L'observatoire Data & Créativité by iligo

MY LINE Powered by Google

Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications, is the national executive ministry of the Government of Colombia responsible for overseeing the information and communication technologies

In Colombia, more than 90% of the territory is still rural. It’s hard to achieve social equality in those circumstances
Many Colombians did not have access to computers or smartphones so they could not access the internet due to their remote geographical location
Despite this, many owned standard mobile phones that could make and receive phone calls
The Ministry of Communications & Technology wanted equal information access across its country despite de low rate of penetration of internet

The idea of “My Line” project was that anyone with access to a standard phone line would be brought the power of Google Assistant
“My line” allows the population that is currently marginalised from internet sourced information (remote villages, illiterate population, the visually impaired, etc.) to have access through voice calls
Via this service, users can ask Google Assistant a question over the phone, they would then receive a verbal response from the virtual assistant

The “My Line” service is powered by Google artificial intelligence and Google Cloud Platform
After placing a call to a regular local telephone number, the caller can ask Google Assistant a question. In just a second or two, the service will process the question in a custom software and connect with Google Systems in the cloud. My line receives the response and speaks it back to the caller by phone

Now many Colombians in romate areas are allowed to have access to information on the internet without having internet
The case Won Cannes Lions of Communication 2018