Comprehensive Inclusive Ecosystems (CIEs): Emerging Technologies to Reduce Wealth Inequality in Latin America

Analysis of the Brazilian, Colombian, and Peruvian Case Studies

William Kearns-Durán

Junior Thesis

April 6, 2022

UN Sustainable Development Goal 10 establishes reducing inequality within and between countries as a crucial public policy objective.[i] Yet, wealth and income inequality remain a persistent and vexing problem for emerging market economies, especially in Latin America which ranks, along with sub-Saharan Africa, as the world’s most unequal region. IMF analyses show a correlation between wealth and income inequality and chronic poverty, as well as a lack of social mobility among the lower economic ladder or among certain ethnic groups, such as indigenous people in the Andean region of Latin America.[ii] Chronic wealth and income inequality stagnates social mobility, labor productivity and long term macro-economic growth.[iii]  The IMF has also concluded that a strong correlation exists for persistent wealth inequality and governmental corruption, deterioration of confidence in political institutions, and increased  risk of social or political crises.[iv] Hence, decreasing wealth and income inequality presents an important development goal for Latin American countries.

Three important areas of focus to reduce wealth inequality include facilitating financial inclusion, improving education, and providing better healthcare to poorer members of society. Financial inclusion is “the access and use of formal financial services to all, including the most vulnerable.”[v] Financial inclusion allows for more access into the mainstream economy, better access to credit, and social mobility.[vi]  In fact, the World Bank, and the UN both recognize the need for financial inclusion as a key element in reducing poverty and wealth inequality in developing countries.[vii] Access to education provides a second crucial factor in reducing wealth and income inequality.[viii] Education is a catalyst for social mobility, job growth and increased wages.[ix] At the same time, higher education levels are also associated with better health care, as well as health care decisions, while unequal access to health care reduces life expectancy and quality of life. Hence, access to education forms another key component in reducing wealth and income inequality.[x] However, urban, and rural populations in Latin America often lack access to basic health care services, a situation exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis.[xi]

Internet based technologies can be effective tools to achieve these goals when properly implemented. Mobile payment systems which dovetail with increased mobile phone usage can increase financial inclusion. Online instruction can provide better education in poorer, especially rural, areas. Telemedicine, defined as the “use of electronic communications and information technologies to provide clinical services when participants are in different locations,” can deliver healthcare to urban and rural populations. However, in order for internet-based technologies to be effective, governments must create an ecosystem that allows the major constituencies in providing and using the service, especially poor users, to participate in a user-friendly manner. The ecosystem must also consider the non-technology aspects of service delivery, such as teachers in education or medical practitioners in healthcare and not just the legal framework for internet-based services. This analysis coins a new phrase, a “Comprehensive Inclusive Ecosystem” or “CIE” to define this ecosystem. Examining the experiences of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru illustrates the challenges and opportunities of creating CIEs for internet-based new technologies to facilitate financial inclusion, bridge the gap in educational opportunities, and improve access to health care.

            Although there has been a reduction of wealth inequality in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru since the early 2000s, these countries still have a long road to solve this issue. According to the World Bank Index, for example, the Gini coefficients, an international standard for wealth inequality which measures income or wealth over a sample population,[xii] found that from 1967 through 2019, the wealth/inequality Gini coefficients for Brazil, Columbia and Peru were 53.4, 51.3, and 41.5, respectively.[xiii] While the Gini coefficient lacks representation of the informal economy,[xiv] discrepancies in income distribution[xv] and structural composition of the population,[xvi] it is the most widely used measurement and therefore is the standard used in this analysis. Brazil and Colombia have similar values within the 50s, representing an unequal societal wealth distribution. Despite their respective economic success, their wealth is not distributed equally among its population, but rather is maintained by a small minority. For example, a UNESCO study

of Brazilian tax receipts which found that from the period of 2006-2013 the top 1% of Brazilians collected 25% of the income in the country.[xvii]

There is also a wealth and income gap between rural areas and urban areas. In Brazil, the increased productivity of urban areas allows workers to have higher returns while the workers in rural areas tend to have lower returns due to productivity in fields such as agriculture.[xviii] In Colombia, 66.8% of the rural and primarily indigenous population is considered to live in poverty while 31.9% of the urban population is considered to live in poverty.[xix] Therefore, Colombia’s wealth is not only distributed poorly, but also creates two divides: one between the rich and the poor, and another between the wealthier urban areas and the impoverished rural population centers. Although Peru’s GDP is considerably lower than Brazil and Colombia, it is a much more equal country with a Gini coefficient of 41.5. Similar to Brazil and Colombia, Peru’s urban/rural divide in wealth inequality is also prevalent. As of 2021, 26% of Peru’s urban population lives in poverty while 46% of rural populations are under the poverty line. In 2014, rural poverty rates in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru were 29%, 42% and 46%, respectively.[xx] In 2016, rural poverty throughout Latin America was 48.6% of the population in 2016 and extreme poverty was 22.5% of the population, such that by 2017 there were 59 million poor and 27 million extremely poor people in Latin America.[xxi] In 2016, the “poverty gap” between urban and rural areas was 22.4%, meaning that being born in a rural area increased the likelihood of being impoverished.[xxii] Hence, any meaningful approach to wealth and income inequality must consider the effects of not only the urban poor but the rural poor as well.  The above statistics illustrate why combatting wealth and inequality is so important in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru and that unlocking the potential of internet-based technologies through the creations of CIEs is an important public policy goal.  Brazil, Latin America’s largest and most unequal economy, presents a superb first case on the importance of creating CIEs for internet-based technologies in the areas of financial inclusion, education, and healthcare.

I. BRAZIL

A.    Mobile Payment Systems and Financial Inclusion.

A June 2021 survey by Instituto Locomotiva estimates that 10% of the Brazilian population does not have a bank account, or 16 million people, and another 17.7 million people, or 11% of the population does not use their bank accounts for financial transactions.[xxiii]  These under-banked Brazilians are primarily young poor women in rural and urban areas.[xxiv] Brazil has tried to use mobile payment systems to deliver government cash grants to this underbanked population while also making the cash payment programs more efficient. For example, The “Bolsa Familia'' program (renamed “Brazil Aid” by the Bolsonaro Administration in 2021) is a “conditional cash transfer” program which provides monthly cash payments to poorer Brazilian families on the condition that their children stay in school and that the recipients seek regular health care.[xxv] An important distinguishing feature of the distribution of funds for the Brazil Aid/Bolsa Familia, was the development of “correspondent banks” to deliver money to the recipients throughout the country. The program is administered through Caixa Econômica Federal which established “correspondent banks” in locations such as post offices, small groceries stores, micro-finance institutions in areas which often did not have traditional bank branches.[xxvi]  While this system was largely successful, the program became more digitized after 2015 and as a result, recipients can receive payments electronically.[xxvii] This shift to electronic payments, where the recipient essentially is able to “bypass” the traditional banking system, has reduced transaction costs from 14.2% to 2.6% of total expenditures.[xxviii] Moreover, the payments come directly from the government through a federal registry and do not need to pass through other governmental bodies.[xxix] As governmental corruption remains an issue in Brazil, this use of mobile payment systems provides a further benefit to the effectiveness of the program, as secure electronic payment systems result in less leakage from corporations. Mobile penetration in Brazil is 87% of the population, compared to only 50% for financial inclusion for traditional banking systems.[xxx] Hence, the example of the Bolsa Familia and mobile payments illustrates the role financial technology (“Fintech”), and connectivity can play in financial inclusion.

In fact, other Fintech examples in Brazil further demonstrate how these emerging technologies can increase financial inclusion for Brazil’s poor. While the traditional model of Brazilian banking has excluded much of the population and charged high fees and interest rates, Fintech firms such as Nubank provide free digital accounts, loan services, insurance, and investment products as well as zero fee credit cards to both incentivize new customers to join and to offer financial services to the unbanked.[xxxi] Combining mobile payment systems with micro-lending can encourage more sustainable practices among Brazilian farmers, such as growing sustainable cocoa rather than slash and burn crops or cattle ranching.

While there have been advances in the use of mobile payments in Brazil, past failures in trying to implement mobile payment systems also serve as a cautionary lesson for policymakers. As part of the Bolsa Familia program, Banco Palmas launched a mobile payment site in 2010. Included in the “ecosystem” were Palmas, as a microfinance lender, merchants, and a retail bank. While the program showed progress, it failed to be widely adopted throughout the country. Some of the issues included the lack of integration, the complexity of the system, and the failure of encouraging adoption by the end users.[xxxii] Therefore, the pilot project was deemed a failure as it did not create a user friendly “ecosystem” that incorporated the needs of all constituents, especially with respect to simplicity for the end user.[xxxiii]

However, Brazil has launched two major initiatives, regulations for a phased-in open banking system and the PIX digital payment system launched in 2019, which avoid the issues facing the Banco Palmas’ failure and come closer to creating an effective CIE for mobile payment systems. Open banking refers to the ability of non-financial institutions to engage in banking activities by allowing financial institutions to share data with non-financial institutions, and Brazil launched an open banking reform program to be fully implemented by the end of 2022.[xxxiv]  Resolution 4,480 forms one key component of this reform to help poorer Brazilians open digital bank accounts. This resolution reduced the need for a government issued ID and other onerous documentation requirements for opening accounts.[xxxv] Consequently, banks implementing this resolution, such as Banco Pactual and Intermedium, have been able to open low-cost accounts for poorer Brazilians.[xxxvi] The net result is an increased customer base and ability for poorer Brazilians to have access to the financial system. For example, in 2016 alone, Intermedium increased its accounts by 70,000 in the first year after implementation of Resolution 4,480. In addition to the open banking reform, Brazil has also launched the PIX digital payment system run by the Central Bank. In 2019, Brazil launched the BC#Agenda, a plan to allow for greater access to the banking system through Inclusion, Competitiveness, Transparency, and Sustainability.[xxxvii]  The PIX digital payment system forms a principal component of this agenda. PIX offers a digital payment system that allows for users to create an account with an email address or phone number. Users can link accounts and the system has been designed, unlike the Banco Palmas system, to be easy to use and user-friendly. The PIX system allows for worldwide payments, cross-currency payments, simple to use features, and cyber security.[xxxviii]  It can be used for consumer bill payments or transactions as well as B2B applications.[xxxix] PIX has reduced fraud and by eliminating intermediaries, transaction fees.[xl] Brazil has sought to use PIX and digitized payment systems to increase financial inclusion, such as by adding recipients of the CAIXA government payments into a digitized payment system during COVID-19.[xli]  The rollout of PIX has been extremely successful, and the Brazilian Central Bank estimates that 62% of adults and 54% of companies use PIX.[xlii] While PIX is relatively new, a 2020 Mastercard Report estimates that combination of PIX and open banking resulted in a 73% reduction in unbanked poor Brazilians receiving government payments.[xliii]

PIX and the open banking reform contain crucial elements of a CIE for financial inclusion.  The government created a central legal and payment processing framework. Service providers, such as telecommunications companies, banks, and FinTech’s, can all use the system for consumer payments but also bill payment and B2B transactions. The App is easy for consumers to use and account opening is facilitated through an email, cell phone number or government ID, all relatively common forms of identification for poorer Brazilians. PIX links multiple accounts, allowing for access to a broad array of financial services. The ecosystem piggybacks on the penetration of mobile phone usage, even among Brazil’s poor. Hence, Brazil seems to be on its way creating a CIE for financial inclusion. Online education and telemedicine, however, are proving to be more challenging.

