The Internet as we know it is over 50 years old. For the first twenty of those years, it was largely controlled by government entities and renowned research institutions and used by scientists and researchers who had privileged access. Sir Tim Berners-Lee changed the perception of the Internet’s potential as a valuable tool only to those scientists and researchers. He invented the World Wide Web in 1989 – just over 30 years ago! It turned out to be the most significant invention of modern times and fundamentally changed the way humankind interacted, corporations did business, educators trained students, etc. The Internet also accelerated the pace of innovation in every facet of human life.
3.5 Billion People are “Stalled” alongside the Digital Information Highway
While information became easily accessible to those with computers, access to information for the more than 50% of the world’s population without became an ever-increasingly steep hurdle. The major blockages to accessing information on the internet is more than just access to devices to connect; there is also a gap in service provider support, and basic digital education on how to use the Internet. There are over 3.5 billion people on this planet who are not currently “on” the digital information highway – a startling number!
For those of us living in the San Francisco Bay Area, this statistic may sound unbelievable. After all, we live in Silicon Valley, the heart and hub of the technology universe! Google, Facebook, Apple, and Tesla all have their headquarters in the Bay Area. This information alone might lead us to believe that access to the Internet is as obvious and available as the air we breathe. The reality is that even here in Silicon Valley, a significant and unacceptable digital divide exists!
The San Francisco Bay Area is Leaving 30,000 Students Behind
Let me provide context and data to help us make sense of this by looking from the perspective of the income level across the region. The San Francisco Bay Area consists of nine counties where over seven million people reside. More than 25% of these people live at or below the poverty level. That’s at least one in four Bay Area residents, or 1.75 million people! And according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted earlier this year, more than 40% of families at or below poverty level do not have a desktop or laptop computer, or broadband access, at home; for these families the information superhighway is simply not accessible.
Digging a little deeper, the statistics are grim for Bay Area children. According to the California Department of Education, there are approximately 285k students enrolled in Alameda and San Francisco county K-12 public and charter schools. If one in four of them live at or below the poverty level (71k children), and 40% do not have computer or broadband access at home, then we have nearly 30,000 children across two Bay Area counties who lack regular and reliable access to the Internet and the promise of digital technologies!
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted and deepened this digital divide for these children. With mass migration to online learning for the 2020-2021 school year, the Internet became the default education platform with video conferencing solutions as the primary means of connection between teachers and students. ‘Virtual Classroom’ has become a mainstream phrase. While this caused inconveniences for many families living well above the poverty line, for families facing poverty and significant economic hardships, this situation was nearly untenable. With inconsistent broadband access hampering connection to virtual classrooms, or with parents who themselves did not have the education or resources to become digitally literate, many of these children struggled academically.
What We Can Do About It
Organizations like RRRcomputer.org are tackling this important issue from many different angles, whether by assisting children and families with access to hardware, broadband, software, or providing opportunities to development digital literacy skills. We still have a long way to go to bridge this digital divide, and while the need is immense globally, we are dedicated to address the immediate needs we see in the Bay Area.
Ram Appalaraju sits on the Executive Board for RRRComputer.org. His 35+ year career in the IT industry included executive management positions in start-ups and large enterprises such as HP and Cisco. He is deeply committed to social causes in the areas of technology access to the under-privileged, and donates much of his time to supporting non-profit organizations and influencing local and state policy development.