Joint Informational Hearing
Senate Energy, Utilities, & Communications Committee
Senate Select Committee on Economic Development
State Capitol, Room 4203
January 25, 2000
1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Bridging The Digital Divide: An Overview
I. Opening Comments
- Senator Debra Bowen, Chairwoman
- Senator John Vasconcellos, Chairman
II. What Is The Digital Divide & Why Does It Matter?
The "digital divide" is a relatively new term that means different things to different people. What is the digital divide and what are the risks of failing to bridge it? How does the divide effect our society and our economy?
- Wendy Lader, Senior Policy Advisor, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
- Roger Dunstan, Assistant Director, California Research Bureau
- Michael Bernick, Director, California Employment Development Department
III. How Are Californians Trying To Bridge The Digital Divide?
There are a wide variety of attempts to bridge the digital divide already underway in California. What problems are these groups addressing and what lessons have they learned from these projects? What strategies work – or don’t work – and who is benefiting? What role should federal, state and local governments play in eliminating the digital divide?
- Ruben Barrales, President, Joint Venture Silicon Valley, Bridging the Digital Divide
- Jeff Carr, Director, First Church of the Nazarene, Bresee Foundation, Cyberhood Communication Lab
- Louise Steenkamp, Plumas County Coordinator, Computers in Our Future
- David R. Springett, Ph.D., President, California Community College Foundation, Community Connect
- Ana Montes, Director, Latino Issues Forum, Signature Learning Project
- Joe Walton, Director, SeniorNet
The Digital Divide: An Overview
Since the dawn of the personal computer age some 30 years ago, access to computers – and more recently to the Internet – has been neither universal nor democratic. The size of that gap between the haves and the have-nots didn’t cause a great deal of concern, in part because people had no idea how large it was and in part because computers weren’t such an integral part of society.
The lack of concern changed markedly in 1995, when the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an arm of the United States Department of Commerce, published a report entitled "Falling Through the Net: A Survey of the "Have-Nots" in Rural and Urban America". The policy basis for the report was the nation's long-standing telecommunications policy goal of universal service. That report suggested that universal telephone service might not be sufficient to allow full participation in society. Rather, the key to success in what was then described as the "Information Age" was a personal computer and modem to access the Internet.
Since its first report, NTIA has issued two subsequent reports, the most recent of which came out in 1999. Basing its findings on Census Bureau surveys, NTIA’s latest report shows the number of Americans connected to the nation's information infrastructure (e.g. that have computers with Internet access) has grown rapidly, but that access by minorities, the poor, and rural Americans is disproportionately low.
For example:
- In 1998 households with annual incomes over $75,000, almost 60% use the Internet.
- In 1998 households with incomes under $25,000, less than 20% use the Internet.
- While 38% of whites surveyed use the Internet, only 19% of blacks and 17% of Hispanics use the Internet.
These gaps in Internet usage are what are commonly referred to as the "Digital Divide".
Few disagree that a digital divide exists. In fact, it’s what would be expected at this early stage in the life cycle of any new, relatively expensive and complicated product. The real question is why should we be concerned about the divide and what, if anything, should we do about it?
Many argue that the digital divide needs to be bridged quickly because of the world we live in today. People with access to computers and the Internet are greatly, and perhaps permanently, advantaged over those people who don't have similar access or the skills and resources to acquire such access. The most obvious advantage is better educational quality and, consequently, significantly better employment and income opportunities. Computer and Internet access also provide users with an alternative – some would say better – opportunity to participate in society, whether through electronic commerce, access to government, information, and entertainment, as well as an ability to join communities, both electronic and physical.
Not surprisingly, the reasons for wanting to close the gap vary from group to group, but the common thread is the same – that affordable access to technology is central to a person’s ability to participate and succeed in today's and tomorrow's society:
- Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a non-profit collaboration of corporations and public institutions in the Silicon Valley, believes the lack of an adequately skilled labor force – and the cost that saddles the high-tech industry with – is the main reason why the divide should be closed and closed quickly.
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a large, well-financed philanthropic organization, believes the capability of computers and the Internet creates unprecedented opportunities for learning and discovery which should be extended to everyone, regardless of income or social status.
- The Tomás Rivera Policy Institute believes allowing the digital divide to grow threatens to deepen the gaps in this nation's society, implying that bridging the divide will provide for a more equitable society.
- In Virginia, Republican Governor Jim Gilmore has announced a statewide effort to bridge the digital divide because the Internet Age is too promising to leave anyone behind.
- Today’s hearing will focus both on the larger issue of the digital divide and on several specific projects that are up and running in California with a variety of constituencies and goals:
- The Joint Venture Silicon Valley project is targeted at building a homegrown, local workforce.
- The First Church of the Nazarene focuses on inner-city kids in an after-school setting.
- The Computers in Our Future project provides computers and Internet access to a rural part of the state.
- The Community College Foundation has built a number of mobile computer labs, one of which is on display at the Capitol today.
- The Latino Issues Forum project addresses both urban and rural schools in relatively poor areas and provides families with computers.
- SeniorNet provides education and mentoring specifically targeted to seniors.
Many Fortune 500 companies are voluntarily participating in programs such as these to help bridge the digital divide. This raises the question of whether the responsibility for closing the gap between the technological haves and have-nots should be left to the private sector or whether, as is the case with telephone service, government should establish a "universal access" policy and help to subsidize its enactment.
This hearing is the first step in engaging that debate.