Founded in 1995 in Rio de Janeiro, CDI is a socio-enterprise using a unique socio-education approach to empower populations at risk. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are used to fight against poverty and to stimulate change and entrepreneurship within the communities. The 150 employees and 2000 volunteers now manage operations in 11 countries in Latin America and Europe and thanks to them 724 digital inclusion spaces can welcome new students daily. In addition to low-income communities, these peculiar schools are also present in indigenous communities, psychiatric clinics, hospitals for the mentally and physically disabled, as well as youth & adult detention facilities.
CDI helped families learn the ICT skills they need to reconnect with their lost members after the earthquake in Chile. CDI also enables inhabitants from Rio’s favelas develop the skills they need to get a job and even provide them with some working opportunities. Today, you will quickly be excluded without any basic technical know-how, CDI is trying to minimize this skills gap in order for everyone to be able to participate in the conversation and not to be ignored because their poverty level prevented them to access a computer.
http://www.cdi.org.br/