[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Andy Carvin) Good morning.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For a couple of moments there I really had no idea what Joey was talking about (laughter)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, he'd ask me a few minutes ago to critique his introductory remarks
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and, you know, all I did was this (laughter)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For those of you who are listening to the podcast of that,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was doing a "We're not worthy" kind of thing on the ground. (laughter)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yes, I am recording this.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For those of you who are contemplating taking notes fret not.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You really don't have to because the presentation, this powerpoint,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is already on my blog, andycarvin.com .
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's been released on what's called a Creative Commons license
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'll talk about that later,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but that basically means you can use it almost any way you want.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And with this little digital recorder I have here I'm going to be taping my presentation
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and making it available as a podcast on my blog as well.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, if you're really obsessed about taking notes, you know, have at it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if you're on the fence about it like I am about these kinds of things,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,don't worry about it, hang back and instead it would be better for you
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be thinking about some really good questions to throw me by the end of this presentation.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, first of all what exactly is the Digital Divide?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The term has been around for at least 10 years, now,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,probably since around 1992, 1993.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it often gets used in very different ways.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, one of the very first uses of the Digital Divide I ever heard
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was on a Greatful Dead's discussion list in the early 90's,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where a Dead Head was describing the challenges he had
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,recording Greateful Dead's concerts,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he was about to make the leap from analog recording to digital recording
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so, he was asking for assistance in bridging this digital divide.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He could easily have been the one to claim to coin it
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but thankfully, the term has evolved since then to mean a variety of things.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But when I talk about the digital divide, I try to summarize it in three very basic ways.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the most basic sense, it's the gap that exists between populations
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in terms of who has access to ICTs, or Information and Communication Technologies,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and who doesn't.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, that includes the internet, computers and the like.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For a long time, when people talked about the digital divide, the definition stopped there.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They would just look at who had internet access at home,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who had access at school,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that was only marginally useful, in my perspective.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It -- I think it became much more important to treat also as equal factors
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,access to literacy skills and the ability to use ICTs effectively,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because if every person on the globe had internet access tomorrow,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if they weren't functionally literate, if they weren't IT-literate,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then their internet access would be rather meaningless to them.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Similarly, you'll need to have access to high-quality, robust and diverse content,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the ability and the skills to create content yourselves.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we'll talk a bit more about that later.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes these three ideas have been described as the ABC's of the digital divide:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Access, Basic skills and Content.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now where does this term come from? (laughter)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a tough question and people have been tossing around the question
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for a very long time.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes people are giving credit to Al Gore.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He may not have invented the Information Superhighway,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he did invent the term, though, interestingly:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he's been using the term Information Superhighway since the late 70's
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and some have said that he tried claiming to have invented the internet.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, we'll leave that for historians to judge, but I think we all know better.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Similarly, occasionally people attribute Bill Gates as coining the term.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He didn't.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perhaps it was some anonymous beltway bureaucrat in Washington.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The fact of the matter is, we simply don't know.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The term has been around since, at least, the early 90's.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think the first time I've heard it was around 1993, from a -- early 1994 --
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from a K-12 educator named Bonnie Bracey
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who was working on an advisory commission that President Clinton had organized
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the information infrastructure, as this internet and everything else was called back then.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the term had been around even prior to that.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you ask people who are often credited with coining the term,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they always pass the buck and say:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"No, it wasn't me, I got it from someone else, but frankly I don't remember whom."
