U.S. software giant Microsoft will help Colombians get online and computer-literate by donating computer programs to the country’s public libraries, the Ministry of Culture announced on Tuesday.
The software giant signed an agreement to donate 4,000 Microsoft Office packages, and upgrades to Windows 7, to the 1,015 public libraries around the country.
“Public-private partnerships are essential to a country’s social development. Thanks to a donation from Microsoft, the Colombian people will have greater access to technological tools via the country’s national network of public libraries,” said Minister of Culture Paula Marcela Moreno Zapata.
The U.S. company also vows to offer digital literacy courses to train millions of Colombians how to use the internet and computers.
“This is a way to generate sustainable social and economic opportunities for Colombians,” explained the Colombian general manager of the U.S. company, Jorge Silva Lujan.
Microsoft will begin fundraising for the project, with the aim of completing it within three years.