• Saved COP 14 billion in 2023

• New email users grew 1,000%

• +650 women certified in digital skills

• Teaching processes enhanced for 5,500 educational institutions

• +36,000 public officers from local and regional authorities leveraged benefits

Despite the increase in digital transformation initiatives, offices in local and regional authorities lacked efficient communication and collaboration tools, which hampered user interaction and efficiency in daily activities.

Work was also performed without guidelines in an isolated manner. The local and regional authorities had no resources or budget to roll out a digital policy that would help close the digital gap.

In this scenario, MinTIC identified the need to implement the use of IT platforms to increase user interaction, improve efficiencies, and provide digital communication channels between the Government and citizens.

Aiming to improve accessibility, security, ease-of-use, and costs, the Ministry chose Google Workspace as it was the perfect solution to meet its needs.

After gradually adopting Google Workspace licenses since 2015, supported by partner Xertica, MinTIC has extended its digitization initiatives to public offices at several levels. Deploying solutions such as Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Meet has enabled authorities to access collaboration, communication, and management tools that boost productivity and security.

Moreover, Forms has allowed workers to obtain insights from citizens and internal users to make better decisions based on accurate data.

Following this digital strategy, named Mi Colombia Digital, agencies were able to create digital offices that were easy to manage and browse. These platforms featured built-in digital authentication and request, complaint, claim, and suggestion systems.

Deploying Google Workspace under MinTIC’s digital strategy has benefited over 8,800 institutions, with at least 36,000 email licenses. Today, over 22,000 public workers and citizens can improve their digital skills.

Adopting Google Workspace’s cloud apps resulted in about COP 14 billion in investment savings in 2023 for Colombia’s government entities, a process that took place through Colombia’s Government Procurement Online Store. That is because MinTIC no longer had to bear the costs associated with website development, maintenance, and support, or with the use of email accounts and collaboration tools. The Ministry acquired licenses at a discount and distributed them free of charge to several entities.

 Email accounts played a key role in this process. MinTIC achieved 100% adoption among public workers, which represented a 1,000% increase in new users. Additionally, the adoption rate for communication solutions grew over 65% and over 52% for office and collaboration tools. In sum, this has enabled public officers to optimize and digitize key steps in the processes of local and regional authorities.

The adoption process was reinforced with workshops designed to help women improve their relationship with technology. Over 650 women, including public workers and teachers, improved their digital skills and their working and living conditions thanks to these certifications.

In this context, MinTIC considers that supporting educational institutions across the country to have their own electronic offices and meet the requirements to leverage the benefits of Google Workspace is critical. The Ministry aims to further expand digital training to as many people as possible, even in the early stages of their education.

Thus, the deployment of Google Workspace for Education solutions has already reached 5,500 educational institutions in Colombia through electronic offices, collaboration tools, and free virtual classrooms, which collectively help improve learning processes and support students in their careers or undertakings so that they can, ultimately, obtain better jobs.