B.     Online Education to Reduce Inequality.

Brazilian policy makers also realize the need to increase access to online education to reduce wealth inequality. Unequal access to education is a primary driver of perpetual wealth inequality in Brazil, especially in rural areas and among the rural and urban poor.[xliv],[xlv] The United Nations Social Development goals recognize the role of  education in providing social mobility and reducing poverty.[xlvi] In a recent study, Brazilian students, even without accounting for the differences in educational access for socio-economic status, scored 65th in Math and 63rd in Science, at the lowest end of the educational quality scale.[xlvii] Academic achievements and level of proficiency in Math and Portuguese for 5th and 9th graders demonstrated that students in poorer and rural areas significantly underachieved relative to their wealthier urban classmates.[xlviii] A 2017 poll by Brazilian public teachers blamed a lack of equipment and technological resources as hampering the success of their students.[xlix] Through the use of private-public partnerships, the traditionally underfunded public education system can be bolstered by NGOs (non-government organizations) and private companies to improve educational opportunities for poorer Brazilians.[l] For example, Google for Education has launched a program to provide computers and training to public school students and teachers in poor areas such as Colègio Agostiniano São José.[li] Additionally, as education becomes more digital and online resources become a more crucial element in education, socio-economic and rural/urban divides become even more pronounced, as evidenced by the shift to online learning during COVID-19.[lii] Upper and middle class students primarily attend private secondary schools and have far more access to online learning, almost on par with developed countries, whereas poorer students often lacked these resources and suffered academically as a result.[liii] Moreover, this disparity is even more pronounced in rural states like Amazonas, where over 90% of the schools are in rural areas with limited resources and student populations who are primarily poor.[liv] Recognizing this disparity and the importance of online learning, especially in rural areas that often lack resources and quality teachers, in 2020 the World Bank announced a program in Brazil to subsidize the purchase of tablets and digital equipment for economically impoverished areas, which represents a rapid policy response to the COVID-19 crisis’s effect on education in Brazil.[lv]

A number of NGOs and companies are working to bridge this technological resource gap to make education for poorer students more equitable in Brazil. For example, Fundação Lemann is a leader in combining online resources and teacher training to improve the quality of public education for poorer Brazilians.[lvi] It partners with various organizations to achieve these goals. One of them, Nova Escola, specifically focuses on teacher materials, online resources, and has an online platform of over three million users to further prepare teachers and provide materials for public school education.[lvii] Its materials, accessed online, are used by 64% of Brazilian public school teachers. As a result of these and other efforts by NGOs, Brazilian government initiatives, and programs by the World Bank and UNESCO, over half of Brazilian teachers have access to and use laptops to improve the quality of education for younger, poorer students.[lviii] Therefore, while access to laptops and tablets for poorer students still seems to be lacking, initiatives in Brazil are beginning to use new technologies to bridge the educational gap.

Nevertheless, the Brazilian experience illustrates the difficulties in creating a CIE for online education. In addition to internet content, schools must have the appropriate tools, not just mobile phones, for delivering the online content. Teachers must be adequately trained, and there must be enough teachers for the students, even though online education can allow for less teachers. In a post COVID-19 world, the actual school infrastructure is also important. Hence, a CIE in education needs to combine in person and online elements.

C.  Telemedicine to Increase Access to Healthcare.

The Brazilian Constitution establishes healthcare as a universal right, and telemedicine can play an important role in equalizing access to healthcare.[lix] Telemedicine presents tremendous potential to reduce unequal access to health care in emerging markets, but obstacles often stifle implementation.[lx] Brazil is currently addressing one of these obstacles through offering telemedicine services throughout the country.[lxi] In 2007, the Brazilian Ministry of Health issued Ordinance 35/2007 which created the “Telehealth Brazil Networks Program,” a test program in nine states throughout the country to implement telemedicine initiatives.[lxii] This program created teleconsulting, telediagnosis and teleeducation for primary care and was expanded nationally in 2010.[lxiii] While execution of this program has greatly increased the use of telemedicine throughout Brazil, it also highlights the need for trained technicians in poor rural areas.[lxiv] Where Brazil has been lacking is a comprehensive regulatory approach for the implementation of telemedicine initiatives beyond the Telehealth initiative. Consequently, during COVID-19, there was unequal access to telemedicine throughout the country.[lxv]

Unequal access to telemedicine remains a primary hindrance to universal access to healthcare, especially in rural areas. Since the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the lack of funding in rural areas for telemedicine access,[lxvi] and non-profit entities such as SAS Brazil have been created to fill this void. SAS has not only provided increased access but has also successfully advocated for changing Brazilian law. In the 79 Brazilian laws governing telemedicine, for example, telemedicine in rural areas, unlike in urban areas, was only permitted between medical professionals.[lxvii] Now, as a result of SAS’ advocacy, telemedicine is permitted between medical professionals and patients in rural areas to increase access. While this is a positive development, Brazil needs to educate and increase the number of rural medical and/or nurse practitioners so that telemedicine can bridge the gap in access to healthcare. At the same time, institutions such as the Edumed Institute have also created educational and incubation initiatives for the adoption of electronic health records and telemedicine Apps that can increase access to healthcare while requiring fewer healthcare professionals, an initiative which could allow for furthering the goal of universal access to healthcare in Brazil.[lxviii]

While Brazil is making progress in developing a telemedicine CIE, more work needs to be done. In particular, a comprehensive legal framework for telemedicine does not exist, especially with respect to potentially allowing non-medical semi-professionals to function as conduits with lesser educated poor patients. Delivery systems, like a universal telemedicine App are lacking as well as more technicians with IPADs or tablets. Nevertheless, the Brazilian telemedicine initiatives are a “work in progress” in creating a CIE to unlock telemedicine’s full potential.

II. COLOMBIA

A.    Mobile Payment Systems and Financial Inclusion.

Colombia is the third fastest growing Fintech location in Latin America, behind Mexico and Brazil,[lxix] and a 2019 Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) study ranked Colombia as the world’s top jurisdiction for using Fintech for financial inclusion.[lxx] A key component of Colombia’s success is the legal framework to facilitate mobile payment systems, Decree 1735 in 2014, commonly known as the Financial Inclusion Law, created Sociedades Especializadas en Depósitos y Pagos Electrónicos (SEDPEs). SEDPEs are specially licensed entities that can accept deposits and process financial transactions without obtaining a banking license to reduce the transaction costs and facilitate greater participation in the financial sector among poorer Colombians.[lxxi] Deposits are guaranteed by the Deposit Guarantee Fund and there are no minimum amounts for establishing an account. This law also simplified “know your client” (KYC) account opening procedures and established cyber currency standards as well.[lxxii] The net result is that companies such as Movil, Coink and Powwi, established networks for electronic payments for public services, person-to-person financial transactions, and person-to-business financial transactions.[lxxiii] A subsequent 2015 law, Decree 2038, established the Intersectoral Commission for Financial Inclusion (CIIF), a multi-institutional body for creating the appropriate regulations for mobile payment systems to increase financial inclusion.[lxxiv] The government regulatory bodies include the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Communications, among others.[lxxv] Public sector banks, such as Banco de La República, Banco Oportunidades, and Banco Agro are also members of the CIIF and private sector mobile companies, the Chamber of Commerce, banks and representatives of the agricultural community form a consultative committee.[lxxvi] The net result is that all of the necessary constituencies provided input for the regulatory framework to facilitate development of mobile payment systems with a goal to increase financial inclusion.[lxxvii] This system continues to evolve and in 2020, Decree 222 expanded the reach of these SEDPEs by making it easier for users with no previous banking history to access the financial system with zero fees and no minimum account thresholds.[lxxviii] The net result is that by 2019, according to the Global Microscope Study, 83.3% of the Colombian adult population had access to some financial products, and that there were over 28,9 million Colombians with access to the financial system. Increased participation rates continue, with almost 540,000 new entrants to the financial system in the first half of 2019 alone.[lxxix]

The Colombian example illustrates that a CIE need not be controlled through a government entity, like the PIX BCB processing in Brazil. Colombia first created a comprehensive legal framework for financial inclusion and allowed the SEDPEs to grow. The CIE is part of Colombia’s drive to be a Fintech leader. The simplicity in the design for the mobile payment systems has been designed by the various companies. While over time harmonization may take place in the market, Colombia demonstrates that a decentralized model in creating CIE or multiple CIEs for financial inclusion can be effective.

This impressive record has also increased the use of mobile payment systems in various sectors of the economy to achieve social development goals. For example, Agroprestamo partnered with Cargill in 2020 to provide credit for smaller farmers to engage in more sustainable palm oil production using mobile payment systems and a “scoring mechanism” for maintaining sustainability goals.[lxxx] By 2020, at least 40 Fintech start-ups were created to provide nano-credit and micro credit to assist Colombia’s urban and rural poor.[lxxxi] Hence, Colombia’s growing Fintech center and using this new technology to reduce wealth inequality through increased financial inclusion are growing simultaneously.

