none

1. Digital Divide
Should the public subsidize computer
and/or Internet access for underserved
areas and communities?
YES!!!!!

2. The Digital Divide - Discovered!!!
 1995- National Telecommunications and
Information Administration first identified
the problem of digital divide in their report
“Falling Through the Net”
 CJ’s Personal Testimony

3. Social Issues
 Computers and technology are becoming an
integral part of society and education
 It is necessary to provide children with the skills
to make sense of and use the information.
 The percentage of schools with internet access
increased from 35% to 99% from 1994 to 2001
 Reliance on technology serves to exacerbate
preexisting inequalities
 Providing access to technology helps create
opportunities for social mobility

4. Social Reasons cont.
 Subsidized access could help cut down on
racial and socioeconomic disparities
 77% of Whites use a computer at home, while
41% of blacks and Hispanics do. 31% of
students from families earning less than $20,000
use a computer at home, compared w/ 89% of
those w/ incomes of over $75,000
 Increasing technological access is key in
eliminating poverty

5. Past Government Strategies to
Deal with the Digital Divide
 The Clinton Administration:
 Called for the opening of new government community
centers and the development of a plan to make
computers accessible to all Americans
 E-Rates: From Digital Divide to Digital Opportunity
 A multi-billion dollar effort to broaden access to
technology, provide individuals with skilled
teachers and the training necessary to master
the information economy

6. Drawbacks to Government
Initiatives
 Although the presence of internet access in
public schools has increased, studies have
shown that there have not been significant
increases in standardized test scores in
schools that received subsidies?
 What does this say about the program??

7. The Current Government’s
Agenda
 “In America no child should be
left behind. Every child should
be educated to his or her full
potential”
-The Bush Administration 2002-

8. The Bush Administration’s
Actual Agenda
 2005- The United States
Government cuts funding for
Community Technology Centers (a
program run by the Department of
Education) and the Technology
Opportunities Program

9. Economic Considerations
 Everyone can benefit !
 The initiative to bridge the digital
divide is highly sustainable !
 Priced out of market - income and
expenditure considerations !

10. Bridging the digital divide
 Sustained or even reduced
subscription/network prices
 Individuals have increased
capacity to engage in
economically productive activities
 Positive effects on the community
 Positive effects on other
communities at large
Everyone benefits!

11. Bridging the digital divide
 Software - easily accessible as
downloads are off the web;
cheap/free
 Hardware - consumer cyclical
goods that only need to be
renewed every cycle (six, eight
years?)
Is it sustainable?

12. Bridging the digital divide
 Policy design should be governed
by its merits
 Sustainability issues are
important but secondary
considerations
Is it sustainable?

13. Bridging the digital divide
 Inequalities between ‘physical and
electronic spaces’ mutually
reinforce each other
 Digital divide contributes to the
increasing income gap between
the rich and the poor in America
Economic poverty = “Information poverty”

14. Bridging the digital divide
 U.S. annual per capita income
and household income for
 African Americans: $15,197/
$30,439
 Hispanics:
$12,306/ $33,447
Priced out of market?

15. Bridging the digital divide
 Used computer unit: 250 USD
 Software: 50 USD
 Internet subscription: 360 USD
 Total: 660 USD
 2.0-2.5% of annual household
income for African Americans
and Hispanic families!
Priced out of market?

16. Bridging the digital divide
 “Desktop computers are available at
relatively low (and constantly declining)
prices… the public should not subsidize
computer and Internet access for under-
served areas and communities because
it is not the responsibility of the
government to provide a market-based
commodity.”
FALSE

17. Bridging the digital divide
 “The percentages of households with
computers and Internet access have
continued to increase over the past
several years… there is no reason to
assume that these trends will not
continue… computer and Internet usage
will become nearly universal without
additional government interference.”
FALSE

18. Bridging the digital divide
How?
 Cluster-system in public spaces
within inner cities?
 Partial fee structure to
encourage ownership of
resources?

19. Bridging the digital divide
CONCLUSION