March 11, 2022
The operator has donated a complete digital classroom solution and satellite broadband access that will benefit more than 400 students to the Plan de Chorcha Educational Center, located in Ngäbe-Buglé, one of the country’s most mountainous regions.
The presentation ceremony of this pilot project featured the president of the Republic of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, and the minister of Education, Maruja Gorday de Villalobos.
MADRID, March 11, 2022. HISPASAT, the Spanish operator and satellite solutions and services provider of the Red Eléctrica Group, has provided the government of Panama a pilot tele-education project that it has implemented in the Plan de Chorcha Educational Center, located in Ngäbe-Buglé, one of the country’s most mountainous regions. The presentation ceremony of this pilot project took place yesterday in this school, which has more than 400 students enrolled, and the event featured the president of the Republic of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, the minister of Education, Maruja Gorday de Villalobos, the director of the National Authority for Governmental Innovation (AIG), Luis Oliva, the ambassador of Spain to Panama, Francisco Javier Pagalday, and the CEO of HISPASAT, Miguel Ángel Panduro.
Specifically, HISPASAT has donated a satellite internet service to the school with a tele-education
system that allows educational contents provided by the Ministry of Education to be sent and stored
locally. This way, students can download the material on their devices and work with them at home.
HISPASAT will also set up a Wi-Fi connectivity service for the community, apart from the one at the
school, which will allow the rest of the residents to connect, allowing the entire rural community to
access the Information Society. The pilot is complemented with two technology classrooms. These
classrooms include laptops for the teachers, tablets for the students, a cabinet to store and charge the
devices, an interactive digital screen and a technology classroom management program with logical
security. The operator will also provide training for teachers on how to handle these digital devices.
For Francisco Javier Pagalday, the ambassador of Spain to Panama, “This project is a clear example of
the enormous value that Spanish companies can contribute to the development of Panamanian
society. We believe that the satellite solution offered today in this school has great potential to not
leave rural communities in the country behind.”
Miguel Ángel Panduro, CEO of HISPASAT, indicated that “we’ve been working for years on providing
stability to Latin American society using satellite internet access, especially in its rural and
disconnected areas. That’s why we’re so happy to contribute today with this pilot to improving
education in this school in Emplanada de Chorcha and we’re making ourselves available to the
Panamanian government to collaborate on new initiatives that help to bridge the digital divide in the
country.”
Connectivity is a fundamental tool to promote equal societal development. However, the differences
in the infrastructure rollout between the urban and rural world are a major obstacle that prevent most
remote and spread-out towns from having the same opportunities as large cities in basic rights such
as education. Regarding Panama, according to a report from 2020 by the Inter-American Development
Bank, 63.6% of the country’s urban homes have internet access, compared to just 27.3% of rural
homes. Therefore, the use of satellite technology, which offers universal coverage regardless of the
location with a quick and simple rollout, is the ideal tool to extend high-quality connectivity
throughout the region immediately and efficiently to provide fundamental services like the one
provided in this pilot project
About HISPASAT
HISPASAT, Red Eléctrica Group’s satellite services operator and provider, offers satellite broadband and connectivity solutions including Internet access, mobility and the expansion of cellular networks, as well as other added-value proposals, to governments, corporations and telecommunications operators in the Americas, Europe and North Africa. It is also a leader in distributing Spanish and Portuguese audio-visual content and broadcasting important digital platforms such as Direct To Home (DTH) television and High Definition Television (HDTV), in addition to managing transportation and audio-visual signals from HISPASAT Peru’s teleport in Lurín. HISPASAT, which is comprised of companies that have a presence in Spain as well as in Latin America, where its Brazilian affiliate HISPAMAR is based, is one of the world’s largest companies in its sector in terms of revenue, and the main communications bridge between Europe and the Americas.
Press contact:
Víctor Inchausti – tel. +34 91 710 25 40 vinchausti@hispasat.es / comunicacion@hispasat.es
