INTERNET
Price Is Limiting Demand for Broadband
President Signs 'Dot-Kids' Legislation
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Poor Forgotten as 'Digital Divide' Still Gapes
Africa's New Tech Warriors
INTERNET
PRICE IS LIMITING DEMAND FOR BROADBAND
While 70 percent of American households have access to broadband, only about
15 percent currently subscribe to some type of high-speed Internet service.
Many analysts expect that high pricing will prevent the majority of homes
from acquiring broadband access anytime for at least five years. More than
28 percent of households with income above $100,000 have broadband access,
compared with only 4 percent of households with incomes below $35,000,
according to a study by the Leichtman Research Group. The figures suggest
that the price of broadband service must decline before it can become more
widely available.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Simon Romero]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/05/technology/05BROA.html)
PRESIDENT SIGNS 'DOT-KIDS' LEGISLATION
This week President Bush signed legislation that will create a G-rated
"neighborhood" for kids on the World Wide Web. NeuStar, the company that
would be responsible for operating dot-kids, will police the new domain,
ensuring that Web sites bearing kids.us addresses abide by the
child-friendly standards established by Congress. The act says that Web site
with a kids.us address cannot post hyperlinks to locations outside of the
kids.us domain.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: David McGuire]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8016-2002Dec4.html)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
POOR FORGOTTEN AS 'DIGITAL DIVIDE' STILL GAPES
Since the dot-com bust, there has been less and less about the "digital
divide," but according to author Paul Lamb, there is still a very real gap
between technology haves and have-nots. Only 25 percent of American
households earning less than $15,000 per year have Internet access, while
nearly 80 percent of families earning $75,000 or more have access in the
home. Lamb calls for a serious national initiative to bridge the digital
divide. Among his recommendations is to train "technology missionaries" to
educate families in low-income and underserved communities. Lamb also
recommends that state universities and community colleges design specialized
technology-training programs in communities at large. Expanded community
technology centers, or CTCs, can provide mass trainings in the latest
technology skills, delivering the culture and language of technology in a
non-threatening way to under-served populations.
[SOURCE: Pacific News Service, AUTHOR: Paul Lamb (Executive Director of
Street Tech)]
(http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=3832e0a55d267
890ca8db484cfc4d0e7)
AFRICA'S NEW TECH WARRIORS
After taking a six-month course on Internet technology skills at the Uganda
Communications Institute -- part in an international education program
backed by Cisco Systems -- Naula Kebba has left behind her job as an
accountant to set up her own information technology consultancy. "The world
is much more demanding now," said Kebba. "Everything now involves
technology. You can't just say to something that you'll do their books for
them." The aim of the program is to help people in developing countries
learn and improve their information technology skills, with the hope of
reducing the digital divide with industrialized countries. There are now
more than 90 academies in 32 developing countries, with more than 2,500
students and nearly 500 graduates.
[SOURCE: BBC.com, AUTHOR: Alfred Hermida]
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2539327.stm)
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