5 years strong: Reintroducing 48 percent

2024 marks 5 years since the founding of 48 percent! Considering our network has grown a lot since then and we’ve been fortunate to contribute to impactful projects around the world, we’d like to reintroduce our mission and program lines so that you get to know us better.

Our mission

Our mission at 48 percent is to facilitate equitable access to connectivity, which means that we work with our partners to address the connectivity challenges they face in their specific area in a way that helps them the most.

Why do we focus on ‘equitable’ access to connectivity? Equitable talks about being fair, whereas equal means the same. While we ultimately are working towards equality in the world and want everyone to have connectivity, we realize it’s not a “one size fits all” solution to get to that point. Imagine everyone getting the same pair of shoes rather than getting a pair that fits your feet. By emphasizing ‘equitable’, we can find solutions that address the specific needs of the communities we are working with.

Bridging the gap through connectivity, literacy, and safety

At 48 percent we do projects within 3 program lines.

The first program line is to ‘Facilitate access to affordable connectivity.’ 

• Connectivity is not always available or affordable in a lot of areas around the world, which is something we want to improve by collaborating on projects that focus on establishing a network or create affordable internet solutions for the local population.

Our second program line is to ‘Facilitate higher levels of digital literacy.’

• Digital literacy is necessary knowledge and skills to use available connectivity. Lack of digital literacy is a big obstacle in bridging the digital divide. 

Our third program line is ‘Facilitating privacy awareness and safe internet usage.’

• Because the people we connect through most of our projects are fairly new to the internet, we want to make sure they know how to use the internet safely and how they can protect themselves and their personal information.

We are facilitators and collaborators 

Why do we use the word ‘facilitate’ in our communication? 

At 48 percent, we don’t do the actual, physical work that is needed to set up the network, or hold the training programs. We enable the work to be done through funding, but we are not physically on sight and don’t want to take or be given credit for the work. This is why we chose ‘facilitate’, which illustrates that we create an environment where the work can be done. 

Why do we say that we ‘collaborate’ with our partners? 

Because we don’t tell our partners how to do their projects, and we trust that they have the knowledge to do what’s best in their area. Collaboration allows us to do the work we wish to do in an area based on our partners’ expertise, as well as doing projects that fit with both of our sustainability perspectives.

We hope you got to know us a little better by reading this blog! If you have any questions or would like to get in touch with us, feel free to send us a message on our social media: X, LinkedIn, Facebook.