Coronavirus — Exacerbating the digital divide
The Coronavirus has uncovered a nasty truth prevalent in our societies and economies. The internet has played a pivotal role in dealing with the current crisis- right from disseminating information, enabling social distancing and keeping the economy trudging along by facilitating “virtual” work. However, it is the reality that these resources to order grocery online, attend classes on zoom or binge watch Netflix are not available to everyone in the same way.
There is a digital divide in society. An estimated 21.3 million people lack broadband access and another 163 million Americans lack access to reliable broadband internet connections. The most vulnerable communities at a huge disadvantage — with only two-thirds of rural Americans reporting a home broadband connection and the inequitable access being concentrated among the lower income individuals and minorities. But the implications of broadband unavailability go much beyond not being able to stream your favorite shows and making home isolation bearable.
There is a digital divide in education. 44 million students have been affected by school closing, relying on online learning. But 18% of the children in rural areas have no broadband. The $2 trillion stimulus package Congress has delivered provides no significant funding to address this problem.
There is a digital divide in healthcare. 60% Americans face some form of chronic conditions needing regular doctor visits. Tele-health is the obvious solution for patients, but only the privileged have this option. The announced healthcare stimulus package includes $200 million to boost connectivity for rural health care providers and improves tele-health options for veterans. But changes don’t happen overnight — one in five doctors still do not have a certified electronic health record system despite billions in incentives and a decade of work.
Things don’t end here. There is a digital divide in business. Coronavirus has forced businesses to virtualize work and in mere days. Any process that could be digitalized has been virtualized. But there are some businesses that intrinsically require physical closeness and can not so easily be taken online- what about traditional retail, hotels, grocery stores and Ubers? The stakes for digital transformation have changed overnight — The firms that cannot change overnight will be left way behind, exposing their employees to increasing risk of financial and physical distress. This divide is not only across firms, but is also driving fissures within firms. At Amazon, arguably one of the most successful digital firms in the world, warehouse workers are starting to protest. While easily virtualized businesses like education and software continue to operate, closures and layoffs are mounting in others.
The pandemic has exposed shortcomings of an inadequate digital infrastructure and of not making digital a national imperative. There are some welcome changes introduced in the short term by the government that need to continue. Many tech companies and internet service providers have stepped in to address public needs by increasing access to broadband for low-income Americans and offering free video-conferencing capabilities and other cloud-based software and services to schools. More than 550 companies have promised for 60 days not to terminate phone and broadband services of any consumers who are unable to pay their bills. Comcast was the first to respond to this quandary through its Internet Essentials (IE) program by suspending data caps for program subscribers. The company also announced temporary reprieves on late fees, and making their Wi-Fi hotspots available to non-Comcast customers. Just as ISPs and other organizations are improvising through this crisis, it is a call to other private sector partners, libraries, and philanthropic organizations to do the same and possibly intervene to provide “one device per household” and address broadband deprivation. The private sector needs to provide the government its support.
The government, even in the short term, needs to prioritize a baseline level of digital preparedness. This should include investment in basics like broadband and electronic devices as well as moving government websites to the cloud so they can withstand spikes in traffic. A mobile-first digital strategy would be helpful so that all critical government services can be accessed with a smart phone. Governments should also invest in next generation technologies such as secure electronic IDs and establish national standards for electronic notaries so people can conduct more business online. If the pandemic lasts for months, these investments will be necessary to get through the current emergency.
There will be many important lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. A less obvious, yet nonetheless important, lesson is that the digital divide is complicating efforts to respond to the challenges society faces. We are not effectively using and disseminating 21st century tools to alleviate current and unforeseen problems.
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