Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, Arthur C. Clark famously wrote, and to someone only a decade ago, today’s world would appear to be a magical one.
Internet connectivity isn’t only common, it’s assumed. Phone and fax numbers are vanishing, replaced by URLs and Instagram handles. Want to dine out? Scan this QR code for the menu. Want to travel? Set up your online Safe Travels account. Neighborhood board elections take place entirely online, as do more important services, from managing tax and utility accounts to paying bills.
But what if you didn’t have internet service at home, or a smartphone or cellular data plan? Would that mean you were simply behind the curve, or have you been completely left behind?
Hawaii policymakers might brag that over 97% of households in Hawaii have “access” to the internet, but 1 in 10 do not or cannot sign up for it. That number rises to 1 in 5 households earning less than $75,000, a razor-thin margin in a state with a median household income of $83,000.
So while some of us talk excitedly about the latest streaming TV series or hope that a new Amazon warehouse on Oahu will bring us same-day delivery, others live lives separated from
vital government and commercial services.
The digital divide has grown so wide that no less than Bill Gates, once a titan of tech, has turned all of his post-Microsoft attention to serving much more fundamental human needs.
To be sure, increasing broadband access (or “digital equity”) is a major post-
pandemic priority. The
$1.2 trillion federal infrastructure package includes $65 billion for broadband, $42 billion of which will filter down through the state.
But while those big numbers largely end up on the balance sheets of telecom companies as they get more people online, the other half of the equation is digital
literacy.
Can uncle or grandma watch Netflix? Sure. But can they read and send email, or file their taxes online?
That’s where Hawaii Literacy comes in.
Founded 50 years ago as a one-on-one adult tutoring program to teach essential reading and writing skills, the nonprofit is perhaps best known for its roving Bookmobile, or the libraries it runs at Kuhio Park and Mayor Wright Homes.
Hawaii Literacy has now launched a new Digital Literacy Program. Working with the state’s Workforce Resiliency Initiative, it has an ambitious goal to reach 100,000 underserved individuals — not only to get them online, but to make sure they’re
capable and productive once connected.
In addition to providing broadband access and devices to public-housing sites and other community service organizations, Hawaii Literacy also will provide basic computer training.
“In today’s world, literacy skills and technology go hand and hand,” Jill Takasaki Canfield, executive director of Hawaii Literacy, tells me. “Basic computer skills and digital literacy are literacy.”
”The pandemic highlighted the gulf between people who can leverage technology and those who can’t,” she adds, noting that many jobs, educational opportunities and government services have moved online. “Not everyone has access to devices and service, or is equipped with the necessary digital literacy skills, and our goal is to do our part to change that.”
Thanks to donors and many corporate sponsors (including American Savings Bank, Hawaiian Electric and Hawaiian Telcom), Hawaii Literacy already has provided laptops and Wi-Fi to the graduates of its pilot class. Additional grants mean the group will be able to provide at least 150 tablets with a year of free data access to upcoming cohorts.
I was excited to hear that the connectivity was mobile, rather than via hardwired cable or DSL connections tied to a residence.
One in 6 Hawaii adults struggle with reading, Canfield notes, and that disadvantage ties directly to everything from academic performance to the likelihood of whether they will end up homeless or on government assistance.
“We’re removing barriers to finding better jobs, succeeding in school or enjoying a book together as a family,” she says.
And if beneficiaries also get to enjoy Netflix or doing gig work online, even better.
If you know someone who could benefit from digital literacy training, or if you can help support Hawaii Literacy’s important work, please visit hawaiiliteracy.org.
———
Ryan Kawailani Ozawa publishes Hawaii Bulletin, a free email newsletter covering
Hawaii science, tech and innovation. Subscribe at
hawaii.bulletin.com.
