Digital Inclusion

High-quality access to the Internet is one of the most critical requirements to prepare students for the future. From learning how to efficiently find and analyze information to developing the skills needed for tomorrow’s jobs, students without access to the Internet, appropriate devices, digital literacy, and appropriate content face an ever-widening homework gap.

As the global pandemic drives more and more learning online, this gap will disproportionately impact those students with the fewest resources.  

By the Numbers

• Half of all students currently out of the classroom—or nearly 830 million learners globally—do not have access to a computer. Additionally, more than 40% have no Internet access at home. (UNESCO)
• On average, 17% of U.S. teens are unable to complete homework because they lack a reliable computer or Internet connection. This number jumps to 25% for Black teens and 24% for families earning under $30K/year. (Pew Research Center)
• UNESCO estimates that at least 500 million children and youth are currently excluded from public education, partly because of lack of connectivity. The share of students with no access to Internet at home is as high as 80% in sub-Saharan Africa.

The global pandemic is creating a work-from-home economy, in which only those on the right side of the digital divide can participate. In the U.S., of those with Internet access, only 65% have enough bandwidth to support video calls.

According to The Economist’s Inclusive Internet Index, 68% of those surveyed state that they are leveraging the Internet to develop new skills while 63% say it has improved their career prospects. However, many job seekers lack the digital skills and Internet infrastructure to even search and apply for open positions.

The Internet is a key tool to provide safe, stable, and marketable positions to workers around the world.  

By the Numbers

• The World Economic Forum estimates that 54% of all employees will require significant re-skilling by 2022.
• 37% of workers in Europe do not have even basic digital skills, let along the more advanced and specialized skills that many companies seek. (European Commission)
• 76% of Black and 62% of Hispanic people could get shut out or be under-prepared for 86% of jobs in the US by 2045. If this digital racial gap is not addressed, in one generation alone, digitization could render the country’s minorities into an unemployment abyss. (Benton Foundation)

More than 1.7 billion people globally do not participate in the formal financial system and the majority are women.

“Those who rely on the unregulated informal sector have difficulty saving money for the future, paying for education and investing in businesses. Cash transactions are more likely to be unsafe, expensive and inconvenient,” according to the United Nations’ Better Than Cash Alliance.

Digitizing finances can significantly change the economic picture, particularly for groups such as women, low-income families, and people of color, who are commonly excluded from traditional financial options. The Internet can facilitate inclusion in the broader economy.

By the Numbers

• Financial inclusion empowers women by giving them more control of their family finances and improving their economic opportunities. The global gender gap in banked adults is 7%, ranging as high as 30% in some emerging countries.
• While the vast majority of unbanked adults live in emerging countries, 25% of U.S. households are unbanked or underbanked. (FDIC)
• When Indian government officials made social security pension payments through digital smart cards instead of manual cash payouts, there was a 47% reduction in bribe demands. (U.N. Better Than Cash Alliance)

New strategies to connect patients and care providers use telecommunications technology to bridge demographic and financial divides. 

According to the American Hospital Association, over 76% of U.S. hospitals are using telehealth to connect with their patients. Additionally, rates of chronic illness are particularly high in communities already suffering from low access to stable Internet. While Internet access will not cure those patients, it would provide them the opportunity to seek quality care without the added cost and barrier of traveling.

Globally, telehealth strategies have assisted the efforts to combat COVID-19 by reducing the need for in-person visits. The opportunities for global telemedicine continue to grow as more communities in previously underserved areas gain access to the Internet. 

By the Numbers

• 70% of U.S. patients are comfortable communicating with care providers via phone, email, or video call, according to Health Affairs.
• 36 million people in the U.S. live in counties where high rates of chronic disease are worsened by low rates of broadband connectivity.
• Nearly 69% of India’s national population live in rural areas, which contain only 25% of the country’s doctors.

Governments across the world have increasingly offered digital avenues to access programs and services, also referred to as e-government. During the pandemic, these e-government platforms experienced new strain as demand increased significantly.

Even before COVID-19, lawyers warned of the challenges an increasingly tech-based justice system presents to low-income, transient, disabled, and elderly populations, whose access is lower than that of their counterparts. And since rates of incarceration and interaction with the justice system are significantly higher for people of color, these barriers exacerbate existing racial disparities.

Globally, the persistent divide between developed and emerging countries’ infrastructure, connectivity, and digital literacy skills exacerbates other inequalities and disproportionately impacts already vulnerable people.

By the Numbers

• Nearly 60% of people surveyed by Accenture say they are neutral-to-not satisfied with current e-government services.
• 14 out of the 16 lowest ranking countries on the U.N.’s E-government Development Index in 2018 were on the African continent.

People and communities that are connected are empowered. They can access information, online health services, and life-saving disaster warnings. They can pay for goods and services via mobile phones, stay in touch with loved ones, increase productivity, or perform better-paid jobs that require digital skills.

The availability of robust Internet access is integral to a community’s ability to thrive socially and economically. Better connected towns, cities and countries attract technology-based investment, encourage more innovation, streamline supply chains, and broaden opportunities for individuals and businesses. 

By the Numbers

• Globally, an increase of 10% in fixed broadband penetration yields an increase of 0.8 per cent in GDP, and an increase of 10 per cent in mobile broadband penetration yields an increase of 1.5 per cent GDP (ITU)
• In the U.S., childhood poverty almost inevitably increases as broadband access worsens. Counties with high rates of access have a child poverty rate of about 18% while the lowest-ranked counties are at 31%. (Broadband Communities)