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, in fact I think it is quite likely that the term may have been indeed created
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by some anonymous betlway bureaucrat, or an anonymous educator,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or someone else who started using it in their professional networks,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,online networks, and social networks.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And by the mid-1990's, it had become a term of art to describe this gap between the have's and the have-not's.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I should also add that the have's and the have-not's, that term,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has actually been around much, much longer than the term digital divide.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, it was coined by Cervantes.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you go and read Don Quixote, you'll see that Sancho Panza describes his grandmother
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as coming from a family who represented the have's rather than the haven't's.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, that term has been used to describe equity issues and poverty ever since.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, the digital divide has been a policy issue at one level or another for over 10 years, now.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Much of it began in '93,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when President Clinton created this Advisory Council I mentioned a few minutes ago,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Basically, they were given the task to take a look at this Information Superhighway,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,figure out where it was going, whether it was going to leave the country,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what it was going to mean if some people had access to it and some people didn't.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By 1994, the Commerce Department was releasing a report, which eventually became a series of reports,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,known as Falling through the Net,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and this became essentially a national benchmark on the digital divide.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And initially, they were just looking at who had telephone access and who had computer access
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and who didn't.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in the years since then it evolved to a much deeper look
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the state of the digital divide in America. (6:22)
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As the years go by, a variety of things happen.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This advisory council recommended that all schools and libraries
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,be wired to the internet.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And after the Telecom act of 1996 was passed, that became a reality
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through the creation of the E-Rate program, which offers government
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,subsidies to cover the cost of intenet access at schools, libraries, and public health institutions.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By 1999, the digital divide policy debate had reached a fever-pitch
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which it was often in the national headlines, it was being discussed by
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,government leaders and business leaders all over the country.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And by December of that year, President Clinton hosted a national digital divide summit.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which as it turns out is the first and only national level government summit on the digital divide.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a great time to be working in this field.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a bipartisan, or at least a non-partisan issue.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And essentially we were all engaging in a big retorical policy group hug.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a good time to be doing this.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it's been rough over the last few years.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In many ways, some people have pointed specifically to September 11
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as being the watershed moment for the digital divide,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because resources started going in other directions -- going to international policy issues.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Similarly at that time, No Child Left Behind was being developed,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that changed many of the policy goals, specificaly in K-12 education.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the same time, unfortunately, there was also a change in political climate,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the sense that when you talked about certain issues the terms you would use
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would often have a bent to them.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The rhetoric would often be seen as left or right.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the case of the term 'digital divide', it got associated with Clinton and Gore
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because they were very vocal about it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And despite the fact that you had politcians from both sides
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the political spectrum supporting digital divide initiatives,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it started being discussed in a more partisan manner.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it had started splitting coalitions that had once existed.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As time goes by we found ourselves in a situation where there was being
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,less emphasis being pitted at a national level on bridging the digital divide,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and instead it was being made a local issue, a state issue,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and issue for civil society in the private sector to deal with.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so slowly but surely, the momentum in the national level leadership
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that once existed on bridging the digital divide started splitting off
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and going on in its own directions.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhie though, while the digital divide has become less of an issue here,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's become a huge issue in pretty much every place on the planet.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the late '90s, the U.N. decided to host a series of presidential-level world summits
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on internet policy called the World Summit on the Information Society,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the first of which took place in 2003, and then the next one two years later
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just in the past November in Tunisia.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this was the first times that world leaders gathered
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to discuss the digital divide and strategies for bridging it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, while on the one hand you rarely ever hear
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the digital divide being discussed in the U.S. media or by U.S. politicians,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's something that you find on a regular basis when you look at media accounts
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from almost every other country in the world.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this raises the quesion, are we at a point where
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the digital divide has become a non-issue here in the U.S.?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are some arguments to suggest that maybe it is a non-issue.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, the Pew Internet and American Life Project in Washington D.C.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is an extraordinary research group that I have immense respect for,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I have been a fan of their work for a very long time...
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they came out with some startling statistics earlier this year in which they said:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,60% of blacks, 73% of whites, and 79% of English speaking Latinos go online here in the U.S.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This completely defied conventional wisdom on the digital divide.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Historically we had always thought of whites as being leaders on the digital divide,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with African-Americans coming second and Latinos coming third.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But this data was suggesting something else.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhile, almost every single K-12 school in America is online today.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Almost every school of higher education is online today.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Almost every library is online today.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So just from those stats alone it might cause some people to think there is no digital divide.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, there was an article in the New York Times just a couple of weeks ago
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the digital divide in African-Americans and the report interviewed Magic Johnson,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who along with being a basketball star has been a leading community technology activist
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through his foundation for much of the last ten years,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so when the reporter asked him about the digital divide
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Magic Johnson responded by saying "what digital divide?"
