(Photo credit @hjbarraza)
I spend my days listening to the “dulcet” tones of construction noise. Our local gas company is tearing large holes up and down my street in order to install new gas lines for the entire neighborhood. While I appreciate the infrastructure upgrade, I am exhausted from listening all day long to the low hum of construction machines for the past 2 weeks. (Reminds me of when the floor would vibrate under me during the Google Cambridge construction & why our team often re-located to new environs during the day!) However, it also got me thinking about other ‘basic infrastructure rails’ that we take for granted, like high-speed internet connections that not everyone can access. These days, this lack of access has huge impact on how and whether communities can thrive in a post-pandemic world.
#techtopic
Imagine what it would be like to try & do your job if the internet disappeared whenever it rained. (True story: this used to happen to my family all the time when they were on DSL). Imagine having to drive to a library every time you wanted to do your homework or check your email. The digital divide in the US is in sharp focus right now with those who are required/requested to work from home or educate from home.
The rural poor and BIPOC communities in the US are the ones being left behind, with estimates ranging from 21 million to 142 million Americans without access to high-speed internet. It doesn’t help that the FCC has been underestimating the problem, which affects the federal funding set aside to improve the issue. Cost is one of the biggest barriers to access, and in the US, we pay more for internet access than many other countries. And as we are designing educational policies to decide if schools will reopen, there is often an implicit assumption that these kids will have easy access to the high-speed internet required to run Zoom calls.
As internet-dependent people move from densely populated to more suburban or rural areas to escape covid19, this is a great opportunity for small towns/rural regions to launch their own independent broadband networks to expand high-speed internet access and affordability. More states need to pass legislation to allow it (as 21 states have laws against it, due to influence from the large ISPs). Surprising and worrying to see Microsoft and HP are the only tech companies associated with the American Connection Project Broadband Coalition.
Want to learn more? Check out this recent in-depth report from New America.
#randomreads
Ode to Cornell: Here’s a fun personality test from the Cornell Ornithology Lab: What Bird Are You Most Like? Tell me what you get, and I’ll share my results with you!
Snappy dressers: check out these octagenarians who model other people’s forgotten laundry
