The White House on the Digital Divide

Recognizing the importance of access to high-speed Internet service, President Obama and the Council of Economic Advisers issued a statement on the current state (as of January 2015) of the digital divide in the U.S., titled "Mapping The Digital Divide".  This brief contains a wealth of information concerning Internet use in the U.S. and its many relationships to income, geography, education levels, population density, race, and gender.  It's also linked to two very useful resources:  The American Community Survey and the National Broadband Map, both are valuable sources of information for librarians seeking to better understand their local community and/or help patrons do the same.

"Internet Adoption in the United States by County: 2013" from "Mapping the Digital Divide", https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/wh_digital_divide_issue_brief.pdf

As others have pointed out, the digital divide is not so easily categorized, analyzed, solved.  The President and his advisers recognize the same: "The digital divide is likely both a cause and a consequence of other demographic disparities, and sorting out the precise impact of closing the divide is more difficult than characterizing the current disparities, as we have done here."  Addressing the problem will require increased access to affordable Internet service, investments in training, and infrastructure investments.  Time will tell how these plans close the digital divide in the U.S. and whether new challenges will have arisen by the time some of the old problems solved.

Sources:

Council of Economic Advisers, "Mapping the Digital Divide," https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/wh_digital_divide_issue_brief.pdf

The Digital Divide in 2015

Photo courtesy of http://www.geeks.com/techtips/2011/pc-gaming-vs-console-gaming.asp

Defining the digital divide has been a source of contention since the term was coined at the turn of the 21st century.  In his 2012 opinion piece "There Is No Digital Divide", published by the MIT Technology Review, Christopher Mims contends that pitting the technology "haves" vs. the technology "have-nots" is a dated way of seeing the issue.  Mims argues that this method of framing the discussion often (mis)leads to questions about why the "have-nots" can't change their behavior to be more like the "haves".  According to Mims, some researchers also argue that those computer users who come from traditionally "have-not" populations often misuse or waste their time when they have the opportunity to access computers and the Internet.  I agree with Mims who points out that this relies on how a so-called normal computer user would spend his/her time and an unfair method of assessment. Although judging how people spend their time on the Internet is really a private matter, with the exception of illegal activity of course, public librarians might have their work cut out for them if library boards, trustees, and budget committees routinely see patrons engaged in computer activity which they deem a "waste of time."

More recently and in this same vein, Wired  published "The Digital Divide Is Not Binary" by Michael Kende.  The author argues that anyone interested in solving the digital divide needs to ask bigger questions.  Kende's article includes a graph showing that many people around the world who do not have Internet access chose not to obtain it because of disinterest or lack of time.  Kende also pointed out that generating interest must be a starting point in combating the digital divide; however, this will require more localized hosting services because most are currently situated in the U.S. or Europe--which is cheaper but discourages new, local content.

Sources:

Kende, Michael, "The Digital Divide Is Not Binary," http://www.wired.com/insights/2015/01/the-digital-divide-is-not-binary/

Mims, Christopher, "There Is No Digital Divide," http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428043/there-is-no-digital-divide/

Help 'Close the Gap'

As community centers that showcase technology and offer it to patrons free of charge, public libraries are a natural starting place to close the digital divide.  Official numbers released by the AHA in its "Fact Sheet" (mentioned in a previous blog post) support the library's position at the forefront of this battle.  However, libraries of all types can tackle the digital divide by partnering not only with each other, but with other organizations fighting the same fight.

One such group is Close The Gap, an organization that essentially refurbishes computer equipment that companies, school, libraries,etc. have targeted for replacement and uses it for specific technology literacy projects around the world.  A more complete explanation of its Project Cycle can be found here.  Although libraries are often in need of updated technology, when they do have the opportunity to replace their older equipment, library managers should give Close The Gap, and other organizations like it, a closer look to see if a local project could be arranged.  Moreover, libraries would do well to make community partners and leaders aware of such organizations so that computer equipment throughout U.S. cities is not simply carted off to a recycling center without its future being thoroughly explored.

In rural Tanzania, a cargo container was re-purposed into a classroom. Photo courtesy of http://close-the-gap.org/blog/

Inside the classroom. Photo courtesy of http://close-the-gap.org/blog

Sources:

American Library Association, http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet26

Close The Gap, http://close-the-gap.org/