to those who have difficulties accessing IT.
Sponsored by long-time impact investors, the Dumoulin family, this Digitruck was built in South Africa and delivered to the Overstrand Training Institute (OTI) in 2016. This non-profit organisation responds to digital skills training needs of youth in the Overstrand community. This is an area of coastal and agriculture-based villages situated an hour’s drive from Cape Town.
A fifth Digitruck is touring through Kenya to introduce proper e-waste management skills as well as digital inclusion in various Nairobi counties. This Digitruck is operated by Computers for Schools Kenya (CFSK) and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Centre (WEEE Centre). From August until October 2018, 200 people participated in these courses. Students were motivated to improve their basic IT literacy and many showed interest in pursuing IT-related courses and further education. Many of the female students saw positive growth in their businesses, as some of them are now able to market their products through online platforms. Most of the trainees are also able to sign up for online jobs to earn a living. The Digitruck tour through Kenya continued in 2019 as well.
In 2019, Huawei sponsored the construction of a Digitruck to offer ICT classes to Kenyan communities. The Huawei Digitruck has multiple partners that support teach-the-teacher trainings and job creation programmes.
The Patel family donated a Digitruck to Close the Gap in 2020 in order to give something back to their home country Zambia. After running a digital skills program at the Circular Economy Hub of Close the Gap Kenya, the Digitruck was shipped to Zambia and is currently supporting ICT integration at Chiwatala Primary school in Southern Luangwa.
This mobile IT classroom was made possible by Huawei and WeTechCare. WeTechCare wants to facilitate the information, the implementation and the animation of communities of actors of digital inclusion in France and in Belgium.
Sponsored by Huawei through the Tech4All program, this Digitruck was officially launched in Ethiopia in November 2022. Through our local partners Huawei Ethiopia and Icog labs, we are currently offering free coding and robotics sessions across various locations in Ethiopia.
Our most recent Digitruck program? A partnership with Huawei and the Government of Uganda produced this mobile lab that will be used to offer Digital skills to youth in Uganda!
Our key partner Huawei sponsored and donated this Digitruck through the Tech4LL program to le Ministère de la Jeunesse, de l’Entreprenariat et de l’Emploi du Sénégal in Dakar Senegal to provide digital literacy and skills training to the children, young people and other community members.
After completing the entire manufacturing process, the Senegal Digitruck was shipped to Dakar Senegal, where it arrived towards the end of Jan 2023!
What's left? The solar installation needs to be mounted so that the Digitruck will be entirely self-sustainable.
To improve the life opportunities in vulnerable and remote communities, Close the Gap developed the Digitruck: a used shipping container that is refurbished into a state-of-the-art digital classroom with connectivity that is completely self sustainable and can reach remote locations to provide access to ICT and the digital world.
Did you know that no less than 75% of African inhabitants live in rural communities? Well, the digitruck enables us to reach those communities. The income of people who live in rural communities increases when they have access to IT, and therefore acces to enormous amounts of knowledge and information.
For more technical details, click here.
If you want to donate your IT equipment:
donations@close-the-gap.org
For a project application:
projects@close-the-gap.org
For communication and press enquiries:
communications@close-the-gap.org
For general questions:
info@close-the-gap.org
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