B.     Online Education to Reduce Inequality.

Despite increases in participation rates for education by poorer Colombians, access to education remains unequal across socioeconomic and regional areas of Colombia.[lxxxii] For example, in 2016 only 25% of poorer Colombians attended university, compared to 51% of wealthier Colombians, and participation in secondary school education is 20% higher in urban than rural areas.[lxxxiii] The situation has improved in Colombia, which has a goal set by former President Santos to be Latin America’s “most educated country”, and the average number of years Colombian youth attend school has increased since 2007.[lxxxiv] The Colombian government launched the “Everyone Learns” program in 2012 to ensure that poorer students, whether in urban or rural areas, have access to elementary education.[lxxxv]  Nevertheless, as Colombia ranked last among OECD countries in educational preparation in 2018, Colombian schools have chronic problems of poor infrastructure and inadequately trained teachers.[lxxxvi]

While online educational initiatives have tried to bridge this educational access gap, Colombia lacks a coherent integrated policy for online education to assist poorer students, especially in rural areas. While in 2012 only 37% of economically disadvantaged students had computers at home and 17% had access to the internet, Colombian schools in poorer areas still had a student-to-computer ratio of 3:1, reflecting a substantial investment by the Colombian government to bridge the technological gap.[lxxxvii] A 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) found that 78% of teachers in Colombia reported letting their students use computers for classwork, higher than the OECD average.[lxxxviii] However, over 64% of principals in Colombia noted that there was inadequate online and computer resources for class instruction.[lxxxix] The Program for the International Student Assessment (PISA) also found in 2018 that Colombian students understood the importance of working hard in school and viewed online resources as helpful in achieving their goals.[xc] Nevertheless, a digital divide still exists hurting the educational opportunities of poorer students. NGOs such as Fundación Able have tried to bridge the "digital divide” for economically disadvantaged children through the creation of schools in poorer areas of Cali, for example, which were able to provide online instruction during COVID-19.[xci] AWS Edstart, an Amazon affiliated EdTech accelerator, also expanded into Colombia in 2021 to assist in further development of online educational resources,[xcii] However, the COVID-19 crisis illustrates the drawbacks of a comprehensive policy for online education, especially as it relates to internet access. For example, a 2020 survey on responses to online learning as a result of the pandemic conducted by the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC) found that principals of the rural districts of Boyacá, Cundinamarca, and Santander, found that only a handful of students had internet access for the online programs created to continue education during the pandemic.[xciii] A lack of resources and political changes at the city administration level also reduced the effectiveness of programs to gain internet access for poorer rural children.[xciv] A systemic, inclusive approach to internet access online learning for poorer areas, especially rural areas, would have mitigated these issues.

The Colombian experience with online education illustrates the importance of the “Comprehensive” element of CIEs. Students and teachers need internet access to be able to participate in online education and hence internet access forms a necessary part of any CIE. Because of limited resources, NGOs and corporations play a significant role in creating a CIE, especially in laptops and IPADs. With respect to inclusion, the Colombian experience highlights the need for inclusion of parents, teachers, and students in understanding the importance of education and how online resources can allow students to further achieve this goal. Achieving a CIE for online education in Colombia, as in Brazil, is not as far along as a financial inclusion CIE but nevertheless the initial foundations are in place.

C.    Telemedicine to Increase Access to Healthcare.

While Colombia has made a concerted effort to expand telehealth and telemedicine services, access in poorer rural areas remains limited. Colombia has had an established legal framework for telemedicine since 2007. Colombian law differentiates Telehealth (Telesalud) and Telemedicine, which addresses the specific medical procedures and treatments. The primary governing laws are law 1419 of 2010, the Ministry of Health Resolutions 2654 and 3100 issued in 2019, and Resolution 538 of 2020 which expanded the use of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic.[xcv] The Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) compiles statistics on telemedicine in Colombia. Through 2020, there have been a total of 3,245 telehealth and telemedicine services offered by 51,490 practitioners. The services were primarily delivered over the mobile internet 39.3% and the penetration was primarily in urban areas 76.9% compared to 23.02% in rural areas.[xcvi] The Colombian government has also launched the National Rural Health Plan (PNSR) with the goal to expand telehealth services to the entire country.[xcvii] While rural access in particular remains limited, there are initiatives to provide telemedicine in remote areas where healthcare would otherwise not be available to poorer members of the population. For example, the University of Caldas, in partnership with the Caldas state government, administers a novel mobile health delivery system to remote areas that the EU is looking to replicate.[xcviii] The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Colombia has also launched an incubator program to deliver telemedical neonatal services to rural Colombia[xcix], and Skynet is launching a satellite internet service to increase penetration in remote rural areas for telemedicine as well as other broadband internet applications.[c] Nevertheless, as in other countries of Latin America, a lack of qualified medical practitioners in remote areas as well as limited internet remain obstacles to delivering telemedicine services to poor Colombians in rural areas.[ci]

As in online education, creating a CIE in telemedicine remains difficult because of the non-technological elements of the ecosystem. Colombia needs more medical practitioners or a mechanism for technicians to be able to interface with patients and doctors, especially in rural areas. At the same time, the delivery systems for telemedicine can be put in place. And while not a CIE the telemedicine infrastructure in Colombia is beginning to form. The Colombian experience is similar to that in Brazil and, as discussed below, Peru. Financial inclusion CIEs are easier to implement than CIEs in education or telemedicine.

III. PERU

A.    Mobile Payment Systems and Financial Inclusion.

Peru’s initiative to increase financial inclusion through a multi-faceted collaborative effort, dubbed by the IFC as “Modelo Peru,” presents a superb example of the promise of mobile payment systems in increasing financing participation for poorer citizens. Prior to this effort, Peru ranked low among Latin countries for financial inclusion. Commercial banking branches were concentrated in the coastal areas 59% and in 2015 only 31 districts in Peru had access to banking facilities.[cii] Recognizing the need to expand access to financial services for the Peruvian population, in July 2015, Peru created the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (ENIF) to facilitate a joint approach among telecommunications providers, banks, the financial regulator and other government institutions for an inclusive mobile payment system.[ciii] The Peruvian Banking Association (ASBANC) and authorized electronic money transfer entities created a jointly owned entity, Pagos Digitales Peruanos (PDP) to design and implement the new mobile platform, with impact from telecommunications companies and the Peruvian government.[civ] The Better Than Cash Alliance, a joint entity of governments, private sector companies and the UN to facilitate online payment systems for social development,[cv] also contributed to this effort to create a platform that would be user friendly for poorer members of Peruvian society to use.[cvi] After winning a competitive bid among 22 companies, Erickson then began developing a mobile wallet system and platform that could be used to implement this plan.[cvii] In February 2016, Billetera Movil (BIM) launched to connect unbanked poorer Peruvians to telecoms and the banking sector.[cviii]

The genius of the BIM system is its simplicity and its inclusion of the major players in the market. BIM allows for these users to SMS transfers using their mobile numbers.[cix] The system includes all of the major telecom companies, electronic money transfer companies, and banks. Therefore, one group is not competing with another but rather all are working through the same framework with PDP acting as the central clearing mechanism. [cx] Users can also contact any of a number of “agents” in the system (which include pharmacies and small shops) to facilitate remittances or other transactions.[cxi] As Carolina Trivelli, a Managing Director of the PDP, also notes, the platform also emphasized simplicity for its users, using common terms rather than “bankish terms” such as “putting money in the phone” rather than the word “deposit.”[cxii] In addition to person to person (P2P) transactions, the BIM platform also includes supplier and commercial payments and even a simplified income tax payment mechanism.[cxiii] At the same time, while users of the system gain access to financial networks, banks learn about these new customers for potentially new business and market penetration in the future.[cxiv]  BIM also comes as a result of important legal changes Peru implemented in 2013 for anti-money laundering and licensing of electronic money transfer firms.[cxv]

The BIM platform solves various issues with respect to financial inclusion. First, the geographical barrier to entry to the system as a result of a lack of bank branches is solved through the mobile payments mechanism.[cxvi] It reduces transaction costs on remittances compared to banks, such as only 10 US cents for $30 remittances. [cxvii] The documentation requirement for participation in the financial system is substantially reduced as users only need to provide their national ID to set up an account on their mobile phone.[cxviii] BIM also piggybacks on the penetration of mobile phone usage in Peru of 80% nationally, including in rural areas.[cxix] Hence, it creates a system which is cheap, efficient, easy to understand, and can become a part of the user’s daily routine.

The BIM platform has been remarkably successful, as evidenced by both statistics on usage as well as examples on how it has helped poorer members of Peruvian society become more financially inclusive. Estimates at launch were that the BIM system could reach 10 million customers,[cxx] and two years after launch there were 600,000 users for over 8 million transactions.[cxxi] By 2021, there were over 1 million users.[cxxii] The BIM network has expanded to allow for payment of utility bills[cxxiii], micro credit[cxxiv], and as of 2022 an ISO-2022 instant payments system, connecting users in Peru with other countries such as Argentina and Brazil without going through the banking system.[cxxv] The anecdotal history of Cirila Quillahuamán, a Quechan knit working artisan in the rural Andean village of Chincero, demonstrates the benefits to Peru’s rural poor of the BIM network. Before the platform was launched, she kept her savings in a mattress. Relying on tourism, she knits traditional Peruvian hats and would often have to travel to Cusco markets to buy wool. Instead, she can use her mobile phone to buy materials and does not lose days of productivity.[cxxvi] Financial inclusion is increasing her ability to earn and potentially participate in other aspects of the financial systems such as extensions of credit through microlending. Hence, the promise of innovative technologies in the form of mobile payment systems to increase financial inclusion for Peru’s poorer citizens is becoming a reality.

Modelo Peru represents a gold standard in creating a CIE for financial inclusion. BIM is the result of a coordinated approach among the government, private sector, and organizations like PDP specifically created to implement the ecosystem. Modelo Peru also illustrates that a CIE need not be government run like the PIX BCB run platform but also can be more centralized than the Colombian model. Hence, the three case studies illustrate that public policy makers can create a CIE for financial inclusion that best suits each country’s political and institutional dynamics.

