Community Digitization Index developed by the Millennium Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data (NUDOS) - Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data

The Communal Digitalization Index (IDC), developed by the Millennium Nucleus of Inequalities and Digital Opportunities (NUDOS), with the participation of IMFD researchers Sebastián Valenzuela, academic at the UC School of Communications, and Sergio Toro, director of the School of Government at the Universidad Mayor, measured connectivity in homes, its use in schools and the implementation of digital services in 301 of the 345 municipalities in the country.

The purpose of this indicator is to monitor at a territorial level the private and public initiatives that allow progress in the digitalization of Chilean society, consisting of three dimensions: connectivity in homes, digital education and digital municipality. From this data, an index was generated that classifies 4 levels of communal digitalization: High, Medium High, Medium Low and Low.

The index shows which municipalities achieve higher levels of digitalization and how to better focus efforts in territories that are more isolated than the rest in terms of connectivity, in order to discuss at the public level what can be offered to have more and/or better digital inclusion throughout the 301 municipalities with which we worked.

IDC Results

The results show that there are considerable gaps between municipalities in the levels of digitization, particularly between urban and rural areas. Of the 82 urban communes analyzed, 54 were in the high category. However, only 8 of 142 rural communes that were studied have a high digitization index and 62 have a low rating.

Meanwhile, Las Condes, Santo Domingo, Viña del Mar, Temuco, Vitacura, Providencia, Concepción and Concón are the most digitized localities in Chile, which shows that rurality, distance from more urbanized sectors or lower population density are not always factors that define the level of digitization.

You can read the full Communal Digitization Index report here: https://indice.nudos.cl/