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Elevate Miami

Cnet has an post up about the city of Miami’s efforts to provide technology education to residents and small business owners. Elevate Miami is a city-wide program that provides classes and computer access centers for residents. The city works with technology partners like Microsoft Corp. to recycle old PCs, and with telecom providers to provide Internet access in the city parks.

Divide Resources

One the best resources for information on computer and Internet use in the United States is the Pew Internet and American Life Project. They do studies and research on who uses the Internet, how they use the Internet, who doesn’t use the Internet and much more.

Some government run sites that are sources of news: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Eurekalert.org is a great source of science and technology related press releases from companies, universities and a myriad of other official sources.

There are a lot of great tech sites out there that report news that applies to digital divide issues. Much of the news that come through these sources (and theres a lot of it) only mildly relates to these issues, but they do have very appropriate news from time to time. Here is a short list:

• Ars Technica
• Engadget
• New York Times Technology
• Chicago Tribune Technology
• Techcrunch
• Wired
• CNet News.com
• Gizmodo

A lot of digital divide related news is reported through a wide range of global newspapers and blogs, making it difficult to monitor. So Google News is my new best friend. It pulls news articles and blog posts from around the world and makes them searchable. I was able to custom design two rss feeds which I plopped into my Google Reader (which also makes my life easier).

• Digital divide stories
• Technology education stories

Not everybody’s on the Internet

The era of global communication is upon us, and the Internet is changing the way people work, find information about their world and talk to friends and family. But many people are left behind because they can’t afford a computer, have no Internet access where they live, or are just plain scared of taking the plunge for the first time.

In the United States, availability of high-speed internet is a big problem. It’s difficult to get a broadband connection in many places. Urban as well as rural areas of the country are lacking the infrastructure. Despite President Bush’s promise to improve access to broadband, about half of americans have broadband in the home. Part of the problem is the lack of data thats collected to monitor the progress of wiring the nation.

Cities across the United States, like Chicago, Philadelphia and Houston, have contemplated or implemented city-wide wireless Internet access as a way to address problems residents have getting or affording it on their own. Often these municipal wireless projects do not work out.

Other advanced nations typically have much better and much cheaper broadband access for their citizens. In Japan, consumers can get connections that are much faster than consumer connections in the United States. Less developed countries are a much different story. Lacking in communication infrastructure and the resources to build them, many residents of poorer countries have no way to get online. Experts are looking to mobile phones to pick up the slack and provide Internet access to people in developing nations.

Organizations like the not-for-profit One Laptop per Child (OLPC) are working on developing low-cost hardware and software for people – and in OLPC’s case, children – in the Third World. Other electronics companies like Intel and mobile phone giant Nokia are working on low cost computers and devices to get people online.

By far the biggest digital divide issue that has to be addressed is access to education. Many people lack the skills to use computers and the Internet, especially those without physical access to computers but also the elderly and many who are afraid or aprehensive of technology. Some money available to help communities provide computer education, but the demand for affordable training is greater than its availability. Training will just become more important as more employers look for computer skills in all of thier employees.