Cloudflare, Inc., a connectivity cloud company, and Giga, a joint initiative of UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), have partnered to enhance school connectivity worldwide.
Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, said: "Helping UNICEF's Giga with additional tools to measure and monitor school connectivity all over the world means we're helping to ensure that millions of children can get online and prepare for an increasingly digital world. I'm proud of our work helping play a part in that effort, and working to close the digital divide."
Connecting schools
The partnership entails Giga leveraging real-time data from Cloudflare's Speed Test solution to enhance the measurement and monitoring of Internet connectivity at schools. Cloudflare will collect school data on internet speed, latency, and affordability to conduct up to 10 million availability tests per month.
The data aims to power Giga Maps, Giga's live, open-source platform, providing the data needed to enhance internet connectivity. Governments, the private sector, and civil society groups can utilise this data to develop effective strategies and monitor progress in improving internet connectivity for underserved communities.
"Connecting schools to the Internet is an essential part of ensuring all children can access digital learning tools and the information they need to thrive. Just as critical is ensuring the best quality and speed of connectivity," said Thomas Davin, global director, UNICEF Office of Innovation. "Cloudflare will ignite even more power in Giga's data collection and enable the critical decision-making countries need to plan investments in school connectivity with precision."