B. Online Education to Reduce Inequality.

Like many countries, Peru expanded online education during COVID-19, and that experience highlights the need for additional efforts to increase access to education for poorer, especially rural, students. In 2020, with COVID-19 induced closures affecting 8 million Peruvian students, the government announced the Aprendo en Casa (AEC) program for at-home online education.[cxxvii] A survey of Peruvian students and parents conducted by the Ministry of Education found that over 78% of the students accessed this program through the television and 22% through the internet, including websites and streaming services.[cxxviii] Given the substantial penetration of cellphones, cellphones were the primary method of receiving the online educational content over the internet for 89% of the respondents.[cxxix]  However, limited internet access was a problem for many rural and poorer students, and content had to be modified for cellphone usage, potentially limiting the effectiveness of the instruction.[cxxx] At the same time, however, because of the lack of internet access throughout the country, over 60% of rural Peruvian students did not have regular access to the AEC content, limiting the effectiveness of the program.[cxxxi] Highlighted by the COVID-19 experience, while online educational programs showed progress, but spotty internet access, lack of qualified teachers, and shortage of tablets or other equipment remained impediments to using online resources to reduce educational inequality, especially in rural areas.[cxxxii] Although there have been initiatives to mitigate this issue, especially with respect to providing internet available resources “offline” to rural areas,[cxxxiii] to date there does not appear to be a systematic nationwide effort to simultaneously address the issues of lack of teachers and internet access to reduce educational inequality in Peru.

 Peru was an early mover in attempting to allow its students to have computers and launched a “one laptop for every child” campaign in 2012, spending over $200 million to purchase 800,000 basic laptops.[cxxxiv] While the goal was commendable, the program did not coordinate with teacher training or lack of internet access in rural areas and therefore produced mixed results.[cxxxv] Despite the COVID-19 and the laptop program, Peru’s efforts at online education still fall short from a lack of coordination and resources. As of 2017, Peru spent an abysmal 3.92% of its GDP on education and 2.36% on school improvement.[cxxxvi] NGOs are trying to bridge the gap and these efforts would be enhanced by online learning. For example, UNICEF Peru launched the “Friendly Schooling” initiative in 2017 to reduce issues of isolation, gender inequality, and language barriers, the latter especially in areas where indigenous languages like Quechua or Amarya are the student’s primary spoken languages.[cxxxvii] Online resources could assist in the success of these programs, but there needs to be a coordinated policy approach which to date appears to be lacking.

Like the Colombian example, Peru’s efforts in creating an online education CIE highlights the non-technology elements of the ecosystem. The “one laptop for every child” program needed more qualified teachers while at the same time COVID-19 online educational initiatives were limited by providing primarily cellphone content. As in Colombia, internet access remained a problem in rural areas and policy makers need to consider how StarLink or other satellite-based technologies can be used. Combining internet access, more tablets, and more qualified teachers can facilitate an online education CIE. As in Colombia, because of limited resources, NGOs and corporations can play a part in this process.

C. Telemedicine to Increase Access to Healthcare.

      Peru has created a telehealth network to provide healthcare services to poorer Peruvians but so far access has remained limited. Peru has adopted a comprehensive legal framework for Telehealth. In 2003, Supreme Resolution No. 009-2003-MTC3 established the National Telehealth Commission to coordinate initiatives for telehealth in the country. This initiative was followed by a 2005 comprehensive Telehealth law, establishment of Peru Telehealth Network in 2017, as well as laws with established rules for liability, permissibility of using telemedicine by healthcare professionals, and e-health reimbursement guidelines.[cxxxviii] The Telehealth Network also seeks to establish projects to assist access to healthcare in rural areas, such as EHAS Peru, designed to create a database of healthcare workers in rural Peru and assist them in gaining access to online resources.[cxxxix] The EsSalud Scientific Information Network (RIC) was also created to facilitate information gathering in each department (i.e. state) in Peru to offer up to date information to medical professionals, training, and access to telehealth resources.[cxl] These telemedicine efforts have especially focused on projects for specific specialized care, such as the Telemedicine Cardiological Network for the National Heart Institute (INCCR) to provide telehealth care for cardiology patients throughout the country.[cxli] The Ministry of Health has also implemented telehealth programs to improve Peru’s high infant mortality rate issues in rural and urban areas[cxlii] and institutions such as Socio Salud have created Apps or “Chatbots” such as Casita to assist in mental health issues for poorer Peruvians.[cxliii] In coordination with the UN and the IEEE Humanitarian Technology Challenge, Peru has also implemented a WIFI for the Amazon system for remote areas to gain access to telemedicine.[cxliv] Despite these initiatives, access to telemedicine remains spotty. For example, a study by Dartmouth’s Rockefeller Center found that rural patients were often unaware of telemedicine services and health care professionals in rural areas criticized the lack of teaching by their counterparts on other diagnoses and not only the one at hand.[cxlv] Cultural barriers to adoption continue to exist in rural indigenous populations and access to telecommunications commitment, as well as the internet, remains an issue.[cxlvi] Some analysts have suggested that rather than the sporadic approach that has been implemented so far, a more comprehensive and holistic approach to telemedicine throughout the Peruvian healthcare system would increase the effectiveness of telemedicine in access to healthcare for poorer Peruvians.[cxlvii]

      Peru has implemented many of the necessary elements for a CIE in telemedicine, but the Peruvian experience again highlights the human capital element in delivering online healthcare services. More trained medical practitioners in rural areas will increase access to healthcare. At the same time, an informational campaign to let poorer Peruvians know that telemedicine opportunities exist, especially in rural areas, will increase usage. The Peruvian telemedicine CIE also needs to expand the services provided, especially with respect to training of rural professionals as in Colombia. On the other hand, Peru’s legal framework to create a CIE in telemedicine is commendable for how comprehensive it is, including insurance coverage for telemedicine diagnosis.

IV. ANALYSIS:

The Importance of CIEs in Financial Inclusion, Online Education and Telemedicine.

A.    Developing an Analytic Framework.

Establishing an analytic framework should help policymakers in other Latin American countries create CIEs and even in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, improve their current efforts in financial inclusion, online education, and telemedicine. The charts below present an initial effort for this scoring mechanism. Of course, analysts should add other features, such as participation of women in microlending, for example, or the effect on specific Indigenous tribes. Therefore, while the CIE scoring mechanism is a work in progress, below is an initial attempt at this effort.

B.     Connectivity – An Essential Element.

The success of the implementation of any internet technology depends on connectivity, both with respect to hardware and access to the internet itself. With respect to hardware the delivery systems of these technologies, especially with respect to mobile payment systems, piggyback on the tremendous penetration of mobile phones in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. For example, mobile phone usage is estimated to be 84% in Brazil, 63% in Colombia and 62% in Peru, with an overall penetration of 72% in Latin America.[cxlviii] The success of mobile payment systems, and to a lesser extent online education and telemedicine, has been as a result of mobile phone usage. As computers and tablets are more important for online education the Peruvian one laptop for every child program has tried to fill the void. While In Colombia, television streaming, a less effective teaching apparatus than an interactive tablet or computer is being used for online education. The other essential element is internet access itself. Part of the limitations of online education in rural Colombia or Peru, for example, is the lack of reliable internet coverage. While initiatives in the Peruvian Amazonian area, for example, have tried to mitigate this problem to make internet usage more accessible and affordable, gaps in affordable internet coverage still exist.[cxlix] Electricity is central to the internet and connectivity. While Brazil, Colombia, and Peru have made tremendous progress in electricity coverage over the last 15 years, with over 98% of residents having access to electricity, rural pockets of the population still lack reliable access to electricity.[cl]

C.    The Need for an Interdisciplinary Approach.

Adoption of innovative technologies to mitigate wealth inequality exists in the larger context of development initiatives for countries in Latin America and should be considered in an interdisciplinary approach. For example, mobile payment systems can be used to finance microlending for farmers to grow more sustainable crops in the Amazon and move away from “slash and burn” deforestation in cattle ranching. Brazil has integrated the Bolsa Familia payments to the mobile payment systems to reduce leakage from traditional banks with respect to fees or corruption in local governments. Therefore, more of the payments go to the poorer recipients as intended. In Peru, educational initiatives have sought to change the academic calendar to more coincide with the agricultural growing season in rural areas with substantial Indigenous populations.[cli] Online educational resources can help these children in maintaining their educational studies on the same schedule as their urban classmates or at least not fall too far behind in secondary school. Online educational programs can also be targeted to assist in growing the number of healthcare practitioners who can interface with telemedicine doctors. Electricity can be expanded to rural areas using solar power grids to achieve the goals of sustainability[clii] and more internet-based technologies to reduce wealth inequality. In short, a creative, innovative, and comprehensive approach to policy making can make the adoption of new internet-based technologies be integrated into other development goals in Latin America.

Innovative internet-based technologies can reduce wealth inequality in Latin America. The examples of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru illustrate that financial inclusion can be increased through mobile payment systems, online education can help equalize educational opportunities, and telemedicine can increase access to healthcare. These solutions require a comprehensive, systematic approach to implementation to ensure success and can be incorporated into other development initiatives. Innovative technologies provide the opportunity for Latin American countries to achieve development goals in a robust, sustainable, and equitable manner. While not solving Latin America’s wealth inequality issues, the adoption of new technologies provides powerful tools for Latin American policymakers.

Bibliography

“4 E-Money Regulation in Colombia.” 2015. bbvaresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Digital_Economy_Outlook_sep15-Cap4.pdf.

“4 E-Money Regulation in Colombia.” 2015. bbvaresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Digital_Economy_Outlook_sep15-Cap4.pdf.

“Analysis of Income Inequality between Urban and Rural Areas in Northeast Brazil.” December 2020.repositorio.iica.int/bitstream/handle/11324/16811/BVE21068031i.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y.

Arnfield, Robin. 2021. “Peru Plans Instant Payments Network That Links Fintechs, Mobile Bank Accounts.” American Banker, March 31, 2021. americanbanker.com/payments/news/peru-plans-instant-payments-network-that-links-fintechs-mobile-bank-accounts.

