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Industry Insight
12 January 2001
Study predicts end of digital divide
BY
NEWSBYTES
[
12 January 2001
] -
Authors of a new study say that the so-called "digital divide" between technology haves and have-nots will disappear of its own accord by 2009, but White House officials question the findings and argue that federal measures still are needed to make sure all citizens have technology access.
According to research conducted by the Washington-based Employment Policy Foundation (EPF), 95 percent of upper-income households will own computers between 2003 and 2007. Households in the lowest income quartile will achieve 95 percent computer ownership levels between 2005 and 2009, the study predicts.
The study also forecasts that, among computer-owning households, there would be "no difference" in Internet access rates between the highest and the lowest income brackets by 2003.
"I think (the study) does show that the free market is working," EPF Vice President DJ Nordquist said today. "The longer the technology is out there, the more affordable it becomes."
But the Clinton administration, which coined the term "digital divide" and has supported the development of federal programs aimed at eliminating the gap, still maintains that government efforts are needed to fix the problem.
White House spokesperson Mark Kitchens said no study should detract from efforts under way to bridge the gap.
"I think that the current data out there right now indicate that partnerships between the public sector and private sector are necessary," Kitchens told Newsbytes today. "We must work together as a team to bridge the digital divide."
"Nothing would please the President and the Vice President more than having 95 percent Internet penetration levels throughout all income brackets, (but) reaching this goal is going take a lot of hard work - from the private sector, from the public sector, and from the American public - working together to connect all Americans to the Internet," he said.
Kitchens said he could not comment directly on the EPF report, which he has not seen.
Nordquist said the EPF takes no stance on whether the federal government should fund digital-divide initiatives.
It was Clinton's Commerce Department that first identified the digital divide in a series of reports titled "Falling Through The Net."
A 1999 "Falling Through The Net" report indicated that the African American and Latino households were lagging far behind White and Asian households in computer ownership and Internet connectivity rates.
While the Commerce Department's 2000 report showed African Americans and Latinos making rapid gains in computer ownership and Internet access it also indicated that a significant gap remained.
The EPF report did not compare households on the basis of race or geography, but rather compared computer ownership and Internet access rates based solely on income levels.
A downloadable copy of the most recent "Falling Through The Net" report is available online at http://search.ntia.doc.gov/pdf/fttn00.pdf, and a copy of the EPF report can be found at http://www.epf.org/forecasts/2001/tf20010112.pdf.
Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.
According to research conducted by the Washington-based Employment Policy Foundation (EPF), 95 percent of upper-income households will own computers between 2003 and 2007. Households in the lowest income quartile will achieve 95 percent computer ownership levels between 2005 and 2009, the study predicts.
The study also forecasts that, among computer-owning households, there would be "no difference" in Internet access rates between the highest and the lowest income brackets by 2003.
"I think (the study) does show that the free market is working," EPF Vice President DJ Nordquist said today. "The longer the technology is out there, the more affordable it becomes."
But the Clinton administration, which coined the term "digital divide" and has supported the development of federal programs aimed at eliminating the gap, still maintains that government efforts are needed to fix the problem.
White House spokesperson Mark Kitchens said no study should detract from efforts under way to bridge the gap.
"I think that the current data out there right now indicate that partnerships between the public sector and private sector are necessary," Kitchens told Newsbytes today. "We must work together as a team to bridge the digital divide."
"Nothing would please the President and the Vice President more than having 95 percent Internet penetration levels throughout all income brackets, (but) reaching this goal is going take a lot of hard work - from the private sector, from the public sector, and from the American public - working together to connect all Americans to the Internet," he said.
Kitchens said he could not comment directly on the EPF report, which he has not seen.
Nordquist said the EPF takes no stance on whether the federal government should fund digital-divide initiatives.
It was Clinton's Commerce Department that first identified the digital divide in a series of reports titled "Falling Through The Net."
A 1999 "Falling Through The Net" report indicated that the African American and Latino households were lagging far behind White and Asian households in computer ownership and Internet connectivity rates.
While the Commerce Department's 2000 report showed African Americans and Latinos making rapid gains in computer ownership and Internet access it also indicated that a significant gap remained.
The EPF report did not compare households on the basis of race or geography, but rather compared computer ownership and Internet access rates based solely on income levels.
A downloadable copy of the most recent "Falling Through The Net" report is available online at http://search.ntia.doc.gov/pdf/fttn00.pdf, and a copy of the EPF report can be found at http://www.epf.org/forecasts/2001/tf20010112.pdf.
Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.
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