Mind the Gap: Closing the Digital Divide in America [Abstractions II 2019]

According to the FCC, in Detroit - my hometown - 40 percent of residents do not have internet access of any kind at home, while 57 percent rely on their smartphones to get online. This is not exclusive to Detroit. Major cities across America like Miami, FL, Dallas, TX, Milwaukee, WI and Newark, NJ all have a population of 40 percent or more that does not have fixed broadband internet access at home.

What challenges do people without Internet access face? What limitations do people with mobile-only Internet access encounter? As technology (and our relationship with it) continues to evolve, how can we better serve those who fall into the gaps of the Digital Divide?

In this talk, I will discuss some of the grassroots efforts in Detroit which seek to address the yawning chasm that separates those who can readily access technology and information from those who cannot. I will draw on my experiences working with nonprofit tech education organizations and programs. Together, we will see what this divide looks like and how we can help close this gap

Transcript

1. Mind the Gap: Closing the Digital Divide in America Stephanie Vaughn Abstractions II August 23, 2019 Inline Stage - 1:30 PM
2. About Me • Detroit native • Communications professional-turned-Techie • Front-End Web + Software Development • Passionate about Tech Literacy + Computer Science Education _@SLVaughn
4. Feel free to live-tweet this talk! Tag me while you live-tweet: @_SLVaughn Use hashtags: #AbstractionsCon #MindTheGap Photos are welcome too!
5. View slides and follow along: bit.ly/MindTheGapAbstractions _@SLVaughn
6. 1996 • America Online leaves behind its pay-per-hour system for a flat $19.95 monthly fee for dial-up Internet. The modern Internet era begins. • Millions of America Online trial CDs are repurposed as frisbees. _@SLVaughn
11. 2019 • There’s no way around it. The Internet is ubiquitous. • We can get it in our cars, on planes, hot spots on the street, underground on the subway...you get the point! _@SLVaughn
14. 40% of Detroit residents do not have Internet access at home. 70 percent of school-aged children are among them. _@SLVaughn
15. Detroit is One of The Worst Connected Cities In June 2018 the National Digital Inclusion Alliance published a report that revealed: • Detroit as the ranks 2nd worst connected city in the country, over 147,000 households without fixed broadband Internet. • 100,000 households have no Internet at all. _@SLVaughn
16. • It is important to note that the term “Fixed broadband Internet” as used by the Census includes wireline broadband technologies (cable Internet, DSL, fiber to the premises) as well as satellite and “fixed wireless” technologies. • It does not include 3G and 4G mobile service such as one purchases for a smartphone, or non-broadband connections like dial-up modems. _@SLVaughn
17. SOURCE: Detroit’s Broadband Infrastructure, Connectivity and Adoption Issues [FCC] _@SLVaughn
18. SOURCE: Worst Connected Cities 2016 [National Digital Inclusion Alliance] _@SLVaughn
19. Smartphone Dependency • As the adoption of traditional broadband service has slowed in recent years, a growing share of Americans now use smartphones as their primary means of online access at home. • Today one-in-five American adults are “smartphone-only” internet users – meaning they own a smartphone, but do not have traditional home broadband service. _@SLVaughn
20. This trend is important to note because it is strongly reflected in the 57% of households in Detroit that rely solely on their smartphones to access the Internet. _@SLVaughn
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23. What does this look like in everyday life for people within these demographics? • Think about everyday tasks you perform on a computer. Now think about trying to do them exclusively on your phone in a mobile app or mobile browser. • Think about the overall user experience on a desktop device vs. a mobile device. • Think about how the devices that we have at our disposal inform both Internet access and tech literacy. _@SLVaughn
24. Diana Nucera, director of the Detroit Community Technology Project “When you kind of think about all the ways the internet affects your life and how 40 percent of people in Detroit don’t have that access you can start to see how Detroit has been stuck in this economic disparity for such a long time.” _@SLVaughn
25. The Big Question™ after all of that sobering data: Where do we even begin to approach solutions to the Digital Divide? _@SLVaughn
26. Detroit Community Technology Project • Within the last couple of years a growing cohort of Detroiters have started a grassroots movement to build the Internet themselves. • It’s a coalition of community members and multiple Detroit nonprofits. • They call it the Equitable Internet Initiative. _@SLVaughn
27. JOURNi • JOURNi is an organization dedicated to equipping urban communities with the skills and resources necessary to jumpstart their local economies. • It strives to build an authentically inclusive tech ecosystem in the city of Detroit, by tapping into the heart and spirit of its residents. • To achieve this goal, they provide immersive courses, youth-centered programming, beneficial employment opportunities, startup education, and socioeconomic resources. _@SLVaughn
28. JOURNi program flier _@SLVaughn
29. Innovation Huddle • Innovation Huddle is a STEM + Entrepreneurship program for the students at Fisher Magnet Upper School. • The aim of the program is to introduce students to STEM/STEAM careers, and the principles of entrepreneurship. Introducing IH students to pair programming _@SLVaughn
30. Back to The Big Question™ _@SLVaughn
32. Thank You! Feel free to: • Come up to me after the session and chat • Follow me on Twitter: _@SLVaughn • Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/slvaughn7 • View my slides: http://bit.ly/MindTheGapAbstractions • View my resources: http://bit.ly/MindTheGapSources