Apolitical.co. 2017. “Brazil Boosts Financial Inclusion with Digital-Only Bank Accounts.” June 7, 2017. apolitical.co/solution-articles/en/brazil-boosts-financial-inclusion-digital-bank-accounts.

Bajak, Frank.2012. “Peru’s Ambitious Laptop Program Gets Mixed Grades.” News.yahoo.com, 3 July 2012. news.yahoo.com/perus-ambitious-laptop-program-gets-mixed-grades-071038397.html. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022.

Bergeron, Jacob.2021. “Initiatives to Fight Educational Disparities in Brazil.” The Borgen Project, June 2, 2021. borgenproject.org/educational-disparities-in-brazil/.

Better Than Cash Alliance. “Better than Cash Alliance,” n.d. betterthancash.org/.

Better Than Cash Alliance. “Driving to Scale: Bim’s Journey to Digital Financial Inclusion in Peru.” June 21, 2021. betterthancash.org/news/driving-to-scale-bims-journey-to-digital-financial-inclusion-in-peru.

Blanco, Juan. "Exchanging Notes on One of the Biggest 'Digital' Conditional Cash Transfer Programs." 2017. Betterthancash.org. Last modified April 12, 2017. Accessed April 4, 2022. betterthancash.org/news/brazil-peer-exchange.

BIM: The Peruvian Mobile Wallet for the Unbanked. March 16, 2016. bbvaresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DEO_Mar16_Cap3.pdf, 9-15.

Business Call to Action. 2021. “Call for Applications on Telehealth Solutions by Businesses for Low-Income Populations in Colombia.” December 21, 2021. businesscalltoaction.org/news/call-for-applications-on-telehealth-solutions-by-businesses-for-low-income-populations-in-colombia.

Carroll, Leanna. 2020. “Education in Colombia.” Edited by Anthony Reyes. WENR. June 23, 2020. wenr.wes.org/2020/06/education-in-colombia-2.

Central Banking. 2022. “Payments and Market Infrastructure Development – Retail: Central Bank of Brazil’s Pix.” March 30, 2022. centralbanking.com/awards/7935556/payments-and-market-infrastructure-development-retail-central-bank-of-brazils-pix.

Collyns, Dan.2015. “Peru Mobile Money Scheme Could Herald a New Dawn for Nuevo Sol | Dan Collyns.” The Guardian, October 9, 2015. theguardian.com/global-development/2015/oct/09/peru-mobile-money-bim-banking-financial-inclusion.

Colombia Promoting an Environment for Financial Inclusion. May 30, 2020. timbi.com. Accessed March 22, 2022.

"Coronavirus Crisis in Latin America is Worsened by Poverty and Inequality, says ECLAC." 2021. Latin American Business Stories. Last modified March 5, 2021. Accessed April 4, 2022. labsnews.com/en/news/economy/coronavirus-crisis-in-latin-america-is-worsened-by-poverty-and-inequality-says-eclac/.

Data.worldbank.org. “Access to Electricity (% of Population) - Peru | Data.” n.d. data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS?locations=PE.

De maio, Fernando G. 2007. "Income Inequality Measures." Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 61, no. 10 (October 1, 2007): 849-52. Accessed April 4, 2022. dx.doi.org/10.1136%2Fjech.2006.052969.

Dabla-Norris, Era, Kalpana Kochhar, Frantisek Ricka, Nujin Suphaphiphat, Evridiki Tsounta, Preya Sharma, and Veronique Salins. 2015. “Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality: SDN/15/13 a ...” The International Monetary Fund. Accessed March 29, 2022. imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2015/sdn1513.pdf.

“Devex International Development | Devex.” Devex.com, 2018. devex.com/. Accessed 15 Mar. 2022.

Diniz, Eduardo H., Adrian K. Cernev, Lauro Gonzalez, and João P. De Albuquerque. "Mobile Payments in Brazil: How to Make Them Happen?" The European Financial Review. Accessed April 4, 2022. pesquisa-eaesp.fgv.br/sites/gvpesquisa.fgv.br/files/arquivos/diniz-mobile_payments.pdf.

Diniz, Eduardo H., and Adrian K. Cernev. Mobile Payment for Financial Inclusion: Investigation of a Pilot Project In Brazil. 2013. academia.edu/6617392/Mobile_Payment_for_Financial_Inclusion_Investigation_of_a_Pilot_Project_In_Brazil.

“DLA Piper Telehealth around the World.” www.dlapiperintelligence.com/telehealth.

Accessed 24 Mar. 2022.

“Education Response to COVID-19 in Colombia,” n.d. iei.nd.edu/sites/default/files/2020-07/Brief3_Colombia_English_Final.pdf.

Educando.org. “EDUCATION GAP in LATIN AMERICA – Educando,” 2019. educando.org/education-latin-america/.

Floyd, David. 2022. "Measuring Inequality: Forget Gini, Go With the Palma Ratio Instead." Ivestopedia.com. Last modified March 22, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2022. investopedia.com/news/measuring-inequality-forget-gini-go-palma/.

Fundação Lemman. “Fundação Lemann.” Accessed April 7, 2022. fundacaolemann.org.br/.

Gavasa, Juan. 2018. “Colombia’s Five Fintech Leading Startups in Latin America.” PanamericanWorld, May 9,2018.panamericanworld.com/en/magazine/startups/colombias-five-fintech-leading-startups-in-latin-america/.

"Gini Coefficient." Corporate Finance Institute. Accessed April 4, 2022. corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/gini-coefficient/.

"Gini Index (World Bank Estimate)." Chart. Worldbank.org. Accessed April 4, 2022.

data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?most_recent_value_desc=false.

Gigler, Björn-Sören. “Poverty, Inequality and Human ... - Georgetown University.” Georgetown University. Accessed March 29, 2022. pdba.georgetown.edu/CLAS%20RESEARCH/Working%20Papers/WP17.pdf.

Global Financial Development Report 2014: Financial Inclusion. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015. Accessed March 30, 2022. doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9985-9.

Hernández-Agramonte, Juan, Carolina Méndez, Olga Namen, Emma Naslund-Hadley, and Luciana Velarde.2020. “Realities of Remote Learning: Lessons from Initial Findings of an 8,000-Household Survey in Peru during COVID-19.” Innovations for Poverty Action, June 22, 2020. poverty-action.org/blog/realities-remote-learning-lessons-initial-findings-8000-household-survey-peru-during-covid-19.

Herritage, Katie. 2021.“AWS EdStart Expands in Latin America to Bring Resources to EdTechs in Colombia and Mexico.” Amazon Web Services, September 7, 2021. aws.amazon.com/blogs/publicsector/aws-edstart-expands-latin-america-bring-resources-edtechs-colombia-mexico/.

Johannessen, Eva.2009 “Schools in the Rainforest Schools.” Rainforest Foundation Norway 2009. d5i6is0eze552.cloudfront.net/documents/Schools-in-the-rainforest.pdf?mtime=20180528103955.

JR.2020. “Colombia: Promoting an Environment for Financial Inclusion.” Timbi, March 30, 2020. timbi.co/colombia-promoting-an-environment-for-financial-inclusion/.

Laplane, Mariano. 2019. “The Impact of Public and Private Education on Social Inequality in Brazil.” D+C, May 14, 2019. dandc.eu/en/article/impact-public-and-private-education-social-inequality-brazil.

Manrique, Lilibeydy. “COVID-19 Emergency Online Education in Colombia.” GlobalGiving. Accessed April 7, 2022. globalgiving.org/projects/educatechidrenincolombia/.

MarketScreener. “Intelsat: And SkyNet de Colombia Bring High Speed Broadband Connectivity to Remote Areas of Colombia | MarketScreener.” www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/INTELSAT-S-A-120795167/news/Intelsat-and-SkyNet-de-Colombia-Bring-High-Speed-Broadband-Connectivity-to-Remote-Areas-of-Colombi-21978014/.Accessed 21 Mar. 2022.

Mastercard. “The Acceleration of Financial Inclusion during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Bringing Hidden Opportunities to Light.” October 2020.

newsroom.mastercard.com/latin-america/files/2020/10/Mastercard_Financial_Inclusion_during_COVID_whitepaper_EXTERNAL_20201012.pdf.

Martins, Paula.2021."Brazil Has 34 Million Unbanked Adults." Pagbrasil.com. Last modified June 11, 2021. Accessed April 4, 2022. pagbrasil.com/news/brazil-34-million-unbanked/.

Medeiros, Marcelo. 2016. World Social Science Report 2016: Challenging Inequalities: Pathways to a Just World. 2016. en.unesco.org/inclusivepolicylab/sites/default/files/analytics/document/2019/9/chap_21_05.pdf.

Medeiros, Marcelo. 2016. “Income Inequality in Brazil: New Evidence From Combined Tax and Survey Data Sustainable Development Goals United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.” Unesco, 2016. en.unesco.org/inclusivepolicylab/sites/default/files/analytics/document/2019/9/chap_21_05.pdf.

Mehta, Seysha, and Stephanie Riviera-Ithier. 2021. “Understanding How the National Telehealth Network in Peru Has Improved Access to High Quality Specialty Care.” Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, December 14, 2021.

rockefeller.dartmouth.edu/report/understanding-how-national-telehealth-network-peru-has-improved-access-high-quality-specialty.

“Modelo Peru: A Mobile Money Platform Offering Interoperability Towards Financial Inclusion”. May 2018. ifc.org. Accessed 16 Mar. 2022.

Mosso, Franco, and Fernando Reimers. “Home.” Accessed April 7, 2022. oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/f5e5e62e-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/f5e5e62e-en.

Nova Escola. “Nova Escola.” 2019. novaescola.org.br/.

Lopez, J. Humberto, and Guillermo Perry. “Inequality in Latin America: Determinants and Consequences.” Open Knowledge Repository. World Bank, Washington, DC. February 1, 2008. openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/6368.
LeRouge, Cynthia M., Manjul Gupta, Guillaume Corpart, and Alejandro Arrieta. 2019. “Health System Approaches Are Needed to Expand Telemedicine Use across Nine Latin American Nations.” Health Affairs 38, no. 2 (February 2019): 212–21. doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05274.

