Five ways companies are closing the global digital divide

Rapidly advancing technologies are further highlighting the global impact of the digital divide, which is the gap between those with reliable access to high-speed internet services and those without it. Here are five creative ways companies are trying to bridge the divide:

• Digital literacy: Xfinity offers an “Internet Essentials” program that includes digital literacy learning materials; A 2019 report from the Technology Policy Institute looking at the “Internet Essentials” program found that digital skills training boosts people to use it for “learning, job search, and improving job skills.” 
• Digital navigators: To account for lags in digital literacy, some groups and companies are focused on upping the quality and availability of technical support. Some communities and groups are also pushing so-called “digital navigators,” or people trained to help support digital inclusion. 
• Support for women and girls: Helping women and girls learn crucial digital skills and encouraging them toward studies in science, technology, engineering, and math through hands-on training and other initiatives “not only improves their career opportunities but reduces their risk of gender-based violence and creates a brighter future for all,” said US Special Envoy for Global Youth Issues Abby Finkenauer.
• Lower-cost internet for students, and families with students: Given the importance of internet access for schooling — whether that’s remote classes or homework — some internet companies are working to bridge the digital divide by offering discounted internet access to students and families with students. 
• Balloons: Companies are also getting creative with methods to get high-speed internet to rural areas. Alphabet’s Google X lab, focused on developing emerging tech, launched “Project Loon” a few years ago, a program that aimed to transmit internet signals to hard-to-reach areas from balloons.