2008 - Former president Tabaré Vázquez launched a government program called ‘Uruguay Digital Agenda 2008 - 2010’ (Agenda Digital Uruguay – ADU08-10) that worked toward the consolidation of all of Uruguay’s IT programs. Its main objective was to create a more inclusive and democratic society. It gave high priority to ‘Plan Ceibal’, the former initiative, now an agency aimed to ensure that every student and teacher in the country received an XO laptop under the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative. Students, teachers and parents are being educated in safe Internet use through this plan and that has distributed laptops to all children in the country. This pioneering project has seen Uruguay become the first country in the world to equip all public school students with free laptops known as ‘ceibalitas’.
Plan Ceibal has involved more than just a distribution of ceibalitas. The issue of connectivity has meant that some rural schools have also supplied with solar panels to provide an electricity supply. Over the course of the initial phase of the project, connectivity has been upgraded as technology advanced, with original connections upgraded to fiber optic ones. By 2012 all students in the country had received their ceibalitas and the focus shifted from one of digital inclusion, to one which focused on integrating technology into the classroom.
2010 - Plan Ceibal became Centro Ceibal in the national center for technology in education, coordinating programs to support technology in education and social inclusion. Besides, students receive online safety advice through Plan Ceibal’s website, and in late 2013 the Agency for the Development of Electronic Government and Information Society and Knowledge (AGESIC) joined forces with the country’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERTuy) to launch Stop, Think, Connect: a campaign to teach children about the importance of safeguarding their personal data and how to avoid issues such as identity theft and phishing scams
In addition to Plan Ceibal, ADU08-10 aimed to develop educational content and resources related to existing training programs and other issues for people of all ages, from pre-school to adult education. This aim has led to the development of UruguayEduca, the national education portal. Students and teachers alike have access to a wealth of information organized by subject and grade level, whilst a section for parents provides general information regarding the education system in the country.
Uruguay’s ICT policy is the ‘Digital Agenda 2011 - 2015’ (ADU11-15), consisting of 15 objectives across six axes – access, education and culture, e-government, ICT industry, health, and environment. In terms of ICT for education, the government envisaged providing fiber optic connections to all public schools in urban centers with a population over 10,000 by the end of 2015, whilst a distance learning system utilizing video conferencing was installed by 2013.
The Digital Agenda promotes ICT education at all levels, and the strengthening of the digital capabilities of the overall population. To advance this objective, in June 2011, the Ministry of Education (MEC) and Antel, Uruguay’s government-owned telecommunications company, signed an agreement to establish a total of 180 digital literacy learning centers (MEC Centers across the country by 2015, covering 100% of towns with a population of 500 to 5,000 inhabitants. The MEC Centers work towards helping adults and young people overcome the fear of “touching” a computer through simple steps, without the academic pressure of exams or tests.
Another attempt to reduce the digital divide is attested in the ‘National Plan for Digital Literacy’ (Plan Nacional de Alfabetización Digital - PNAD), published in 2010. With adults as the target audience, the PNAD’s main objective is to reduce the generation digital divide and promote the use of ICT to improve access to services, goods, education and culture, contributing to the social integration.
The government has worked with partners such as Microsoft during the roll-out of the laptops. Face