OECD. Students, Computers and Learning. PISA, OECD, 14 Sept. 2015, oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/PISA-2012-students-computers-mexico-eng.pdf.

O’Flynn, Desmond. 2020.“The Fintech Sector Helps Accelerate Nano-Crediting in Colombia.” Born2Invest, September 22, 2020. born2invest.com/articles/fintech-sector-accelerate-nano-crediting-colombia/.

Omar, Md Abdullah, and Kazuo Inaba. 2020. "Does Financial Inclusion Reduce Poverty and Income Inequality in Developing Countries? A Panel Data Analysis." Journal of Economic Structures 9, no. 1 (April 28, 2020). Accessed March 30, 2022. doi.org/10.1186/s40008-020-00214-4.

Parreiras, Carolina, and Renata Mourão Macedo. “Digital Inequalities and Education in Brazil during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Brief Reflection on the Challenges of Remote Learning.” Digital Culture & Education (ISSN: 1836-8301), n.d. digitalcultureandeducation.com/reflections-on-covid19/digital-inequalities-and-education-in-brazil.

Parati, Eduardo. 2020. “World Bank Pushes Privatized Distance Learning in Brazil.” World Socialist Web Site, June 29, 2020. wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/29/braz-j29.html.

Partners In Health. “Telehealth Apps Connect Patients with Care in Peru,” April 14, 2021. pih.org/article/telehealth-apps-connect-patients-care-peru.

Poggio, David.2020. “New Renewable Energy Microgrids Can Bring Sustainable Electricity to Rural Amazon Communities.” Sheffield. July 7, 2020. sheffield.ac.uk/energy/news/new-renewable-energy-microgrids-can-bring-sustainable-electricity-rural-amazon-communities.

Polloni-silva, Eduardo, Naijela Da costa, Herick Fernando Moralles, and Mario Sacomano neto. 2021. "Does Financial Inclusion Diminish Poverty and Inequality? A Panel Data Analysis for Latin American Countries." Social Indicators Research 158, no. 3 (June 9, 2021): 889-925. Accessed March 30, 2022. doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02730-7.

Pooler, Michael. 2021. "How Brazil's Nubank Became a $30bn Fintech." Ft.com. Last modified October 27, 2021. Accessed April 5, 2022. ft.com/content/2caae530-49b7-4059-80bf-5b78205f4c31.

"Poverty and inequality." ColombiaReports.com. Last modified March 6, 2021. Accessed April 4, 2022. colombiareports.com/colombia-poverty-inequality-statistics/.

Pretz, Kathy. 2012. “Providing Telemedicine to Peru’s Medical Outposts.” IEEE Spectrum, May 4, 2012. spectrum.ieee.org/providing-telemedicine-to-perus-medical-outposts.

Puerta Aponte, Gabriel Alberto, Leonardo Juan Ramírez López, and Arturo Benito Rodríguez García. 2019. “Analysis of Colombia’s Telemedicine Development, the Post Conflict Potential Opportunity.” Telemedicine and E-Health, February 28, 2019. doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2018.0317.

Ragazzo, Carlos, and Bruna Cataldo. 2021. “Pix - Potential Driver of Financial Inclusion in Brazil.” Instituto Propague, March 22, 2021. institutopropague.org/en/analyses/pix-potential-driver-of-financial-inclusion-in-brazil/.

Rogers, Haley. 2017. “Healthcare in Peru.” The Borgen Project, November 12, 2017. borgenproject.org/tag/healthcare-in-peru/.

Ruiz, Adriana, and Kim Thelwell. 2019. “Education in Peru: The ‘Friendly Schooling’ Initiative.” The Borgen Project, October 25, 2019. borgenproject.org/education-in-peru/.

Ruoxi Lyu. 2020. “How the Peruvian Government and Social Enterprises Promote Digital Financial Inclusion.” China Global Dialogue, August 11, 2020. chinaglobaldialogue.com/2020/08/11/how-the-peruvian-government-and-social-enterprises-promote-digital-financial-inclusion/.

Sabbatini, Renato. 2022. “Telehealth in Latin America and Brazil: Current Status and Perspectives.” Accessed April 7, 2022. sabbatini.com/renato/slides/telehealth-brazil.pdf.

Salud Digital. “Salud Digital | Reconocen El Programa de Telemedicina Caldas En Colombia Como Un Modelo Internacional Y Será Replicado En Francia.” June 1, 2021. saluddigital.com/en/uso-de-plataformas-digitales/reconocen-el-programa-de-telemedicina-caldas-en-colombia-como-un-modelo-internacional-y-sera-replicado-en-francia/.

“School Education during COVID-19: Were Teachers and Students Ready? - OECD.” Www.oecd.org. www.oecd.org/education/coronavirus-education-country-notes.htm. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.

Silva, Angélica Baptista, Rondineli Mendes da Silva, Gizele da Rocha Ribeiro, Ana Cristina Carneiro Menezes Guedes, Daniela Lacerda Santos, Carla Cardi Nepomuceno, and Rosângela Caetano. 2020. “Three Decades of Telemedicine in Brazil: Mapping the Regulatory Framework from 1990 to 2018.” PLoS ONE 15, no. 11 (November 25, 2020): e0242869. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242869.

Solidaridad Network. “When Fintech Helps Producers Access Finance for the Transition to Sustainable Production.” November 17, 2020. solidaridadnetwork.org/news/when-fintech-helps-producers-access-finance-for-the-transition-to-sustainable-production/.

Special Focus: Inequality in Emerging Economies (EEs). 2011. oecd.org/els/soc/49170475.pdf.

The Borgen Project. “The Need for Telemedicine in Brazilian Communities.” April 5, 2021. borgenproject.org/telemedicine-in-brazilian-communities/.

“The Mobile Economy Latin America 2021.” The Mobile Economy. www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/latam. Accessed March 20, 2022, 6-7.

Thepaypers.com. “Central Bank of Brazil Defines Phase 4 of Open Banking Implementation.” December 14, 2021. thepaypers.com/online-mobile-banking/central-bank-of-brazil-defines-phase-4-of-open-banking-implementation--1253430#.

"THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development". 2022. Sdgs.Un.Org. Accessed March 29, 2022. sdgs.un.org/goals.

“The Government Is Working to Improve Internet Access in Rural Areas.” Oxford Business Group.  January 14, 2015. oxfordbusinessgroup.com/analysis/access-all-government-working-improve-internet-access-rural-areas. Accessed March 18, 2022.

“Three Decades of Telemedicine in Brazil: Mapping the Regulatory Framework from 1990 to 2018.” PLoS ONE 15, no. 11 (November 25, 2020): e0242869. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242869.

Thomas, Julia.2010. “Education in Colombia - the Borgen Project.” The Borgen Project, July 10, 2010. borgenproject.org/education-colombia/.

Trucano, Michael. 2015. “How Brazil Is Improving Education.” World Economic Forum, January 5, 2015. weforum.org/agenda/2015/01/how-brazil-is-improving-education.

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Overview of Rural Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. 2019. Accessed April 4, 2022. fao.org/3/ca2275en/CA2275EN.pdf.

United Nations. “The 17 Sustainable Development Goals.” United Nations, 2015. sdgs.un.org/goals.

Vázsonyi, Gabriella. 2021. “How to Use Pix? {Brazilian Instant Payment System}.” B2B Pay, August 23, 2021. b2bpay.co/pix-payment-brazil.

Welch, C. Jamilah, Amanda Epting, and Nicholas Sullivan. 2017. “Laying the Foundation a Case Study on Colombia’s Landmark 2014 Financial Inclusion Law.” Tufts.edu, 2017. sites.tufts.edu/flpfi/files/2018/11/FLFPI_Case_Study_Colombia_FINAL.pdf.

Wink Junior, Marcos Vinicio, and Luis Henrique Zanandréa Paese. 2019. “Inequality of Educational Opportunities: Evidence from Brazil.” EconomiA 20, no. 2 (May 2019): 109–20. doi.org/10.1016/j.econ.2019.05.002.

WISE. “Alternate Education for Rural Development in Peru – WISE.” May 24, 2014. wise-qatar.org/project/alternate-education-rural-development-peru-spain/.

World Bank. "Spotlight on Inequality: Why We Should Care." The World Bank. Last modified March 30, 2012. Accessed March 30, 2022. worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/03/30/spotlight-inequality-care#:~:text=Some%20studies%20show%20that%20high%20inequality%2.

World Social Science Report 2016: Challenging Inequalities: Pathways to a Just World. 2016. Accessed April 4, 2022. en.unesco.org/inclusivepolicylab/sites/default/files/analytics/document/2019/9/chap_21_05.pdf.

World Bank. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Education in Brazil.” April 8, 2020. worldbank.org/en/events/2020/04/29/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-education-in-brazil.

Www.bcb.gov.br. “Banco Central Do Brasil.” Accessed April 5, 2022. bcb.gov.br/acessoinformacao/bchashtag.

Www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org. “Global Microscope 2019: The Enabling Environment for Financial Inclusion | Center for Financial Inclusion.” 2019. centerforfinancialinclusion.org/global-microscope-2019.

Www.sipa.columbia.edu. “Offline Internet Resources for Rural Schools in Peru | Columbia SIPA.” Accessed April 7, 2022. sipa.columbia.edu/academics/capstone-projects/offline-internet-resources-rural-schools-peru.

