Five ways companies are closing the global digital divide

Rapidly advancing technologies are further highlighting the global impact of the digital divide, which is the gap between those with reliable access to high-speed internet services and those without it.

The United Nations has set the ambitious goal of bridging the global digital divide — caused mostly by outdated tech, insufficient services and cost — within the next decade. The U.N. estimates almost half of the global population is still offline.

Read more from The Hill’s special coverage on the future of broadband here.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pointed out earlier this year the “deepening inequalities” surrounding services.

“​​The Internet of Things offers great potential for sustainable development — from energy savings to remote medical procedures, from access to education to healthier nutrition,” he said.

“But digital technologies are also outpacing regulations and deepening inequalities,” he added. “A fully interconnected new economy means leaving no one behind — and no one offline.”

Here are five creative ways companies are trying to bridge the divide.

Digital literacy

Internet company Xfinity offers an “Internet Essentials” program that includes digital literacy learning materials on Wi-Fi, email, the web, social media and other digital concepts, available at no cost to those who qualify for and enroll in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program.

A 2019 report from the Technology Policy Institute looking at the “Internet Essentials” program found that digital skills training boosts people to use it for “learning, job search, and improving job skills.”

The Capital One Digital Access program offers broadband internet and digital education training — as well as a Chromebook or tablet device — to residents in affordable housing properties the company has helped finance in a handful of U.S. cities. According to a Capital One survey, the number of times per week participants accessed online employment opportunities jumped from 27 to 51 percent after completing the program.

Digital navigators

To account for lags in digital literacy, some groups and companies are focused on upping the quality and availability of technical support. Some communities and groups are also pushing so-called “digital navigators,” or people trained to help support digital inclusion.

Among the digital navigators are staff at places like libraries and schools — disseminating quick digital support information and troubleshooting basic technological troubles, like filling out forms, sending emails and printing documents.

The navigators can also be among staff at organizations specifically dedicated to upping digital equity, or at places that help access services like SNAP through digital means, according to research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

A BCG and Comcast survey last year found that more than 85 percent of people surveyed after using a program staffed by a digital navigator reported they were now using the internet more than they had before.

Support for women and girls

The global digital divide reflects imbalances of internet access due to a number of factors, including not only income or poverty, but also race, ethnicity and gender — and the disparate access opportunities that may disadvantage certain groups.

Around the world, U.N. experts estimate 130 million women and girls are denied access to education, a lack that also impacts families and communities — and according to the World Wide Web Foundation, men are 21 percent more likely than women to be online. At the same time, only half of national-level policies and plans for information and communication technologies globally have been noted to reference gender or women and girls.

Helping women and girls learn crucial digital skills and encouraging them toward studies in science, technology, engineering and math through hands-on training and other initiatives “not only improves their career opportunities but reduces their risk of gender-based violence and creates a brighter future for all,” said U.S. Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues Abby Finkenauer last month.

Microsoft Corporation, for example, has committed to “integrate gender equality programming” as the company and partners work to provide internet access to underserved populations in Africa.

Lower-cost internet for students, families with students

According to 2021 data from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, about 1 in 5 U.S. households — or 24 million households — doesn’t have at-home internet. A majority of those households, or 58 percent, say they’re simply not interested in being online, but nearly 1 in 5 say the biggest reason they don’t have access is because they can’t afford the at-home service.

Given the importance of internet access for schooling — whether that’s remote classes or homework — some internet companies are working to bridge the digital divide by offering discounted internet access to students and families with students.

Internet providers Cox and Mediacom, for example, both offer a package of lower-cost internet for eligible families with children in K-12 education.

“Access to technology at home is critical to the quality of a student’s education, yet many students in America lack internet access,” the Cox program asserts.

Providers like Xfinity offer discounted internet to college and university students. As the pandemic hit in 2020, AT&T rolled out a program with discounted data wireless data plans for K-12 schools.

Balloons

Companies are also getting creative with methods to get high-speed internet to rural areas.

Alphabet’s Google X lab, focused on developing emerging tech, launched “Project Loon” a few years ago, a program that aimed to transmit internet signals to hard-to-reach areas from balloons. In 2017, Project Loon provided emergency cellular service to Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria, using the solar-powered balloons.

The initiative was axed in 2021, reportedly due to high costs.

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