Christian Carlos. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
The new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease - first reported, according to scientific research, in the central Wuhan region of China - forced the World Health Organization (WHO) to set the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for March 11, 2020.
Since then, governments in different parts of the world established new health safety measures that, to date, have changed people's habits; in addition to biosecurity measures, people were urged to stay at home and work remotely, that is, to assume a scheme of teleworking and online classes.
However, it was not until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic confinement that the lack of access to the Internet and information and communication technologies increased because most families now had to move their lifestyles to the comfort of their homes in such a short period of time.
The quarantine brought to light the first digital parity issues; for example, how many people in a household can be connected to the Internet at the same time, how many Internet-capable devices exist in a household, and how many of them are capable of performing the tasks efficiently that were previously done in structured workplaces, such as an office, or school in classrooms.
For this reason, Ethnic Media Servicesheld an informative session in order to address current issues and seek possible solutions to the growing digital divide.
Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Alliance for Digital Inclusion, said that the new public policies on digital issues, take advantage of the context to promote an agenda where broadband Internet is considered a basic part of the communications infrastructure in the U.S. She urged the local population to approach their governors because, she said, they should already have information and budgets of the U.S. rescue fund due to the pandemic of COVID-19 that was approved during the first half of 2021. "It's about people having access to the Internet in their homes," Siefer said.
Sunne Wright McPeak, president and CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund -CETF- who said that the fund is working for broadband Internet access to be considered a fundamental human right, as it is linked to the right of access to information, as stated by the United Nations -UN-.
"However, in addition to being considered a fundamental human right, it should also be considered a civil right," said Wright, who said that while the infrastructure in the state of California is adequate, not everyone has access to it or knows how to use it. "The digital divide is also a product of the economic divide and the opportunity divide. Sunne Wright McPeak said this divide reflects "systemic racism. She concluded by asserting that "no ISP is a trusted messenger" in the move towards social internet connectivity.
Finally, it was noted that 91 percent of the Californian population is already surfing the broadband Internet, compared to 2008 figures, when only 51 percent of the population had access; however, only 6 percent can currently connect through a smartphone and does not have another device to connect to the Internet. This exceeds the 2022 target of 90 percent.
In contrast, the CETF noted that 1 in 4 people of Latino origin do not have the ability to access the Internet or their access is very limited compared to other ethnic groups. In addition, it was noted that 23 percent of households that generate less than $20,000 per year have gone without an Internet connection for an extended period of time and consider residential broadband Internet access to be too costly, above other reasons, such as privacy concerns.
