[1st-mile-nm] Digital Divide Report

[Richard Lowenberg]

The Knight Foundation has just published a new report assessing the Digital Divide.   Authored by John B. Horrigan, the report is primarily based on past and new NTIA and Pew Research Center data.    Here’s an introduction from the Knight Foundation’s blog, by John Horrigan.
 
http://www.knightfoundation.org/blogs/knightblog/2014/2/14/modern-makeover-discussions-digital-divide/  
 
For nearly two decades, the phrase “digital divide” -- the dichotomy between the information “haves” and “have-nots” -- has shaped policy discourse about digital equity. When it first came into widespread usage in 1995, just 14 percent of Americans identified themselves as Internet users; far more people were “have-nots” than “haves.” To characterize lack of access as a problem, at a time when only elites had a nascent technology, made the “digital divide” a concept ahead of its time. Today, we still talk about the digital divide, even as the data show that the problem has flipped. By the end of 2013, 85 percent of Americans were Internet users, with only 15 percent disconnected. If the “digital divide” was ahead of its time when 86 percent of Americans lacked access, is it behind the times now that 85 percent have access?
 
Here’s the full (25+ pages) .pdf report.

 
 
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I would like to suggest and offer that the 1st-Mile Institute be funded to conduct a more detailed, fine-grained survey, analysis and report on the Digital Divide in New Mexico, a state where we know the problem is much greater than the national averages indicate.   A more comprehensive picture is needed, if we are to identify strategically realizable steps forward.
 
From the over seven years of 1st-Mile email list postings (see the online archives at: http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/1st-mile-nm/       it is clear that in addition to the population groups cited in this and almost all other Digital Divide studies, the ongoing problem we face is not simply network services access and adoption, by the poor, elderly, undereducated and most rural, but should include state and local leaders and decision-makers, who lack necessary understanding of the issues and consequences of their related actions, or especially, lack thereof.
 
RL
 
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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute          www.1st-mile.org  
P. O.  Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM    87504
505-603-5200                 rl at 1st-mile.org
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