Colombia is a country with 90% of its territory still rural and a growing population of 50 million people.

Since the peace agreement between the government and the FARC, the economy is back in growth, with GDP up 2.6%.

However, 1/3rd of the country remains largely undiscovered, and unconnected, due to the war.

Colombia’s Ministry of Technology and Communications (MinTIC), charged with improving the quality of life for every Colombian through technology, had achieved its highest-ever internet penetration rate at 60%.

However, with 84% of internet connections centred around five major city areas , many Colombians still couldn’t access the Internet due to their remote geographical location.

Lack of Technology

People in remote areas do not have computers or smartphones. In Colombia, only 53% own a smartphone. Lacking a smartphone means no access to simple tools like Google, the biggest web searcher in the world - tools the rest of us now take for granted.

We faced a seemingly insurmountable challenge: How to get people living in remote Colombia closer to the information they were missing out on, to help them integrate into the modern era, when the vast majority of them did not own a computer or smartphone?

Our innovative solution was surprisingly simple, albeit hard to engineer.

We started by asking the question: what DO the people have, rather than DO NOT have?

What they do all have is a cell phone - in fact, there are more cell phones than people in Colombia. Having a cell phone means they also have access to a landline.

Could we use this supposedly “old technology” to connect them to “new technology”?

Our creative concept

Our breakthrough thinking was to create MY LINE, a traditional telephone landline people can call no matter the time or the device.

Initially our idea to utilise legacy phones seemed obvious; we even believed it already existed.

We worked on the idea, developing the prototype for over a year – starting with a work PC and a raspberry Pi.

My Line: access to information from the internet, even without internet.

How it works

After placing a call to a local telephone number, the caller can ask Google Assistant their question. In a second or two, we process the question in a custom software and connect with Google Systems in the cloud. My Line receives the response and speaks it back to the caller by phone.

Introducing ‘My Line’

‘My Line’ is a truly inclusive technology that makes search and artificial intelligence available to people who do not have a smartphone or a computer.

By using an old cell phone, and a traditional telephone landline, anyone can now get access to Google Assistant. In short, ‘My Line’ transforms a traditional landline number into a resource of invaluable information.

The phone number

We wanted a memorable number. The President of Colombia and MinTIC helped us secure 6000913 - the nearest we could get to the Google letters. Our design, using the Google colours, further embeds the number and the service in people’s minds

Promoting ‘My Line’

Our campaign was low budget, highly localized and activation-driven. We promoted ‘My Line’ in rural areas with regional TV spots, posters; loudspeaker systems driving through towns, playing radio ads, and door-to-door promoters, teaching the people on how to use the line.

‘My Line’ has been hailed as simple, yet brilliant.

1. Colombians used My Line

• Within two months of launch, we received over 35,000 calls.

• A daily peak of 1,835 coincided with My Line press and PR.

2. Magnified coverage

We saw extensive Colombian/global press, PR and online coverage, spreading the word for us.

3. Everyone Connected

By bridging the void between 2G and 3G, or the first time in Colombia’s history, 99.3% of the population have access to the information available on Google Systems through their legacy phones.

4. Sustainability and impact on the planet

The service is being offered to other communities and countries such as a company helping Venezuelan refugees, and Uganda, a country facing the same issues with access to 3G technology.

My Line has virtually unlimited growth potential. Our long-term ambition is to go global, with unlimited calls from any country, in every language.

The Colombian poverty rate - those living on less than $1.25 a day - continues to come down.

But at 30% in 2017, this still meant 14.5 million Colombians are living below the poverty line - a number that is very nearly equivalent to the populations of Norway and Sweden combined.

Many of these people are living in remote, rural areas, much of which remains undiscovered. They are a people who lack education, lack access to information, and lack opportunities.

Not only do the people in these remote areas not have computers, almost half do not own a smartphone (47%). .

No smartphone means no access to such simple tools as Google - tools that the rest of us take for granted. Today, Google Assistant is available on 500 million devices.

This lack of access merely exacerbates the division between those that have and those that do not.