Posts Tagged ‘Digital Divide’

Improving School with Internet Speed

Monday, October 26th, 2009

School needs to teach kids how to live in the world, and having access to high-speed internet makes it possible—and better in so many ways.  Information from Speed Matters.org, told us how.

Having access to high speed internet has the power to enhance every level of education. Even kindergarteners need internet exposure these days, and all grade levels through high school to college to graduate school can make the most of the knowledge available to improve their education and schoolwork. With all the advances in information and communications technology since most of us were in school, education is no longer confined to the classroom. For example, virtual field trips take students on tours of faraway places such as to our nation’s capitol and the streets of foreign cities, or even to the depths of oceans and to the far reaches of outer space…with internet speed.
Imagine utilizing new broadband-enabled educational tools for remote collaboration among fellow students on projects, videoconferences with teachers, access to education specialists and access to resources school libraries remotely, including digital videos and high-volume data files. The educational advantages possible with high speed Internet are indispensable to students preparing to enter the 21st Century workforce. Students with limited or no access in their formative elementary school years are certain to fall behind. Computer skills must go beyond technical competency, to include higher-level skills such as critical thinking and problem solving as well as the creative use of technology. The earlier every student in America is connected to high speed Internet, the brighter our country’s future will be.

Students with little exposure to digital technologies translate to adults with limited career opportunities. Workers lacking technological versatility put the American workforce at a competitive disadvantage within the world economy.

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The Digital Divide and the Need for Speed

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

There are many reasons why the U.S. really needs to invest in the technology that would make it possible for the whole country to have access to high-speed internet. For the next several posts, we’ll look at some of the best reasons for our need for speed up close, with information from Speed Matters.org .

When underserved communities gain access to high speed Internet, all Americans benefit from the increased level of education, economic advancement and health across the nation. High speed Internet access has become vital to the success of individuals and communities. Our nation’s commitment to equal economic opportunity, educational advancement, and democratic participation can only truly thrive if everyone has equivalent access to these critical communications networks. Closing the digital divide in America strengthens the entire country economically and socially.

The benefits of high-speed internet, alluded to above include:

 • Education: With the accessibility of high speed broadband, students in the most impoverished inner-city neighborhoods and distant rural regions can take advantage of the same Internet resources as students in the most affluent suburbs. Living on a farm hours away from city libraries would no longer put students at an educational disadvantage.

• Economic Development: Broadband availability creates wealth and opportunity for underserved low-income areas by attracting businesses that want to locate near a high speed Internet network, such as IT and communications companies that can not operate competitively without broadband. A study by the Brookings Institution shows that for every percentage point increase in broadband penetration, employment expands with internet speed
 by almost 300,000 jobs.

• Public Health: With a broadband connection, those without health insurance (who are more likely to live in areas without high speed Internet) could access general information about healthcare to manage their health and gain understanding of their condition(s) and options for care. Telemedicine offers cost-effective health care solutions for urban and rural residents.

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Time Travel With Internet Speed

Monday, April 27th, 2009

The World Digital Library, a website offering free access to antique an ancient rare books, maps, manuscripts, films and photographs from across the globe and throughout time, launched Tuesday at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the Yahoo Tech page reports.

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization that uses Education, Social and Natural Science, Culture and Communication as a means to build peace in the world.

Bringing together priceless material, from ancient Chinese or Persian calligraphy to early Latin American photography, it is the world’s third major digital library, after Google Book Search and the EU’s new project, Europeana.

Libraries and cultural institutions from Brazil to Britain, China, Egypt, France, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States contributed content — on a non-exclusive basis — as well as expertise. And the world library is available in seven core languages — Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish — with additional material in other languages.

UNESCO along with 32 partner institutions helped to create this brainchild of James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, (the world’s biggest library), who co-chaired the official launch alongside UNESCO director general Koichiro Matsuura. They hope to build partnerships with 60 countries by year end, with Morocco, Uganda, Mexico and Slovakia already signed up to work with the project.

By drawing on content from libraries and archives worldwide, it aims to reduce the rich-poor digital divide , expand “non-Western” content on the web, promote better understanding between cultures and provide a global teaching resource– a great way to help the Internet live up to the terms world wide web and information superhighway, right?

