Bridging the Digital Literacy Gap through Digital Community Centers in Guatemala (2018–present)

In the Western Highlands region of Guatemala, thirty women-led solar-powered Digital Community Centers (DCC) are providing access to the internet and other digital services for remote Indigenous Mayan communities. The DCCs represent a small but pragmatic solution towards closing the digital divide for both women and men.

Approximately 1.5 million Guatemalans—particularly those in remote Indigenous communities—live without electricity and, as a result, lack access to information and communications technology (ICT). This digital exclusion limits their access to education, healthcare resources, and market opportunities.¹ The lack of access to the digital world compounds women and girls who are already left behind in terms of education, literacy, economic participation, etc., which in turn affects their opportunities for employment, salary, and financial stability.²

Research shows that digital tools can bolster growth and reduce poverty for rural communities; however, poor infrastructure, limited financial resources, and inadequate education act as barriers.³

To address this divide in Guatemala, New Sun Road has built thirty off-the-grid solar-powered telecenters (telecenters are synonymous to digital community centers and are essentially a public computer lab) that provide internet and technology services to remote Indigenous Mayan communities in the region.⁴ Internet access is remotely managed through New Sun Road’s inventive Stellar Microgrid OS™ software.⁵ The software features a solar-powered microgrid that is easily deployable and provides the necessary electricity to power the DCCs reliably in remote regions. ⁶

The centers offer energy access, satellite internet connectivity, computers, a multifunction printer, and training programs.⁷ The telecenters act similarly to internet cafes and are self-sustaining microbusinesses, where digital services require a small fee. Currently, five out of nine centers cover 100 percent of their operating expenses.⁸ Money collected from the centers is then split into three pools:

1. One that compensates the women that run them.
2. A central fund for central operations (such as buying paper and ink).
3. Funds that go back to the community.⁹

Digital services range from photocopying to processing birth certificates and official government documents, which reduce travel time and expenses, particularly benefiting women with young children.¹⁰ Since the program’s inception, additional services have shifted to incorporate community feedback, where some communities have since utilized their remote energy access for more basic services such as cold storage for ice and cold water.¹¹

Cultural relevance is a central component of the DCCs training programs. Training programs range from:

• Basic computer training.
• Positive masculinities workshops emphasizing more inclusive gender norms.
• Soft skills instruction.
• Shared purpose coaching.
• Business model tutorials.
• Community leadership bootcamps.¹²

Digital skills and video tutorials are given in three of 22 Mayan languages including Q’eqchi, Ixil, and Chuj languages to reduce language barriers.¹³

Women-led DCCs 

While DCCs are for everyone in the community, the centers have targeted initiatives to engage women leadership.¹⁴ Today more than 400 women take part in Women’s Leadership Committees, who are in charge of managing the centers and educating their communities on digital literacy skills.¹⁵ After a local community democratically elects its Women’s Leadership Committees, 12 months of financial, technical, and leadership training are provided in their local language, guaranteeing management capability and capacity to run the centers effectively.¹⁶ The Women’s Leadership Committees are integrated into the regional governance structure and are recognized by Community Councils, the local decision-making authorities.¹⁷ While women run the centers, DCCs are open to all community members. DCCs further build community capacity by encouraging education and economic activities, where men and women can launch small-scale economic initiatives including selling ice cream or smoothies, charging for calls to relatives, and more.¹⁸

Implementation

The first pilot DCC was implemented by New Sun Road—a United States based for-profit public benefit company (P.B.C.) based in Santa Rosa since 2018—and has since expanded to Alta Verapaz (funded by United States Agency for International Development [USAID] & Microsoft), then in Huehuetenango (funded by Microsoft & Partners), and most recently in Quiché (in partnership with United States Trade and Development Agency [USTDA], and National Secretariat of Science and Technology (Senacyt), and Microsoft from 2023-2024). Today, there are 10 centers in Alta Verapaz, 10 in Huehuetenango, and 10 in Quiché.¹⁹

New Sun Road Guatemala, a local team and corporation with New Sun Road P.B.C., is primarily responsible for on-the-ground implementation and operations. Today, 30 DCCs are in operation and managed by Women’s Leadership Committees in Alta Verapaz, Huehuetenango, and Quiché, all operated by their community’s respective Women’s Leadership Committees.²⁰

A series of critical partnerships and collaborations were imperative to building out the accessible infrastructure, local involvement, and culturally integrated programming of the DCCs including USAID, Microsoft, DAI-Digital Frontiers, United Nations Women, Mercy Corps, World Food Program, Plan International, Club Rotario de la Asunción de Guatemala, and local communities.²¹ (For further details on all partnerships see additional info below).