ENDNOTES

1 "THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development" 2022.
2 Björn-Sören Gigler, “Poverty, Inequality and Human ... - Georgetown University” (Georgetown University), accessed March 29, 2022, pdba.georgetown.edu/CLAS%20RESEARCH/Working%20Papers/WP17.pdf, 3.
3 Era Dabla-Norris et al., “Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality: SDN/15/13 a ...” (The International Monetary Fund), accessed March 29, 2022, imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2015/sdn1513.pdf, 5.
4 Ibid., 6.
5 Eduardo Polloni-silva et al., "Does Financial Inclusion Diminish Poverty and Inequality? A Panel Data Analysis for Latin American Countries," Social Indicators Research 158, no. 3 (June 9, 2021): [Page #], accessed March 30, 2022, doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02730-7.
6 Md Abdullah Omar and Kazuo Inaba, "Does Financial Inclusion Reduce Poverty and Income Inequality in Developing Countries? A Panel Data Analysis," Journal of Economic Structures 9, no. 1 (April 28, 2020): 1, accessed March 30, 2022, doi.org/10.1186/s40008-020-00214-4.
7 Global Financial Development Report 2014: Financial Inclusion (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015), 1, accessed March 30, 2022, doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-9985-9.
8 Marcelo Medeiros, World Social Science Report 2016: Challenging Inequalities: Pathways to a Just World, 2016, en.unesco.org/inclusivepolicylab/sites/default/files/analytics/document/2019/9/chap_21_05.pdf.
9 Ibid., 15.
10Special Focus: Inequality in Emerging Economies (EEs), 56, 2011, oecd.org/els/soc/49170475.pdf.
11 "Coronavirus Crisis in Latin America is Worsened by Poverty and Inequality, says ECLAC," Latin American Business Stories, last modified March 5, 2021, accessed April 4, 2022, labsnews.com/en/news/economy/coronavirus-crisis-in-latin-america-is-worsened-by-poverty-and-inequality-says-eclac/.
12 "Gini Coefficient," Corporate Finance Institute, accessed April 4, 2022, corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/gini-coefficient/.
13 "Gini Index (World Bank Estimate)," chart, Worldbank.org, accessed April 4, 2022, data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?most_recent_value_desc=false.
14 David Floyd, "Measuring Inequality: Forget Gini, Go With the Palma Ratio Instead," Ivestopedia.com, last modified March 22, 2022, accessed April 4, 2022, investopedia.com/news/measuring-inequality-forget-gini-go-palma/.
15 Fernando G. De Maio, "Income Inequality Measures," Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 61, no. 10 (October 1, 2007): accessed April 4, 2022, dx.doi.org/10.1136%2Fjech.2006.052969.
16 “Gini Coefficient,” Corporate Finance Institute.
17 World Social Science Report 2016: Challenging Inequalities: Pathways to a Just World, 1, 2016, accessed April 4, 2022, en.unesco.org/inclusivepolicylab/sites/default/files/analytics/document/2019/9/chap_21_05.pdf.
18 “Analysis of Income Inequality between Urban and Rural Areas in Northeast Brazil,” December 2020, google.com/url?q=repositorio.iica.int/bitstream/handle/11324/16811/BVE21068031i.pdf?sequence%3D3%26isAllowed%3Dy&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1649648266795833&usg=AOvVaw3R20fUnN3ZZXxZ2h42iAHv.
19 "Poverty and inequality," ColombiaReports.com, last modified March 6, 2021, accessed April 4, 2022, colombiareports.com/colombia-poverty-inequality-statistics/.
20 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Overview of Rural Poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean, 8, 2019, accessed April 4, 2022, fao.org/3/ca2275en/CA2275EN.pdf.
21 Ibid., at 6.
22 Ibid.
23 Paula Martins, "Brazil Has 34 Million Unbanked Adults," Pagbrasil.com, last modified June 11, 2021, accessed April 4, 2022, pagbrasil.com/news/brazil-34-million-unbanked/.
24 Ibid.
25 Eduardo H. Diniz et al., "Mobile Payments in Brazil: How to Make Them Happen?," The European Financial Review, accessed April 4, 2022, pesquisa-eaesp.fgv.br/sites/gvpesquisa.fgv.br/files/arquivos/diniz_-_mobile_payments.pdf.
26 Ibid.

27 Juan Blanco, "Exchanging Notes on One of the Biggest 'Digital' Conditional Cash Transfer Programs," Betterthancash.org, last modified April 12, 2017, accessed April 4, 2022, betterthancash.org/news/brazil-peer-exchange.
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid.
30 Diniz et al., "Mobile Payments."