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U.S. Needs to Get Up to Speed

Friday, April 17th, 2009

In a recent report commissioned by the United Nations entitled “Measuring the Information Society - the ICT Development Index”,  154 countries were ranked on their use of information and communications technology (ICT).  Sweden was ranked number one, with South Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands and Iceland rounding out the top five. However The United States fell from 11th to 17th and Canada from the top 10 to 19th. The new top 10 includes Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Finland and the United Kingdom.

The report said “This is largely due to impressive fixed broadband uptake in some European countries, compared to, for example, the United States and Canada.”

“While Western Europe and Eastern Asia have made significant gains on the IDI (ICT Development Index), Eastern Europe is the region that has improved most its ICT levels between 2002 and 2007, with the most dynamic growth in the IDI of all regions worldwide.”

They also say the Global Digital Divide is still very much a challenge, despite the fact that “by the end of 2008… close to a quarter of the world’s population [was] using the Internet.” Still, “major differences in ICT levels between regions and between the developed and developing economies remain. This is particularly true in the area of broadband.” 

While high-speed Internet is available in almost all countries, the developing world has only a 2%  penetration, with still only 20% in the developed world. That’s for fixed line users. “At the same time, fixed broadband networks are increasingly being complemented by mobile broadband networks. Given the limited availability of wired access in many of the world’s developing countries and rural areas, and the rapid spread of IMT-2000/3G mobile cellular networks, mobile broadband is opening up exciting and new possibilities…[and] it has a clear potential to help more and more people communicate, and increasingly at high speed.”

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Broadband on Tribal Lands

Monday, March 30th, 2009

As reported by Speed Matters.org , the second NTIA broadband roundtable in Las Vegas, the discussion revolved around reaching vulnerable populations, selection criteria and definitions of “broadband”, “underserved” and “unserved”.

Broadband Census.com reports that panelists used Nevada as a case study for the digital divide, as Jeff Sandstrom of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development pointed out that the majority of rural Nevada doesn’t have access to broadband Internet. Finding ways to extend broadband would play a major role in Nevada’s “economic revolution,” Sandstrom said, particularly with the state’s focus on solar and geothermal power. Additionally, Nevada’s wildlife, agriculture, e-learning, telemedicine and business communities would benefit from better broadband, he said.

Then, representing the National Tribal Telecommunication Association, Karen Twenhafel of Telecom Consulting Service said that eight American tribes already have their own telephone companies and continue to pursue “self-provision of communication services.” Others among the Indian tribal lands – at least 29 percent, she said – still do not have access to broadband technology. “For 4.3 million Americans, this type of participation is simply not available.”

Valerie Fast Horse, council member and director of information technology for the Coeur d’Alene tribe, continued with panel’s concern for broadband for tribal communities. “The communications of this nation is only as strong as its weakest link.”

She said that tribal and rural areas had been left behind in communication development. What is needed now, she said, is infrastructure “with a long shelf-life” – referring to fiber-optic technology appropriate for delivering high speed internet into rural communities.

“True communication development cannot happen if we only focus on capitalizing infrastructure and equipment, while ignoring our human spirit,” she said.

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Why Rural Broadband?

Friday, March 6th, 2009

Right now, broadband and high-speed internet are only available where the infrastructure is there to support them.  But for those living outside of urban areas, they may be left with only the super-slow-motion of dial-up, or options that only the wealthier can afford. These are people who are being left behind, unable to benefit from the telecommunications and information revolution. This creates a digital divide.

According to SpeedMatters.org, “The digital divide leaves a large slice of our citizens without high speed Internet access, and some without Internet access at all. Those who ‘go without’ are left out of the potential advantages of high speed Internet access in areas as diverse as education and health, to civic participation and staying up on the news.”

Recently though, the New York Times reported that one company said they were working with rural electric cooperatives to offer high-speed Internet service, delivered over power lines. The technology has been around for several years, but hasn’t typically been able to offer enough capacity at a low enough price to beat service from cable and phone.

They began deploying Internet service last year with one rural cooperative in Alabama, and this week announced an expansion to include five more cooperatives in Alabama, Indiana, Virginia and Michigan, where 5,000 customers signed up in the first two weeks.

Wireless service is another option for rural areas, but delivery over power lines can overcome hilly terrain or other obstacles that block wireless signals.

The company charges $29.95 a month for service at 256 kilobits per second and $49.95 for 1 megabit per second. Those are far slower speeds than cable and phone companies offer at those prices generally 1 to 3 Mbps, but if those options aren’t available, it’s still much better than dial-up speeds at a maximum of 56 kilobits per second. Clock your internet speed now to see what kind of access you’re enjoying.

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