Why Close The Digital Divide?

July 22, 2000 -- Leaders at the G-8 summit in Okinawa, Japan, have charged a special task force — dubbed the “DOT Force” — with tackling the technological gap between rich and poor nations. But they are not the only ones concerned about the so-called “digital divide.”

Not only does the divide exist between rich and poor nations, but also between America’s rich and poor, its racial majority and minorities, old and young, and men and women, some say.

The U.S. government and private industry have dedicated millions of dollars and thousands of hours to narrowing the gap, and consider doing so crucial to America’s future.

Read on to get their interpretations of what the divide is, why it matters, and why America and the world must bridge it.

International Digital Divide

*not including wireless accessSource: Jupiter Communications

An International Problem

“I believe the [online] revolution has the strong potential toeffect, in a very short time, structural, economic and socialchanges comparable to the Industrial Revolution.”

—Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, July 2000.

“The G77 poorest countries, in which revenues per person areless than one dollar a day, have declared that the single mostimportant effective change in their future would come fromchanging the ‘digital divide’ into a ‘digital opportunity.’ … That is our business, and that is now becoming the business of governments.”

—John Gage, chief researcher and director of Sun Microsystems Inc., July 2000.

“The ‘digital divide’ problem is so seriousthat unless we tackle it, developing countries will face theproblem of more poverty.”

—Roberto Romulo, chairman of a task force focusing on technology issues for theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations, July 2000.

An American Divide

“The reality is if you’re not plugged into the Internet in the near future, you’re going to be unplugged from job opportunities, unplugged from consumer opportunities, from finance opportunities.”

—Ruben Barrales, president, Joint Venture in Silicon Valley Network, April 2000.

“We can use new technology to extend opportunity to more Americans than ever before;we can truly move more people out of poverty more rapidly than ever before; orwe can allow access to new technology to heighten economic inequality andsharpen social division.”

—President Bill Clinton, April 2000.

“There has always been agap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ in our society. The question iswhether the powerful forces of the Internet revolution and the global economy aregoing to widen that gap or close it.”

—Steve Case, AOL chairman, as quoted by former Sen. Jack Kemp, June 2000.

An Economic Issue

“We, like everybody else in this industry, have to have an educated work force.”

—Marilyn Reznick, head of education programs at AT&T’s nonprofit AT&T Foundation, on why the company is promoting Internet literacy, Dec. 1999.

“We’re talking about the future of how folks will get educated, what opportunities businesses will have, and how prepared our work force will be.”

—Keith Fulton, director of technology programs, National Urban League, Dec. 1999.

A Racial Divide?

“The problem with the Internet community is that there are … too many white guys in the room.”

—Andrew “Flip” Filipowski, CEO, Divine InterVentures (Internet start-up company), April 2000.

“The digital divide is about more than owning cell phones or pagers; it’s aboutlearning a new vocabulary — like dot-coms [Internet companies], E-commerce[electronic business], distance learning [taking classes over the Internet] andbroadband [high-speed Internet access]. Those who don’t understand theseconcepts or have no stake in their development will be digital have-nots, withlimited access to knowledge and economic leverage. If people of color get stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide, our communitiesrisk being cut off from key information. They won’t, for example, use the WorldWide Web to shop for the lowest interest rate on a home mortgage, pursue collegescholarships or supplement a critical job search by way of Web channels.”

—FCC Chairman William E. Kennard, Essence Magazine, July 2000.

A U.S. Government Issue?

“I have made closing this digital divide a big priority. It is a big priority in our budgetand a big priority for trying to enlist the energies of our fellow citizens. That’s why Iissued a national call to action, to enlist the support of businesses, state and localgovernments, community groups, foundations, schools, and volunteers. Already,more than 400 organizations have signed on to our call.”

—President Bill Clinton, April 2000.

“Why do we need a lot of government programs designed to do what privateenterprise, including folks like Larry Ellison, Bill Gates and Steve Case, are doing?The more the private sector closes the digital divide, the more government feelscompelled to get involved. A multitude of proposals from the administration and Congress seek to subsidizeInternet growth that is happening already. The government’s subsidy checkbookwill soon be followed by the government’s regulatory hand in matters such asonline privacy, taxes and access fees, content controls, and antitrust regulations aswith Microsoft, Visa and MasterCard.”

—former Sen. Jack Kemp, Copley News Service (as published in the San Diego Union-Tribune), June 2000.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.