As the global push towards digital and ecological transitions intensifies, ensuring equitable access to resources and opportunities is a cornerstone of inclusive development. In an increasingly globalised digital economy – where the internet has become a gateway to education, communication, jobs, commerce, government services, improved livelihoods and life opportunities – the gap between those who benefit from meaningful connectivity and those who do not is rapidly widening, despite greater efforts to expand connectivity. These inequalities exist not simply between those online and offline, but between those who can use the internet optimally and those who are “barely” online. The switch to digital that was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic has further deepened the digital divideand underscored the need to improve broadband access in low-income and isolated communities. This exacerbated social and economic inequality in turn limits the ability of the excluded to support the green transition and adapt to it.
The digital inequality paradox lies in the empirical observation that as more day-to-day transactions and interactions require access to digital technologies and the devices and skills needed to use them effectively, digital inequality is increasing because so many people are either still offline or “barely online”.
Community networks and community-centred connectivity initiatives (CCCIs) stand at the critical intersection of digital transformation and sustainable development. They provide meaningful digital connectivity in marginalised regions while fostering local ownership, economic participation and social empowerment.
Unlike commercial internet service providers (ISPs), CCCIs operate with a mission-driven ethos, prioritising affordability and inclusivity over profit. In doing so, they directly address the dual challenge of reducing inequalities and driving sustainable development, which are central themes of the 2025 international conference of the EU-AFD Research Facility on Inequalities, entitled “Bridging Divides: Evidence-Based Policies for Inequality Reduction and Sustainable Development.”
This paper situates CCCIs within the broader dialogue on just transitions and innovative financing for inclusive growth. By leveraging local capacities and deploying participatory governance models, CCCIs offer evidence of how social and environmental objectives can be reconciled through community-led solutions. Moreover, the blended financial strategies and impact-focused approaches associated with CCCIs align with the conference’s call to explore equitable investment and value-sharing mechanisms in development. In examining the transformative potential of these initiatives, this paper contributes to the development of actionable, evidence-based policy recommendations aimed at bridging the digital divide and forging a more equitable, resilient and sustainable future.
In this research paper, we start by providing a historical perspective of how investments in the telecommunications industry have been made over the years and how effective they have been in closing the digital divide.
After establishing that a persistent digital divide remains, we look at complementary solutions that have been tested in recent years, highlighting their socioeconomic impact, with a special focus on their environmental-related impacts. We then present the results of identifying the financing needs of existing initiatives and consider to what extent these needs are similar to those of other industries in the social and solidarity economy (SSE) that have successfully developed financial sector support strategies. Given that a crucial challenge for financing SSE entities lies in the demonstration and quantification of social impact, which is essential for accessing diversified funding but remains difficult to measure and communicate effectively, we present the results of applying innovative methodologies for such quantification. We close the results section by addressing another common challenge of SSE entities: the lack of a methodologically sound study of the investment readiness of these initiatives.
We conclude the paper by providing recommendations for creating an enabling environment for CCCIs, as well as for designing different innovative financing strategies that could be used to scale these solutions.