EDISON Alliance Impact Report 2024

2 A global alliance committed to closing the digital divide Addressing key barriers to universal digital inclusion through community, partnerships and best practices. Significant progress has been made to achieve universal connectivity, however, approximately a third of the global population do not have access to the internet, limiting opportunities for economic development. Launched in January 2021, the EDISON Alliance is a global multi-sectoral movement aiming to ensure that every person can affordably access basic life services through digital tools. To that end, the EDISON Alliance addresses three main barriers to universal digital inclusion: access, usability and affordability. Although ~95% of people in the world live in areas with internet coverage...1 the stark reality remains: 2.6billion people are still unconnected.2 Additionally, while 63% of the world’s population is connected... ... least-developed countries still only count 27% of their populations as internet users.3In addition to addressing these barriers, the alliance identified three essential services that digitized at the onset of the pandemic (education, finance and healthcare) and is exploring how to bring these services to underserved people through digital solutions. FIGURE 1 The EDISON Alliance’s framework for impact Increasing access to connectivity and digital services Increasing digital literacy and digital skills, and providing access to content in local languages Reducing the cost of fixed and mobile broadband, internet enabled devices and online serviceAccess Usability AffordabilityEducationFinancial servicesHealthcare EDISON Alliance Impact Report January 2024 6 Contents