31 Michael Pooler, "How Brazil's Nubank Became a $30bn Fintech," Ft.com, last modified October 27, 2021, accessed April 5, 2022, ft.com/content/2caae530-49b7-4059-80bf-5b78205f4c31.
32 Eduardo H. Diniz and Adrian K. Cernev, Mobile Payment for Financial Inclusion: Investigation of a Pilot Project In Brazil, 1, 2013, academia.edu/6617392/Mobile_Payment_for_Financial_Inclusion_Investigation_of_a_Pilot_Project_In_Brazil.
33 Ibid., 13.
34 “Central Bank of Brazil Defines Phase 4 of Open Banking Implementation,” thepaypers.com, December 14, 2021, thepaypers.com/online-mobile-banking/central-bank-of-brazil-defines-phase-4-of-open-banking-implementation--1253430#.
35“Brazil Boosts Financial Inclusion with Digital-Only Bank Accounts,” Apolitical.co, June 7, 2017, apolitical.co/solution-articles/en/brazil-boosts-financial-inclusion-digital-bank-accounts.
36 Ibid.
37 “Banco Central Do Brasil,” www.bcb.gov.br, accessed April 5, 2022, bcb.gov.br/acessoinformacao/bchashtag.
38 Vázsonyi, Gabriella. “How to Use Pix? {Brazilian Instant Payment System}.” B2B Pay, August 23, 2021. b2bpay.co/pix-payment-brazil.
39 Ibid.
40 Ibid.
41 Carlos Ragazzo and Bruna Cataldo, “Pix - Potential Driver of Financial Inclusion in Brazil,” Instituto Propague, March 22, 2021, institutopropague.org/en/analyses/pix-potential-driver-of-financial-inclusion-in-brazil/.
42 “Payments and Market Infrastructure Development – Retail: Central Bank of Brazil’s Pix,” Central Banking, March 30, 2022, centralbanking.com/awards/7935556/payments-and-market-infrastructure-development-retail-central-bank-of-brazils-pix.
43 “The Acceleration of Financial Inclusion during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Bringing Hidden Opportunities to Light,” Mastercard, October 2020, newsroom.mastercard.com/latin-america/files/2020/10/Mastercard_Financial_Inclusion_during_COVID_whitepaper_EXTERNAL_20201012.pdf.
44 Ibid.
45 Marcelo Medeiros, “Income inequality in Brazil: New Videncefrom Combined Tax and survey data Sustainable Development Goals United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,” Unesco, 2016, en.unesco.org/inclusivepolicylab/sites/default/files/analytics/document/2019/9/chap_21_05.pdf.
46 United Nations, “The 17 Sustainable Development Goals,” United Nations, 2015, sdgs.un.org/goals.
47 “EDUCATION GAP in LATIN AMERICA – Educando,” Educando.org, 2019, educando.org/education-latin-america/.
48 Marcos Vinicio Wink Junior and Luis Henrique Zanandréa Paese, “Inequality of Educational Opportunities: Evidence from Brazil,” EconomiA 20, no. 2 (May 2019): 109–20, doi.org/10.1016/j.econ.2019.05.002.
49 Jacob Bergeron, “Initiatives to Fight Educational Disparities in Brazil,” The Borgen Project, June 2, 2021, borgenproject.org/educational-disparities-in-brazil/.
50 Mariano Laplane, “The Impact of Public and Private Education on Social Inequality in Brazil,” D+C, May 14, 2019, dandc.eu/en/article/impact-public-and-private-education-social-inequality-brazil.
51 Jacob Bergeron, “Initiatives to Fight Educational Disparities in Brazil,” The Borgen Project, June 2, 2021, borgenproject.org/educational-disparities-in-brazil/.
52 Carolina Parreiras and Renata Mourão Macedo, “Digital Inequalities and Education in Brazil during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Brief Reflection on the Challenges of Remote Learning,” Digital Culture & Education (ISSN: 1836-8301), n.d., digitalcultureandeducation.com/reflections-on-covid19/digital-inequalities-and-education-in-brazil.
53 “The Impact of COVID-19 on Education in Brazil,” World Bank, April 8, 2020, worldbank.org/en/events/2020/04/29/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-education-in-brazil.
54 Eva Johannessen, “Schools in the Rainforest,” Rainforest Foundation Norway, 2009, d5i6is0eze552.cloudfront.net/documents/Schools-in-the-rainforest.pdf?mtime=20180528103955.
55 Eduardo Parati, “World Bank Pushes Privatized Distance Learning in Brazil,” World Socialist Web Site, June 29, 2020, wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/29/braz-j29.html.
56 “Fundação Lemann,” Fundação Lemman, accessed April 7, 2022, fundacaolemann.org.br/.
57“Nova Escola,” Nova Escola, 2019, novaescola.org.br/.
58 Michael Trucano, “How Brazil Is Improving Education,” World Economic Forum, January 5, 2015, weforum.org/agenda/2015/01/how-brazil-is-improving-education.
59 Angélica Baptista Silva et al., “Three Decades of Telemedicine in Brazil: Mapping the Regulatory Framework from 1990 to 2018,” PLoS ONE 15, no. 11 (November 25, 2020), 2. e0242869, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242869.
60 Ibid, 3.
61 Ibid.
62 Ibid.
63 Ibid.
64 “The Need for Telemedicine in Brazilian Communities,” The Borgen Project, April 5, 2021, borgenproject.org/telemedicine-in-brazilian-communities/.
65 Ibid.
66 Ibid.
67 Ibid.
68 Renato Sabbatini, “Telehealth in Latin America and Brazil: Current Status and Perspectives,” accessed April 7, 2022, sabbatini.com/renato/slides/telehealth-brazil.pdf.
69 Juan Gavasa, “Colombia’s Five Fintech Leading Startups in Latin America,” PanamericanWorld, May 9, 2018, panamericanworld.com/en/magazine/startups/colombias-five-fintech-leading-startups-in-latin-america/.
70 “Global Microscope 2019: The Enabling Environment for Financial Inclusion | Center for Financial Inclusion,” www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org, 2019, centerforfinancialinclusion.org/global-microscope-2019.
71 C. Jamilah Welch, Amanda Epting, and Nicholas Sullivan, “Laying the Foundation a Case Study on Colombia’s Landmark 2014 Financial Inclusion Law,” Tufts.edu, 2017, sites.tufts.edu/flpfi/files/2018/11/FLFPI_Case_Study_Colombia_FINAL.pdf.
72 “4 E-Money Regulation in Colombia,” 2015, 10.bbvaresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Digital_Economy_Outlook_sep15-Cap4.pdf.
73 JR, “Colombia: Promoting an Environment for Financial Inclusion,” Timbi, March 30, 2020, timbi.co/colombia-promoting-an-environment-for-financial-inclusion/.
74 Ibid.
75 Ibid.
76 Ibid.
77 “4 E-Money Regulation in Colombia,” 2015, bbvaresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Digital_Economy_Outlook_sep15-Cap4.pdf.
78 JR. “Colombia: Promoting an Environment for Financial Inclusion.” Timbi, March 30, 2020. timbi.co/colombia-promoting-an-environment-for-financial-inclusion/.
79 Ibid.
80 “When Fintech Helps Producers Access Finance for the Transition to Sustainable Production,” Solidaridad Network, November 17, 2020, solidaridadnetwork.org/news/when-fintech-helps-producers-access-finance-for-the-transition-to-sustainable-production/.
81 Desmond O’Flynn, “The Fintech Sector Helps Accelerate Nano-Crediting in Colombia,” Born2Invest, September 22, 2020, born2invest.com/articles/fintech-sector-accelerate-nano-crediting-colombia/.
82 Leanna Carroll, “Education in Colombia,” ed. Anthony Reyes, WENR, June 23, 2020, wenr.wes.org/2020/06/education-in-colombia-2.
83 Ibid.
84 Ibid.
85 Julia Thomas, “Education in Colombia - the Borgen Project,” The Borgen Project, July 10, 2010, borgenproject.org/education-colombia/.
86 Wes.org.
87 OECD. Students, Computers and Learning. PISA, OECD, 14 Sept. 2015, www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/PISA-2012-students-computers-mexico-eng.pdf.
88 “School Education during COVID-19: Were Teachers and Students Ready? - OECD.” Www.oecd.org, www.oecd.org/education/coronavirus-education-country-notes.htm. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.
89 Ibid.
90 Ibid.
91 Lilibeydy Manrique, “COVID-19 Emergency Online Education in Colombia,” GlobalGiving, accessed April 7, 2022, globalgiving.org/projects/educatechidrenincolombia/.
92 Katie Herritage, “AWS EdStart Expands in Latin America to Bring Resources to EdTechs in Colombia and Mexico,” Amazon Web Services, September 7, 2021, aws.amazon.com/blogs/publicsector/aws-edstart-expands-latin-america-bring-resources-edtechs-colombia-mexico/.
93 “Education Response to COVID-19 in Colombia,” n.d., iei.nd.edu/sites/default/files/2020-07/Brief3_Colombia_English_Final.pdf.
94 Ibid.,3-4.
95 “School Education during COVID-19: Were Teachers and Students Ready? - OECD.” Www.oecd.org, www.oecd.org/education/coronavirus-education-country-notes.htm. Accessed 23 Mar. 2022.
96 Gabriel Alberto Puerta Aponte, Leonardo Juan Ramírez López, and Arturo Benito Rodriguez Garcia, “Analysis of Colombia’s Telemedicine Development, the Post Conflict Potential Opportunity,” Telemedicine and E-Health, February 28, 2019, doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2018.0317.
97 Ibid.
98 “Salud Digital | Reconocen El Programa de Telemedicina Caldas En Colombia Como Un Modelo Internacional Y Será Replicado En Francia,” Salud Digital, June 1, 2021, saluddigital.com/en/uso-de-plataformas-digitales/reconocen-el-programa-de-telemedicina-caldas-en-colombia-como-un-modelo-internacional-y-sera-replicado-en-francia/.
99 “Call for Applications on Telehealth Solutions by Businesses for Low-Income Populations in Colombia,” Business Call to Action, December 21, 2021, businesscalltoaction.org/news/call-for-applications-on-telehealth-solutions-by-businesses-for-low-income-populations-in-colombia.
100MarketScreener. “Intelsat: And SkyNet de Colombia Bring High Speed Broadband Connectivity to Remote Areas of Colombia | MarketScreener.” Www.marketscreener.com, www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/INTELSAT-S-A-120795167/news/Intelsat-and-SkyNet-de-Colombia-Bring-High-Speed-Broadband-Connectivity-to-Remote-Areas-of-Colombi-21978014/. Accessed 21 Mar. 2022.
101 Cynthia M. LeRouge et al., “Health System Approaches Are Needed to Expand Telemedicine Use across Nine Latin American Nations,” Health Affairs 38, no. 2 (February 2019): 212–21, doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05274.
102 “Modelo Peru: A Mobile Money Platform Offering Interoperability Towards Financial Inclusion”. Www.ifc.org, May 2018, www.ifc.org. Accessed 16 Mar. 2022. 3-4.
103 Ibid.
104 Ibid.
105 “Better than Cash Alliance,” Better Than Cash Alliance, n.d., betterthancash.org/.
106 “Devex International Development | Devex.” Devex.com, 2018, www.devex.com/. Accessed 15 Mar. 2022.
107 IFC at 3.
108 Ibid.
109 Ibid.
110 Ibid at 4.
111 Ibid.
112 Dan Collyns, “Peru Mobile Money Scheme Could Herald a New Dawn for Nuevo Sol | Dan Collyns,” the Guardian, October 9, 2015, theguardian.com/global-development/2015/oct/09/peru-mobile-money-bim-banking-financial-inclusion.
113 “Driving to Scale: Bim’s Journey to Digital Financial Inclusion in Peru,” Better Than Cash Alliance, June 21, 2021, betterthancash.org/news/driving-to-scale-bims-journey-to-digital-financial-inclusion-in-peru.
114 Dan Collyns, “Peru Mobile Money Scheme Could Herald a New Dawn for Nuevo Sol.”
115 IFC at 3.
116 BIM: The Peruvian Mobile Wallet for the Unbanked. 16 Mar. 2016, www.bbvaresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DEO_Mar16_Cap3.pdf, 9-15.
117 Ibid.
118 Ibid.
119 Ibid.
120 Ibid.
121 Ruoxi Lyu, “How the Peruvian Government and Social Enterprises Promote Digital Financial Inclusion,” China Global Dialogue, August 11, 2020, chinaglobaldialogue.com/2020/08/11/how-the-peruvian-government-and-social-enterprises-promote-digital-financial-inclusion/.
122 Robin Arnfield, “Peru Plans Instant Payments Network That Links Fintechs, Mobile Bank Accounts,” American Banker, March 31, 2021, americanbanker.com/payments/news/peru-plans-instant-payments-network-that-links-fintechs-mobile-bank-accounts.
123 China Global Dialogue.
124 Ibid.
125 American Banker.
126 Ibid.
127 Juan Hernandez-Agramonte et al., “Realities of Remote Learning: Lessons from Initial Findings of an 8,000-Household Survey in Peru during COVID-19,” Innovations for Poverty Action, June 22, 2020, poverty-action.org/blog/realities-remote-learning-lessons-initial-findings-8000-household-survey-peru-during-covid-19.
128 Ibid.
129 Ibid.
130 Ibid.
131 Ibid.
132 Franco Mosso and Fernando Reimers, “Home,” www.oecd-ilibrary.org, accessed April 7, 2022, oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/f5e5e62e-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/f5e5e62e-en.
133 “Offline Internet Resources for Rural Schools in Peru | Columbia SIPA,” www.sipa.columbia.edu, accessed April 7, 2022, sipa.columbia.edu/academics/capstone-projects/offline-internet-resources-rural-schools-peru.
134 Bajak, Frank. “Peru’s Ambitious Laptop Program Gets Mixed Grades.” News.yahoo.com, 3 July 2012, news.yahoo.com/perus-ambitious-laptop-program-gets-mixed-grades-071038397.html. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022.
135 Ibid.
136 Adriana Ruiz and Kim Thelwell, “Education in Peru: The ‘Friendly Schooling’ Initiative,” The Borgen Project, October 25, 2019, borgenproject.org/education-in-peru/.
137 Ibid.
138 Cynthia M. LeRouge et al., “Health System Approaches Are Needed to Expand Telemedicine Use across Nine Latin American Nations,” Health Affairs 38, no. 2 (February 2019): 212–21, doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05274.
139 Ibid, 7.
140 Ibid.
141 Ibid, 10.
142 Ibid, 10-11.
143 “Telehealth Apps Connect Patients with Care in Peru,” Partners In Health, April 14, 2021, pih.org/article/telehealth-apps-connect-patients-care-peru.
144 Kathy Pretz, “Providing Telemedicine to Peru’s Medical Outposts,” IEEE Spectrum, May 4, 2012, spectrum.ieee.org/providing-telemedicine-to-perus-medical-outposts.
145 Seysha Mehta and Stephanie Riviera-Ithier, “Understanding How the National Telehealth Network in Peru Has Improved Access to High Quality Specialty Care,” Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, December 14, 2021, rockefeller.dartmouth.edu/report/understanding-how-national-telehealth-network-peru-has-improved-access-high-quality-specialty.
146 Haley Rogers, “Healthcare in Peru,” The Borgen Project, November 12, 2017, borgenproject.org/tag/healthcare-in-peru/.
147 Cynthia M. LeRouge et al., “Health System Approaches Are Needed to Expand Telemedicine Use across Nine Latin American Nations,” Health Affairs 38, no. 2 (February 2019): 212–21, doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05274.

148 “The Mobile Economy Latin America 2021.” The Mobile Economy, www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/latam. Accessed 20 Mar. 2022, 6-7.
149 “The Government Is Working to Improve Internet Access in Rural Areas.” Oxford Business Group, 14 Jan. 2015, oxfordbusinessgroup.com/analysis/access-all-government-working-improve-internet-access-rural-areas.
150 “Access to Electricity (% of Population) - Peru | Data,” data.worldbank.org, n.d., data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS?locations=PE.
151 “Alternate Education for Rural Development in Peru - WISE,” WISE, May 24, 2014, wise-qatar.org/project/alternate-education-rural-development-peru-spain/.
152 David Poggio, “New Renewable Energy Microgrids Can Bring Sustainable Electricity to Rural Amazon Communities,” www.sheffield.ac.uk, July 7, 2020, sheffield.ac.uk/energy/news/new-renewable-energy-microgrids-can-bring-sustainable-electricity-rural-amazon-communities.