RIA - Red de Innovación y Aprendizaje (Fundación Proacceso / Enova)
Network of community digital education centers in low-income areas of the State of Mexico, inaugurated on May 18, 2009.
illustrative atlas image · Katerina Holmes / Pexels01 The context
Operated by Fundación Proacceso ECO A.C. with platform and management by Enova. It reached ~69-70 centers in 33-34 municipalities with courses in computing, English, programming and robotics, serving more than 1 million people. It received very large public funding (1,700 MDP, questioned by Nexos and Animal Político in 2015). In December 2019 more than 270 workers denounced unpaid wages since October; the RIA closed operations on November 30, 2019. The proacceso.org.mx domain no longer resolves.
02 How it works
03 What it stands on
The evidence 2 ›
04 Lessons learned
(1) A hybrid foundation + social enterprise model funded almost entirely by government agreements is fragile in the face of changes of administration: the collapse came with unpaid payroll in October-December 2019 and the closure of operations on November 30, 2019. (2) Opacity in large public donations (1,700 MDP documented by Nexos/Animal Político in 2015 without accountability) eroded its legitimacy. (3) Physical digital literacy infrastructure without its own financial sustainability plan does not outlive its funder, even when community demand exists.