More Digital Literacy Training Needed to Get Minority Communities Online, Experts Say
Efforts to close the digital divide need to focus on usage, in addition to broadband adoption, said panelists at Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies event Monday. More groups are competing to close the digital divide, said Harold Ford, Broadband for America co-chair, in his keynote remarks. Programs such as Comcast’s Internet Essentials need to be replicated and top cable providers are investing in building out their networks, said Ford.
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The utility of broadband needs to be the focus rather than access because its innovations change how we live, learn and earn, said Nicol Turner-Lee, Minority Media and Telecommunications Council vice president. Turner-Lee outlined five areas related to utility mentioned in a to-be-released MMTC report: to make more progress in broadband adoption; to use E-rate to close the achievement gap; to close the telemedicine gap; to bolster minority ownership; and to roll back the e-commerce taxes. “We need to move forward to social welfare utility,” said Turner-Lee. “We need to discover how people are using mobile apps and at what capacity in addition to the day-to-day issues."
While the majority of Americans might “get a cold” without Internet access, it will be “like the flu for minority communities,” said Chris Lewis, Public Knowledge vice president-government affairs. All Americans need to have a competitive, interconnected network with consumer protections and reliability, said Lewis. “Minority communities need consumer protections during the [Internet Protocol] transition because they know what it is like to be surveilled,” he said. The IP transition will help providers access unserved areas, said Turner-Lee. “We need to see more FCC and Commerce Department programs to fund these areas,” she said.
Public safety is also a leading reason for ensuring that all Americans have access to 911 across all systems, said Lewis. Consumers also need to have opportunities to choose from the ILECs and small local Internet providers, said Lewis. “The resources of the ILECs can create a false impression of scarcity because they want to be No. 1,” he said. “We need to have a system that can encourage adoption and close the digital divide between these groups.”
Fear of predatory practices on the Internet is becoming a major deterrent for broadband adoption, said Brent Wilkes, League of United Latin American Citizens executive director. Thirty million computers in the United States have some kind of malware, and identify theft is becoming more common, said Wilkes. “It’s getting aggressive and some groups are underestimating how detrimental this could be to the health of the Internet,” he said. Privacy can also become intertwined with levels of service, said Semantics Lab CEO York Eggleston. “If you want a higher level of service, you may have to give away more of your privacy,” said Eggleston. Small businesses are at a loss when it comes to advertising on online because they can’t sell personalization, he said. “They can’t anticipate your needs through advertising,” said Eggleston. (sfriedman@warren-news.com)