Irrigating America’s Driest Digital Desert
“As we climb our way out of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us have a new appreciation for the role technology plays in connecting us with services and keeping us connected to our loved ones. Telemedicine went from an experiment to a necessity, keeping us out of crowded doctors’ waiting rooms. Zoom became a verb for how many of us worked and how kids stayed connected to grandparents or school when in-person engagements were too risky. But it also underscored the two vastly different Americas on either side of a digital divide. According to the FCC, ’19 million Americans—nearly 6 percent of the population—lack access to broadband service at threshold speeds.’ These digital deserts suffer concentrated ‘gaps in internet connectivity, computer access, and the sole reliance on smartphones for computer access,’ according to WILMAPCO. Tech deserts reflect differences in demographic and socioeconomic conditions. Three times as many households in urban areas remain unconnected as those living in rural areas.”