Amazing Amazon

Intel has created a wireless, high-speed Internet network in a remote Amazon town for residents to access medical, educational and commercial information for the first time.

The project is part of the Intel World Ahead Programme, an initiative in which Intel plans to invest more than $1bn globally over the next five years to accelerate access to computers, the internet and technology for people in developing communities.

In a statement, Intel said it expects the digital transformation of Parintins, a town on an island in the Amazon River, to improve the healthcare and education of its 114,000 residents and advance the lives of future generations.

Working with the Brazilian government and business and education officials, Intel and its collaborators installed a WiMAX network for a primary healthcare centre, two public schools, a community centre and Amazon University. Intel also donated and installed telemedicine equipment at the health centre and computer labs at the two schools where students and teachers can regularly connect to the outside world for the first time.