The Starting Out and Learning in Digital Project, the first fruit of the agreement between the Elecnor Foundation and Plan International

The Starting Out and Learning in Digital Project (PEAD), is the first fruit of the agreement between the Elecnor Foundation and Plan International, the child rights advocacy organisation. The cooperation agreement between both foundations began in 2015 with the aim of carrying out joint international cooperation projects which would result in better access to water and energy in developing countries
The aim of PEAD is to improve the access to educational and telecommunications tools as well as inclusive business models through digital kiosks in the isolated rural communities in the regions of the Nicaraguan Pacific and Atlantic. The project will commence in 2016. 

To achieve this, the Elecnor Foundation joined forces with Plan International Nicaragua and Télecom sans Frontière at the 2015 meeting of what the Spanish International Development Cooperation Agency (AECID) would call "NGOD Groups". After its evaluation, AECID awarded the project a subsidy equivalent to 40% of its total cost. 

The project, with 3,778 direct beneficiaries, carries out actions in the communities of Francia Sirpi, in the north of Nicaragua. It is the most vulnerable region of the country from a social perspective, with poverty levels reaching 71%. It is also a zone with a high concentration of indigenous populations. In fact, it is home to 70% of all the indigenous population and those of African descent throughout Nicaragua Within this segment, the Miskitu is the largest ethnic group, representing 91% of the communities included in the project. 

Due to the lack of electricity, that are serious contamination issues stemming from the use of kerosene lamps, batteries, and, in very remote cases, the use of diesel motors. 

Among the indigenous communities there are cultural obstacles that impede the implementation of new technologies and access to energy, thus increasing their technological isolation.

PEAD's involvement consists of supplying 6 digital kiosks in order to provide access to basic telecommunications services, such as telephony and internet, powered by solar photovoltaic energy. Once this infrastructure is in place, the project contemplates:

• Installation of computer packages to access information on education, health and child protection, while at the same time fully respecting the cultural aspects of the Miskitu ethnic group.
• Encourage reading in children, adolescents and young people through the use of free educational software.
• Development of an inclusive business model with community leaders.
• Update the Community Development Plan with the participation of children, adolescents and young people.
• Technical-financial study for the promotion of the scalability of the ICT service of the digital kiosks at a national level.
• Systematisation of the process for the purposes of reproducibility.

The Elecnor foundation will be responsible for the following aspects:

• Preparation of instructional manuals and training of locally contracted technical personnel for the preventive maintenance, use and management of the photovoltaic system and ICT services. 
• Preparation of the technical design document and scaling of the photovoltaic systems of the 6 digital kiosks under consideration. 
• Development of the technical-financial study for the promotion of the scalability of the ICT service of the digital kiosks at a national level, to be designed in conjunction with Plan España.