This week, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced a national public-private partnership program to boost broadband adoption and digital literacy. Companies like Microsoft and Best Buy, joined by community-based organizations, will offer courses and opportunities to help more Americans advance their digital skills. The program is part of the chairman’s Broadband Adoption Task Force, announced in May.
"Low-income Americans, rural Americans, seniors, and minorities disproportionately find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide and excluded from the $8 trillion dollar global Internet economy, and all of its benefits," said Genachowski.
Photo: FCC.gov
The chairman called for a Digital Literacy Corps to help thousands more public libraries hold digital literacy classes and enable schools to hold these classes after school hours. The goal is for more Americans to learn how to search, use e-mail, upload their resume, etc. He also announced the creation of a new nonprofit initiative called "Connect to Compete," that will address the barriers to broadband adoption, digital literacy and the employment skills gap.
Currently one-third of all Americans -100 million people – do not have broadband high-speed Internet at home, according to the Pew Research Center. In comparison, only 10% of homes in Singapore and Korea lack Internet access.
The initiative will help more Americans gain technological skills that are stated as a requirement in 50% of today’s jobs. More than 80% of Fortune 500 companies require online job applications. Additionally, this digital literacy movement also has strong implications for the economy, through the creation of more online customers, and more Americans using cost saving e-government services.
Read the chairman’s announcement here.
