Colombia: National Rural Connectivity Plan (PNCR, 2019)

Colombia's National Rural Connectivity Plan (PNCR), adopted through Resolution No. 1722 of July 12, 2019, issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies (MinTIC), establishes a national strategy to expand internet access and reduce connectivity gaps between urban and rural areas. The plan was developed in accordance with section 1.3.1.3 of the Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace, as part of the National Plans for Comprehensive Rural Reform. Its strategic objectives are to promote the deployment of infrastructure enabling high-speed internet access in municipal centers throughout the country and to provide community internet access solutions in populated centers of prioritized municipalities, particularly those included in the Development Programs with a Territorial Approach (PDET). The plan seeks to improve rural populations' access to information, communication and digital services, helping reduce territorial inequalities and expand development opportunities. Implementation falls within the information and communications technology sector and involves infrastructure investment and public access mechanisms coordinated by MinTIC. The adopting resolution establishes implementation monitoring through the Integrated Post-Conflict Information System. For agrifood systems, the plan has an indirect and enabling role by improving connectivity in rural communities where agricultural activities take place. It is not, in itself, an agricultural digitalization program and does not establish production interventions exclusively targeting farmers. The described outcomes represent intended objectives rather than evidence that connectivity targets have been achieved.