What We Learned About the Digital Divide in 2019

There was no "Mr. Watson, come here – I want to see you" moment; instead, 50 years ago in 1969, there was an attempt to login on ARPANET that ended after "lo" because of a system crash. That inauspicious moment led to our connected world of 2019, a time when more than 4 billion people have internet access, and the number of devices connected to internet networks is more than double the global population. But for all the internet's impact, for all those devices, and even though so many have access, too many people remain unconnected. The phrase “digital divide” was first introduced some 25 years ago. Clearly, it is not a temporary condition, but a persistent problem. As we close the year, we review efforts to better understand and close the digital divide. Fifty years since the launch of ARPANET, the precursor to today’s internet, many of us rely on being logged in—all the time. But too people in the U.S. are still waiting for access to the internet over broadband networks. The chasm between Gig access and no access is too wide and the impact on those left behind grows more profound every day. On the eve of the 2020s, can we finally bridge this divide? The answer is: we must. The strength of broadband is that it will—if fully accessible to all in America—help us solve some of our most critical societal challenges, meet people wherever they live and work, and help them overcome key barriers regardless of their background, community surroundings, or demographic characteristics. Imagine each community enabled to identify and build on its strengths and employ technology accordingly. That is a profoundly democratic vision.