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Digital Divide

The Digital Divide: the gap between those people with effective access to digital and information technology and those without.

We would first like to do shout-outs to St. Louis organizations that are already working very hard to bridge the Digital Divide in St. Louis:
With the ongoing convergence of text, audio, and video media into the online digital form represented by the Internet, lack of Internet access becomes an increasingly painful economic handicap for low-income communities.  This problem is certain to be exacerbated in dimensions unheard of with the February 2009 termination of analog TV service in the US, even with the availability of inexpensive converters and extensive public education campaigns.  In particular, the converters will sell out quickly after February, leaving countless thousands in St. Louis without any television at all.  Nevertheless, digital broadcast television (DTV) is only an intermediate step, as it will meld with broadband in the coming years.  This is why low-cost Internet access is a important goal in community revitalization, both short term and long term.

Typical residential Internet access in St. Louis requires the following
  • Broadband Account (e.g. DSL or Cable) - avg $50/mo, according to our Competitive Analysis
  • Computer - minimum $200-$300 new
  • A bank account and/or credit card
Although these items may seem common place to many readers, they are indeed hard to come by for many low-income residents, and particularly so for new immigrants.  Experience leading public computer time at CAMP has shown that many BPW children have no Internet access whatsoever at home, prompting them to compete for the limited computers available at the library, school, or community centers.  The short computer time with very limited adult supervision can strongly stunt individuals' awareness of the wealth of resources online, and hinder the diigital literacy they need to locate those resources effectively.

Inexpensive Internet access (coupled with low-cost computers provided by community technology centers like ByteWorks or CAMP) at home is an immediate solution to this problem.  People can learn new digital media on their own time without feeling rushed, parents can supervise their children on appropriate and healthy Web-surfing behavior (or vice versa), and new immigrants may access multi-lingual information (not to mention cheap international calling via Skype) to help them better integrate themselves in the community.

More info coming...