ABOUT CHASQUINET FOUNDATION

MISSION AND VISION

ChasquiNet is a team of professionals promoting the strategic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for the improvement of living conditions in marginalized sectors. We work at local, national and international levels to promote social and economic policies to support sustainable human development.

The name ChasquiNet was inspired in a Chasqui, the Inca messenger who through a system of posts travelled long distances to get information or goods from one place to another.

Now, our organization seeks to connect these Chasquis Network (Net), understood as a human network. ChasquiNet  is a non-profit organization  that since 1998 implements and coordinates actions to strengthen the human and social development in Ecuador and Latin America.

ChasquiNet develops and implements programs and projects of impact on education, social development and also  promotes community knowledge management networks, through strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICT).        

SOME OF OUR HISTORY

In 1984, Karin Delgadillo, former Excecutive Director of ChasquiNet Fondation, began to investigate  the possibility of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to improve the living conditions  in underserved sectors of the Ecuadorian population. The results were positive, as the first attempts for communication using ITCs were successful in multiple communities.

In 1990, using the Bulletin Board System (BBS) a precursosr to modern internet forums, Karin and other visionaries  initiated a global exchange of information giving rise to what would become the Internet boom. In 1991, they were able to create the first communication node of Intercom Ecuanex, through which they   welcomed a new era of ITC  communication in Ecuador.

The global pervasion of ICTs in daily life substantially altered social dinamics, in particular creating a deep division between those with access to the tools of the new generation and those lacking access. Thus a new form of social inequality emerged wolrwide. In this context, ChasquiNet arose to meet the needs of communities, with the understanding that ICT technology could improve the quality of daily life.

ChasquiNet Fundation was founded in Quito on April 17, 1998. The Foundation was approved by the Ecuadorian ministry of Education and Culture in the "Acuerdo Ministerial No. 979 on May 31st, 1999."

ABOUT THE CHASQUINET FOUNDATION TEAM

 ChasquiNet depends on a multidisciplinary professional team, with training and experience in the areas of community development, educational software applications, planning  and project management, social communication, political sciences, telecommunications, programming and technical support.