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Digital Divide Country Profile · Oceania

KI

Kiribati

Closing the digital divide, expanding meaningful connectivity, and advancing digital education and workforce participation.

Location in the world

Kiribati

Flag of Kiribati

Oceania

World map showing the location of KiribatiKiribati
🇰🇮
Population (2024)
134,518
Total area
811 km²
Area in square miles
313.13 mi²
Coastline
1,143 km
Base map adapted from Wikimedia Commons. Population: World Bank (2024); geography: CIA World Factbook.

National digital inclusion context

A portfolio-based view of access, capability, and outcomes.

This profile organizes the initiatives directly connected to Kiribati in the global research inventory. It follows the study's country-profile framework: national context, broadband infrastructure, inclusion practices, education and workforce connections, implementation actors, and intended contribution.

The documented portfolio emphasizes Fiber / Fixed Broadband Infrastructure, Submarine / International Cable Infrastructure, Backbone / Backhaul / Middle-Mile Infrastructure, Fiber/Fiber Optic, Data Center/Centre. The profile treats infrastructure, affordability, capability, institutions, support, and outcomes as an interconnected system.

Portfolio pattern

What the documented response contains.

Counts reflect source-workbook tags. One initiative may appear in multiple infrastructure or technology categories.

Infrastructure and access

  1. Fiber / Fixed Broadband Infrastructure2
  2. Submarine / International Cable Infrastructure2
  3. Backbone / Backhaul / Middle-Mile Infrastructure1
  4. Data Center / Cloud Infrastructure1
  5. Digital Public Infrastructure1

Specific technologies

  1. Fiber/Fiber Optic2
  2. Data Center/Centre1
  3. Digital Identity / e-ID1
  4. Submarine Fiber-Optic Cable1

Intervention classification

  1. Neither explicitly identified9
  2. Infrastructure and Specific Technology3
  3. Infrastructure only2
  4. Specific Technology only1

Education and workforce

Connectivity becomes consequential through participation.

2 initiatives explicitly connect to education, K–12, or college/university contexts, and 1 connect to workforce development. Other investments may enable these outcomes indirectly.

Access

Networks, service availability, devices, and connection quality.

Capability

Skills, confidence, accessibility, navigation, and support.

Participation

Education, work, health, government, and civic opportunity.

Sustainability

Governance, operations, maintenance, funding, and learning.

Project and initiative portfolio

15 documented records

Every directly tagged record is shown with details and supporting URLs preserved from the research workbook.

01

Digital civil registration

Kiribati Digital Government – Civil Registration System modernization

Implementation · Nationwide
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Status / periodImplementationLocationNationwidePopulationResidents and familiesOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Closes a documented access, affordability, skills, institutional-capacity, or meaningful-use gap.

Activities and approach: Digital civil registration; integration with identity platform

02

Digital identity

Kiribati Digital Government – Digital National ID system

Implementation · Nationwide
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Status / periodImplementationLocationNationwidePopulationResidents across all inhabited islandsOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Closes a documented access, affordability, skills, institutional-capacity, or meaningful-use gap.

Activities and approach: National digital ID platform; identity verification

Digital Identity / e-ID
03

Digital-government institutional capacity

Kiribati Digital Government – Digital Transformation Office

Implementation · All 22 inhabited islands / central government
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Status / periodImplementationLocationAll 22 inhabited islands / central governmentPopulationGovernment agencies and citizensOrganizationsMICTTD; World Bank

Closes a documented access, affordability, skills, institutional-capacity, or meaningful-use gap.

Activities and approach: Establish DTO; coordination; implementation oversight

04

Government digital infrastructure

Kiribati Digital Government – ICT Infrastructure Component

2022–ongoing · Nationwide
View details
Status / period2022–ongoingLocationNationwidePopulationCitizens and government usersOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Adds public-sector ICT infrastructure and services, increasing meaningful use of national connectivity.

Activities and approach: Government ICT infrastructure; digital services

Telecommunications / Broadband Infrastructure
05

Digital public infrastructure interoperability

Kiribati Digital Government – ID/civil-registry linkage

Implementation · Nationwide
View details
Status / periodImplementationLocationNationwidePopulationResidents and public agenciesOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Closes a documented access, affordability, skills, institutional-capacity, or meaningful-use gap.

Activities and approach: Link digital ID with civil-registration system

Digital Public Infrastructure
06

Digital-government enabling environment

Kiribati Digital Government – implementation roadmap and enabling regulation

Implementation · Nationwide
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Status / periodImplementationLocationNationwidePopulationCitizens, businesses and public agenciesOrganizationsMICTTD; Government of Kiribati; World Bank

Closes a documented access, affordability, skills, institutional-capacity, or meaningful-use gap.

