Claudia Cova Colmenares

Claudia Cova is improving the quality of life of people in the poorest sectors of Venezuela by bridging the digital divide. Through effective donation and appropriation of usable computers, she is providing valuable training and resources for young people to compete in todays technological world.

Claudia is bringing information and communications technology to poor areas of Venezuela in an applicable and useful way. Her organization–Vía Tecnológica ("Technological Way")–provides the resources and training to contribute directly to improving student and community members' lives in Venezuela. She has developed a system for recycling computers previously owned by businesses, public institutions, citizen sector organizations, and individuals. To complement the donation, Vía Tecnológica trains students so they can utilize the computers in their everyday activities. Claudia and her colleagues work to increase the communities' technological capacity by training young people in computer maintenance and repair. They have also formed alliances with schools and local citizen sector organizations to facilitate shared access to the Internet. Unlike most comparable programs, which tend to focus on hardware and software provision, Vía Tecnológica invests the majority of its resources in capacity building to maximize economic, social, and technological benefits.