Beyond New Sun Road, the public-private partnership between USAID and the Microsoft Airband Initiative also provided start-up funding to launch the centers and provide internet access.²² Internet service providers eventually took over managing internet access for the centers after initial USAID and Microsoft funding ended.²³

Investment

The investment is provided by the USAID, DAI International Group, Microsoft, and USTDA.²⁴ In addition to the USD 1.3 million grant from Senacyt, New Sun Road received numerous grants. This included the Microsoft Airband Initiative 2017, USAID-Airband Microsoft 2020, USAID-MujerProspera 2022, USTDA Global Partnership for Climate-Smart Infrastructure 2023, STEM FUND 2023, Focus Central America Foundation 2023, Frida-Lanic 2023, and Summit Foundation in 2023, 2024.²⁵

While information could not be found on the exact cost of implementation of each expansion, information surrounding the project expansion for centers in Quiché provide insight into the general implementation of DCCs. On August 29, 2023, USTDA announced its awarding a USD 1.3 million grant to the Senacyt dedicated to Guatemalan economic prosperity, rural internet service, and digital literacy.²⁶ Senacyt selected New Sun Road, a for-profit, public benefit company that delivers clean energy solutions and solar infrastructure in more than 20 countries, to carry out the project, which involved an initial deployment of 10 DCCs in rural Guatemala to scale to 3,000 sites in the next five years.²⁷

Assessment

While there is a long way to go in ensuring every person regardless of gender, ethnicity or where they live can have full access to the digital world, the DCC’s have provided 3,528 women and girls with digital literacy skills, 400 women have been trained and onboarded to Women’s Leadership Committees, and more than 14,000 services have been provided.²⁸ Additionally, a recent study found that digitalization and the DCC model have successfully empowered and narrowed the digital gap amongst Indigenous Mayan women in Northern Huehuetenango, Guatemala—a Western Highlands region.²⁹ This research reported that the DCC’s positive masculinity training resulted in more equitable attitudes around women’s leadership amongst both male and female participants.³⁰ New Sun Road attributes their model’s achievement to community-centered and women-led project design, innovative energy, and connectivity.³¹ USAID Women’s Economic Empowerment Community of Practice Newsletter praised the initiative’s work in transferring management to local women in only 18 months.³²

The Women’s Leadership Committee initially triggered resistance from male leaders in Community Development Councils. To overcome this resistance, committees invited male leaders to engage with the Centers, where the positive masculinity training was especially impactful in generating more acceptance.³³

High operation costs threaten the financial viability of the centers. New Sun Road, while a registered for-profit organization, operates from grants and aid.³⁴ In Guatemala, non-profit organizations are difficult to initiate and run under current governance laws. While registered as a for-profit organization, New Sun Road emphasizes that they do not profit from the community centers and that all funds generated by the centers are kept by the local operating community. As a result of current funding cuts within the international aid sector, New Sun Road plans to scale operations with USTDA have stalled, and currently other smaller alternative funding sources are being collected to move forward.³⁵ Beyond financial constraints, participants also highlight the limited infrastructure and insufficient institutional support, which also threaten the long-term viability of the centers.³⁶

Despite this reality, the success of the DCC model demonstrates the transformative potential of community-led, gender-inclusive approaches to bridging the digital divide in marginalized regions—offering a practical blueprint for private sector-community partnerships to deliver equitable digital access and empowerment.

Additional Information

The Digital Community Centers utilized a range of partnerships to ensure integrated, cultural programming in Guatemala. This included utilizing:

• Dr. Marshall Ganz’s (Harvard) methodology for designing participatory Female Leadership Committees.
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s #EnMarcheDigital methodology assisted in developing digital, financial, and leadership courses provided to DCC leaders.
• New Sun Road joined the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022–2032 platform, working to highlight the Mayan languages Q’eqchi’, Chuj, and Ixil. The premise for digital competency courses was additionally based on the Ministry of Education of Guatemala and Microsoft’s Digital Skills courses.
• The University of San Carlos of Guatemala assisted in outlining the DCC’s business model. Encyclopedia Britannica facilitated digital access to its repositories for DCC students and teachers.
• New Sun Road also consulted with local municipalities (Cobán, Tucurú, Panzos, San Pedro Carchá in Alta Verapaz; San Mateo Ixtatán and Nentón in Huehuetenango; San Miguel Uspantán in the department of Quiché) to ensure DCC success within their localities.
• The Cocodes (which translates to Community Development Councils, the highest elected community authorities) were included in the planning process and invited to positive masculinity training courses to better support the women leaders.
• The Secretariat against Sexual Violence, Exploitation, and Trafficking in Persons, Red VET, and the Survivors Foundation provided digital tools for communities to increase women’s awareness of their rights, assisted with cybersecurity material, and local reporting pathways.
• Mercy Corps, Plan International, UN Women, Food for the Hungry, SERES, Maya Power and Light, and the World Food Programme provided additional support in working in underserved communities.

©Caspar Rae/Unsplash.

Tags

• Education
• Gender
• ICT
• Indigenous People
• Middle-Income Country
• Rural Areas
• Universal