Technology
Makaia Digital Literacy for Adults 50+ Emerges as the Initiative to Watch This Month
The Bogotá-based program has trained 70 seniors in ICT skills since May 2024 through targeted local partnerships.
How we reported this
Makaia’s Digital Literacy for Adults 50+ program has reached 70 seniors with ICT training since it launched in May 2024.
The effort stands out because Bogotá continues to expand access points for residents who need basic technology skills to use public services and online resources. Partnerships with ScotiaBank Colpatria, IPES and the Mayor’s Office ICT Council allow the workshops to run at existing city facilities without new infrastructure costs.
Program reaches seniors across multiple sites
Participants learn through sessions hosted at locations tied to BibloRed, the city’s public library network that already operates 145 reading spaces and free digital literacy workshops under the Alfabetización Digital and CreaTIC banners in collaboration with Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios. The same network feeds into the Bogotá Digital Library, which supplies more than two million curated items on literature, history and culture through www.bibliotecadigitaldebogota.gov.co and QR codes installed on 120 Wi-Fi-equipped TransMilenio buses.
Thirty-nine additional free TIC training points operate across 15 Casas de Oportunidad, 10 Puntos Vive Digital and 14 Portales Interactivos, all concentrated in Ciudad Bolívar and open to residents aged 4 to 90. Fundación Casa del Bosque runs parallel courses in web technologies, programming and 3D animation aimed at closing the digital divide in marginalized neighbourhoods.
Evidence of steady uptake
City records show the Makaia workshops have maintained consistent enrollment of 70 adults since the May 2024 start date, using existing partner venues rather than building new centres. The approach mirrors BibloRed’s model of layering digital sessions onto established library infrastructure that already serves thousands of daily visitors.
Residents can locate the nearest point by visiting the Bogotá Digital Library site or checking QR codes on TransMilenio routes. Those interested in the 50+ cohort should contact Makaia directly through its listed partnership channels with the Mayor’s Office ICT Council to confirm current session availability at participating Casas de Oportunidad or library branches.