The key to breaking down the digital divide is cooperation--between the public and private sector, between citizens of different communities, and between local governments. A terrific example of the latter is a joint effort by the state legislature leaders from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine to make sure that Verizon's proposed sale of 1.6 million land lines to FairPoint Communications won't leave New Englanders behind. Read More »
The New York State Legislature is considering a bill--the New York Telecommunications Reform Act of 2007--that would go a long way toward providing universal high speed internet access in the state. Read More »
If there's still any doubt that changes in public policy can have a huge impact on high speed internet access, just look at recent developments in Missouri. Read More »
Add Richard Howorth, mayor of Oxford, Mississippi, to the list of local leaders working to expand high speed internet access to their communities. He is developing a pilot project which would unite his city and nearby rural areas in an effort to connect to fiber internet connections. Read More »
Few regions of the United States are more spread out and have rougher terrain than Tuolumne County, California. Containing the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Yosemite National Park, Tuolumne is not exactly tailor-made for high speed internet infrastructure. Read More »
Residents of small communities in central Pennsylvania are struggling to catch up with the advancement of technology all around them. Read More »
Working from home for Virginians may get a whole lot easier. The state is taking two initiatives to close the digital divide that impacts many towns in rural parts of the state. The aim is to expand high speed internet access and spur economic development in more rural parts of the state. Read More »
In Chapel Hill, NC, the city is embarking on a new project to help students benefit from high-speed Internet, even when they're not at school. Read More »
From Michigan comes a report about the doors opened by high-speed Internet access. The Lansing State Journal reports on a class aimed at increasing Internet skills for seniors, a demographic at danger of being left on the wrong side of the digital divide. Read More »
The digital divide is less binary, but rather more like a "digital dimmer switch," according to the Pew Center. Recently, the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Internet & American Life Project teamed up to produce a study on Latino internet use. The study found that non-Hispanic whites have a 71% internet participation rate, while Latino adults are hovering around a 56% participation rate. While the numbers tell one story, the study also found the internet-usage gap between whites and Latinos to be closing. Read More »
