TECHNOLOGY , DIVERSITY , AND BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Nokia ’ s Jane Rygaard discusses the role of diversity in making technology that serves the many , rather than the few .
WRITTEN BY : HARRY MENEAR
With the advent of sweeping digital infrastructure upgrades , programs granting access to technology and the necessary education to leverage that access into jobs and the ability to use more digital services , it could be forgivable to consider the issue of the digital divide moot - at least in developed economies .
The issue of people - especially those belonging to more marginalised groups , including people of colour , economic migrants , refugees , the elderly , financially disadvantaged , and women , not to mention more isolated rural communities made increasingly reliant on internet access over the past two years - lacking access to the digital age , however , is far from closed .
In California , as public schools entered their second year of partial or fully remote learning , a study conducted by the U . S . Census Bureau found that , while access to stable internet had improved across the board since the first wave of lockdowns in 2020 , African American and Hispanic households were still 1.3 to 1.4 times as likely as white households to experience limited accessibility .
In the UK , during the first half of 2020 , 93 % of rural residents increased their use of online services they already used before the pandemic , while over half started using some online services for the first time , for clothing and food shopping . This swelling appetite for online services - while no bad
mobile-magazine
. com 53