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that raises some interesting questions.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When people like Magic Johnson and others, who once were seen as
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the forefathers of the movement if you will, are beginning to suggest
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that maybe we really don't have to be worrying about this digital divide any more.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But when I look at the issue, I think there are some flaws in these arguments.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not all access is equal.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you look at the data that came from
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Pew Internet and American Life project you'll see that they ask the question
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of whether or not people have gone online.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They don't ask how you've gone online, or the qualitative situation
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you are in while you are going online.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a big difference between having access somewhere,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether it's at work, or in your community, or at school,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,verus having continuous access at home.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhile, the Latino data, as I mentioned before,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only took a look at English-speaking Latinos.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which is a sizeable part of the Latino population in the U.S., no doubt,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the fact that they didn't factor in those households that don't speak English
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or don't speak English well, in some ways causes concern for me
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because these households are some of the least likely housholds to have internet access.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's really important for us to think about the digital divide
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as being a home issue and a family issue, because for many people
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's where they have an opportunity to be most productive.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the place where you can work on your own schedule,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you're not limited to the infrastructure that exists publicly,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so even though 99% of the libraries in America have internet access
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some libraries are only open one or two days a week,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for maybe three or four hours at a time.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So even though there is a large internet blanket covering
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,public libraries in America, if you add up the number of hours
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for many communities, especially low-income communities and rural ones,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they simply don't have the capacity at the moment,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and don't have the resources to serve those populations that don't have internet access at home.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So where do we stand right now?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're running a little behind in terms of having a good national snapshot
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the digital divide at home.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Department of Commerce usually does a study every couple of years
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we're over-due for one now.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the last one came out in the fall of 2004.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, if you go back almost ten years ago, almost 20% of homes had internet access.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But by the time they did the study two years ago, it was around 65%.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I would venture to guess that the access level is probably closer to 70% or even 75% at home.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Similarly, that study suggested that there were around 25% of homes that were online.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would assume it's now one-third are now online with broadband.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we're still waiting for the latest data to come in.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The digital divide becomes more stark when you break down the numbers
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on a variety of factors.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,First here is internet and ethnicity.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a contrast to what the information coming out of Pew suggested.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here we have white households and Asian-American households
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,being highly online, though I find the Asian data
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a little misleading because it lumps all Asian communities together
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it doesn't differentiate between Japanese-Americans and Korean-Americans
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Chinese-Americans who may have been in the country for three, four, five generations
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and are all middle-class and well-established, versus Asian immigrant populations
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that may have come over in the last generation, still struggling sometimes with
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,language and literacy issues and are often on the lower end of the income brackets.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the data collects them as one large ethnic group and I think that skews it.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,African-American households have about 50% access online,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Latinos were behind at about 37%.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that's in stark contrast to what the Pew data was showing.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now if you look at the trends over the last ten years regarding internet and ethnicity,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you'll see that in some ways the digital divide has actually widened.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you go back to 1994, there was a much smaller point spread
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between white households, blacks, and Latinos,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,versus where it is today.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in fact, at one point Latinos had slightly higher access than African-Americans,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but then sometime around 2000 it started to switch and that gap has widened as well.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We also have an income digital divide gap,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which households that earn more money are much more likely to be online
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and those people who live at the poverty level are least likely to be online.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That should come as a no-brainer in many ways, it shouldn't be a major surprise.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The biggest gap though appears to occur when it comes to education.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So if you have a Bachelor's degree or higher, there's a very very high chance,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,85% chance or higher...that 85% of those households are going to have internet access at home.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But meanwhile if you look at households that don't have a high-school diploma,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or a GED, at least two years when this data came out it was only 16%.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Have those numbers gone up a bit?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm sure they have somewhat, but as long as people lack
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a broad range of educational skills to use technology effectively,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then it's very unlikely that many of them are going to have internet access in their home.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(16:40)