THE DIGITAL DIVIDE:

Access to the internet

The digital divide refers to the growing gap between those who have access to technology and the internet and those who do not. The divide is further cementing the socioeconomic structure of the underprivileged (those who do not have access to hardware and or capacity to access internet) and the privileged within society(those who have access to hardware and capacity to access internet), all of which is being driven by poverty. Challenges with this divide is growing due to the continued evolution of technology and the increased pressure to advance individual technology skill building in schools and the workforce. When we add extra pressures and expectations to students and employees about their baseline technology skills, but we don’t have safeguards in place to help disenfranchised groups achieve even the hardware required to learn the skills, then in turn the individuals who will fall behind in school and the workforce will be these same individuals.

Because of the pandemic’s work-from-home orders, technology has advanced 5 years within a short time period. As technology continues to make advancements they will come more rapidly, increasing by at least 7% each year. However, communities of color may fall behind the curve of advancement as they may not have accessibility to the hardware needed to achieve job functions presently.

Furthermore, there is a significant correlation between poverty and the impact that COVID-19 has had on individuals, citing accessing technology as being a major daily stressor. In the light of stay-at-home measures this means, inability to access online schooling, reducing the ability to learn and/or taking into consideration client’s ability to work from home, in particularly having to pay for their own internet access to do daily work tasks and being forced into new technology that they may, or may not, have the knowledge base to navigate confidently.

What this pandemic has shown us is that technology is not a privilege, but a necessity in order to survive the current and future school and workforce environment.

The program, known as the Arizona Broadband Development Grant Program, will enable local communities to construct or improve broadband infrastructure that connects Arizonans in their homes and serves schools, libraries, small businesses, public safety operations and more, with funding coming from the American Rescue Plan Act.