Melissa also wants to be a scientist, but her passion is dinosaurs, and while she can’t remember what the word is for a “dinosaur scientist” or even commit to a favourite dinosaur (“they’re all my favourites”), she can tell you where exactly to find out about them so you can choose a favourite for yourself.

When they aren’t planning their future careers, the two girls are working on their business idea — making and selling body lotions and other natural beauty products — and researching ingredients and packaging materials. Sizanenhle has saved page after page of recipes and information on the computer she uses at Timbuktu in the Valley, the skills development space where the girls meet in the afternoons when they return from their separate schools. They plan to sell their products at local markets, or even on the web itself. Melissa gives an overview of what they’ve found in their research. “You can make it cheaply, or more expensive, but then you have to have people to buy it. You need a good name for your business. You need to work hard”.

Their confidence, and independence, in using the web to access information is remarkable when one considers their context. In South Africa, where 50% of the population has basic internet access, only 13% of people are meaningfully connected and are able to use the web regularly and reliably. Little girls in low-income communities are rarely represented in that figure.

Christinah, a facilitator at the school, has seen the difference that regular internet access can make in the lives of young people who, through frequent exposure, become comfortable and capable using the web to pursue opportunities and interests. “There seems to be a belief that kids from certain backgrounds lack curiosity, or intention. But that’s not the case at all. For some kids, their backgrounds are full of deprivation. They have curiosity, but nowhere to put it. The internet becomes an outlet for that, and they can be independent too, which matters when there is no one at home to guide this. The independence is so important”.

This agency and self-sufficiency needs to be supported not with basic access, but with meaningful connectivity: regular access on an appropriate device with sufficient data and a fast connection.

Here we untangle the power of meaningful connectivity to transform lives and communities and unpack the data from the first ever multi-country study of meaningful connectivity.

Quiz time

Fill in the blank: The existing measure used to calculate whether someone has basic internet access counts any internet use in the last _____.

The power of meaningful connectivity

As the world grappled with the public health demands of Covid-19 stay at home orders, huge parts of human life moved online. Whereas it was once an optional luxury, internet access became a crucial way to learn, to bank, to access healthcare, and to stay informed.

But the digital divide now is no longer just about who’s online and offline. Billions lack the quality of access they need to make the most of the internet. These stories illustrate the impact meaningful connectivity can have on society, and why it should be the new target for internet access across the globe.