Why the Public Service Education Series of Programs?
In January 2000, Inktomi and the NEC Research Institute, Inc. reported the results of a joint study that verifies the Web has grown to more than one billion unique pages. They documented nearly five million discrete sites (Web servers minus mirrors - see: http://www.inktomi.com/webmap/ for more information)
CyberAtlas: Internet Statistics and Market Research for Web Marketers (see: http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/demographics/article/0,1323,5911_200001,00.html for the complete report) estimated over three hundred million Internet users world wide this year. That means that less than 5% of the World's population is now using the Internet. The number making full use of Internet capabilities is even smaller!
Until everyone in the World has access to the Internet, it will not be the ubiquitous utility we have all been working toward. It will not respond correctly to our predictions because the user community is discontinuous. And, one of the largest barriers to that goal is what we refer to as the Digital Divide. This is a barrier we must cross. We must find ways not only to educate the folks on the other side of the Divide but also to enable their access.
The Myths: The Digital Divide is somewhere else. It is in Third World Nations. It is just a matter of economics and infrastructure. If it's here in our community it is just in isolated places - remote Indian Reservations and other places out of sight and out of mind. Right?
The fact is there are many facets of the Digital Divide. Some of our school's teachers do not have the time, resources, and access to get themselves prepared to include an Internet perspectives in their classrooms. Some children are not allowed access at home because of the fear that they will be exposed to inappropriate material. Some people just do not see a need to access the Internet - it has no meaning for them. Some libraries do not have sufficient Internet access for their patrons. The Digital Divide is here and now!
Our Federal, State, and City Governments; PBS; Cisco; and a lot of other organizations and businesses have recognized the Digital Divide and have invested some money and are taking some steps to get their members and citizens connected, help to spread the word to the general community, and to help ensure that their future employment needs can be met. Sounds like the Digital Divide is soon to be a thing of the past, right? Sadly, the answer is more like, "Bridging the Digital Divide is a monumental task and will take a lot more than marginal investment and effort to build!" It will also take a long time.
The first organizational meeting, hosted by Earthlink, will be held in their Pasadena facility starting at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, September 26, 2000. It will be in the Los Feliz Conference Room, on the first floor across from Security in the Earthlink office building at 3100 New York Drive, Pasadena, CA 91107. The phone number at Earthlink is (626) 296-2400. The Los Feliz Conference Room phone extension is 65220. <<Note: This meeting has been held. See http://www.ISOC-LA.org for continuing activities!>>
Our objectives are to get together Internet professionals and other interested members of the various Internet related groups and organizations in our area along with professionals in organizations and projects that are working on bridging the Digital Divide. The goal of this first program is to develop answers to some of the questions posed above, and to develop a plan to get our organizations, people, and the resources we need to get our communities working on building the bridge!
We need to develop metrics to establish the base and track our progress. We need to identify the target communities and develop the appropriate strategies to educate and enable their Internet access. The ongoing program to monitor the metrics will continue to guide our efforts and help us identify the needed resources.
Please send an email message to mtodd@isoc-la.org to make your commitment to attend this organizational meeting. The Los Feliz Conference Room will accommodate about 50 people so please act quickly.
Tuesday, September 26, 2000
7 PM - 9 PM
Public Service Education Series
Organizational Meeting
Earthlink, Inc.
3100 New York Drive
Pasadena, CA 91107
Los Feliz Conference Room
Phone: (626) 296-2400 ext. 65220