Activities and approach: Roadmap; legal/regulatory reform; data protection and safe internet measures

07

Government data infrastructure

Kiribati Digital Government – National Data Center

Implementation · South Tarawa / national government
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Status / periodImplementationLocationSouth Tarawa / national governmentPopulationPublic agencies and digital-service usersOrganizationsMICTTD; World Bank

Closes a documented access, affordability, skills, institutional-capacity, or meaningful-use gap.

Activities and approach: National data centre; secure hosting; e-government infrastructure

Data Center / Cloud InfrastructureData Center/Centre
08

Digital public services

Kiribati Digital Government – national government portal / single window

Implementation · Nationwide incl. outer islands
View details
Status / periodImplementationLocationNationwide incl. outer islandsPopulationCitizens and businessesOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Closes a documented access, affordability, skills, institutional-capacity, or meaningful-use gap.

Activities and approach: Single-window portal for information, interactions and transactions

09

Digital safety and literacy

Kiribati Digital Government – online safety for women and girls

Implementation · Nationwide
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Status / periodImplementationLocationNationwidePopulationWomen and girlsOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Closes a documented access, affordability, skills, institutional-capacity, or meaningful-use gap.

Activities and approach: Online safety measures; safe internet regulation and awareness

Education
10

Remote-island digital inclusion

Kiribati Digital Government – outer-island online-service access

2022-2027 implementation · Outer islands
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Status / period2022-2027 implementationLocationOuter islandsPopulationOuter-island residentsOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Closes a documented access, affordability, skills, institutional-capacity, or meaningful-use gap.

Activities and approach: Internet-based public services designed for geographically dispersed users

11

Gender digital inclusion

Kiribati Digital Government – women's online economic and service access

Implementation · Nationwide
View details
Status / periodImplementationLocationNationwidePopulationWomen entrepreneurs, women and girlsOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Closes a documented access, affordability, skills, institutional-capacity, or meaningful-use gap.

Activities and approach: Online business opportunities; healthcare, education, social protection and finance access

EducationWorkforce
12

Outer-island connectivity / market reform

Outer Islands Telecom Market and Connectivity Reform

2012–ongoing legacy · Outer Islands
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Status / period2012–ongoing legacyLocationOuter IslandsPopulationOuter-island residentsOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Supports wider, more affordable telecom access outside South Tarawa through regulatory and market reforms.

Activities and approach: ICT policy; competition; operator support

13

International fiber broadband

Pacific Regional Connectivity Phase 4 – Tarawa Submarine Cable

2017–ongoing/implementation · Tarawa / North Pacific cable system
View details
Status / period2017–ongoing/implementationLocationTarawa / North Pacific cable systemPopulationResidents of Tarawa and nearby islandsOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Reduces cost and increases availability of Internet through submarine fiber.

Activities and approach: Submarine fiber

Submarine / International Cable InfrastructureFiber / Fixed Broadband InfrastructureFiber/Fiber OpticSubmarine Fiber-Optic Cable
14

Cable landing infrastructure

Tarawa Cable Landing Station and Ancillary Infrastructure

Project component · Tarawa
View details
Status / periodProject componentLocationTarawaPopulationOperators and national usersOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Builds the on-island infrastructure necessary to receive international fiber capacity.

Activities and approach: Cable landing station; fronthaul/backhaul

Submarine / International Cable InfrastructureFiber / Fixed Broadband InfrastructureBackbone / Backhaul / Middle-Mile InfrastructureFiber/Fiber Optic
15

ICT regulation

Telecommunications Regulatory and Institutional Capacity Project

2012–legacy · Nationwide
View details
Status / period2012–legacyLocationNationwidePopulationConsumers and service providersOrganizationsGovernment of Kiribati; World Bank

Builds regulatory capacity needed for competitive, affordable telecom service.

Activities and approach: Policy/legal/regulatory reform

Evidence boundary

Read the portfolio as a starting point, not a final verdict.

Project records document interventions and intended contributions; they do not alone prove nationwide coverage, causal impact, or durable closure.

Profiles will deepen as national statistics, policy documents, evaluations, and implementation evidence are incorporated. Source links allow inspection of underlying evidence.

Evidence and contextProfile Sources

These sources support the country-level demographic, geographic, and connectivity context. Sources tied to individual projects remain with their project records and are not repeated here.

  1. Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.). Kiribati. The World Factbook. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/kiribati/
  2. International Telecommunication Union. (n.d.). ITU DataHub: Country ICT data. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://datahub.itu.int/
  3. World Bank. (n.d.). Individuals using the Internet (% of population): Kiribati. World Development Indicators. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?locations=KI
  4. World Bank. (n.d.). Population, total: Kiribati. World Development Indicators. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=KI

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