Colombia doesn’t usually get as much attention regarding free software in Latin America, largely because the federal government lags behind their regional neighbors in embracing open source. However, on the municipal level, the town of Yumbo will become the first model of a ‘digital city’ in Colombia starting next year, thanks to the development of a project that seeks to put information technology and communication in the service of social development.

The announcement was made by Abraham Rubio, president of the Foundation for Support to Local and Regional Human Development, Fundehumano, during the Second International Congress of Free Knowledge, Local Development and Regional Economy, held at the University of Santiago de Cali.

Rubio said that in the development of societies, it is necessary that people have access to new technologies, but given the high cost of licenses to use proprietary software, experimentation in using tech for democratization is cost-prohibitive.

“With free software, costs are reduced and equipment and training can be more useful, with the goal of citizens being closer to their governments and the functioning of their communities,” he explained.

The digital city project has an initial budget of 5 million euros for four years.