Overview

Real-life consequences of the digital divide, and what can be done to close it More than one-half of the world's 7.7 billion people still do not have access to the Internet, including millions of people in the United States, which has led the digital revolution. Most of these non-adopters—whether by choice or circumstance—are poor, less educated, people of color, older, or living in rural communities. As the digital revolution is quickly carving out this other America, it's likely that these people on the margins of the information-based economy will fall deeper into abject poverty and social and physical isolation. Based on fieldwork across the United States, this book explores the consequences of digital exclusion through the real-life narratives of individuals, communities, and businesses that lack sufficient online access. The inability of these segments of society to exploit the opportunities provided by the Internet is rapidly creating a new type of underclass: the people on the wrong side of a digital divide. The book focuses on the places in America where technology is widening the gaps among social classes, racial and ethnic minorities, and urban and rural communities. The author offers fresh ideas for providing equitable access to existing and emerging technologies. Her ideas potentially can offset the unintended outcomes of increasing automation, the use of big data, and the burgeoning app economy. In the end, she makes the case that remedying digital disparities is in the best interest of U.S. competitiveness in the technology-driven world of today and tomorrow.

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9780815738985

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AI Equity Lab founder Lee argues that a digital divide persists in the United States due to race- and place-based discrimination. Her book notes three decades of federal efforts to foster digital equity, with particular attention to the Biden administration's policies and their limitations. Millions of Americans, especially people of color and those who live in low-income rural and urban areas, lack affordable broadband or high-speed internet access, and which prevents people from finding jobs, working remotely, accessing telehealth services or public benefits systems, doing homework, or even using modern farm equipment. Plus, analog and in-person services have diminished, leaving folks without broadband in the lurch. Lee recounts her travels around the country interviewing people impacted by the digital divide and recalls her time as a computer lab manager at a low-income residential tower in Chicago. This thorough narrative rethinks the digital divide from the lens and considerations of race and place. It's sure to inform debates and directions in public policy, industry, and civil society, including libraries. -- ""Library Journal"" Dr. Nicol Turner Lee understands that the digital divide is not just a technology issue, it's a people issue, and a civil rights issue. Through engaging vignettes and conversational prose, this critically important book exposes the stark reality of life for those on the wrong side of digital opportunities. Turner Lee deserves commendation for bringing this pressing issue to the forefront, sparking essential conversations, and inspiring action towards a more connected America. As we enter the AI era, it is more vital than ever that policymakers, community organizations, and industry work toward a more inclusive future. --Larry Irving, former assistant secretary U.S. Department of Commerce For decades, Nicol Turner Lee has been deeply committed to the issues of digital equity and their effects on our society. With academic rigor and unbridled passion, she illuminates the high stakes of addressing this digital disparity. Turner Lee has been a colleague and adviser through countless convulsions of technology and policy, and I count her among the voices I am always ready to listen to when serious policy issues are being debated. --Michael K. Powell, former chairman, Federal Communications Commission Nicol Turner Lee is a pioneer and leader in the important national dialogue on how to ensure that every American has access to the technologies that will define this country's future. This book engagingly interweaves the common challenges facing disadvantaged urban school districts and remote rural farms with the competitive imperatives the nation faces. With the immense transformative potential of artificial intelligence, this book is urgent reading for policymakers, journalists, academics, and business leaders. --Marcus Brauchli, former editor, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal No one writing today knows the story of the many digital divides in America better than Nicol Turner-Lee. In this magnificent book, Dr. Turner-Lee weaves personal narrative with careful study to reveal what we need to know about the divisions in our society in terms of access to new technology. Today at the forefront of the national debates about technology, Dr. Turner-Lee has given us a great gift in this form of this book. --John Palfrey, president, John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation Digitally Invisible brings us the voices of people across America with shared interests in a just digital future with authenticity and powerful compassion. --Vilas Dhar, president, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation Digitally Invisible is a phenomenal must-read for those seeking to understand how the lack of online access is a historical by-product of long-standing systemic inequalities. --Aldon Morris, Northwestern University; author of The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology A timely revelation about technology's erasure of certain communities. --Bishop Leah Daughtry, coauthor, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics

Dr. Nicol Turner Lee understands that the digital divide is not just a technology issue, it's a people issue, and a civil rights issue. Through engaging vignettes and conversational prose, this critically important book exposes the stark reality of life for those on the wrong side of digital opportunities. Turner Lee deserves commendation for bringing this pressing issue to the forefront, sparking essential conversations, and inspiring action towards a more connected America. As we enter the AI era, it is more vital than ever that policymakers, community organizations, and industry work toward a more inclusive future. --Larry Irving, former assistant secretary U.S. Department of Commerce For decades, Nicol Turner Lee has been deeply committed to the issues of digital equity and their effects on our society. With academic rigor and unbridled passion, she illuminates the high stakes of addressing this digital disparity. Turner Lee has been a colleague and adviser through countless convulsions of technology and policy, and I count her among the voices I am always ready to listen to when serious policy issues are being debated. --Michael K. Powell, former chairman, Federal Communications Commission Nicol Turner Lee is a pioneer and leader in the important national dialogue on how to ensure that every American has access to the technologies that will define this country's future. This book engagingly interweaves the common challenges facing disadvantaged urban school districts and remote rural farms with the competitive imperatives the nation faces. With the immense transformative potential of artificial intelligence, this book is urgent reading for policymakers, journalists, academics, and business leaders. --Marcus Brauchli, former editor, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal No one writing today knows the story of the many digital divides in America better than Nicol Turner-Lee. In this magnificent book, Dr. Turner-Lee weaves personal narrative with careful study to reveal what we need to know about the divisions in our society in terms of access to new technology. Today at the forefront of the national debates about technology, Dr. Turner-Lee has given us a great gift in this form of this book. --John Palfrey, president, John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation Digitally Invisible brings us the voices of people across America with shared interests in a just digital future with authenticity and powerful compassion. --Vilas Dhar, president, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation Digitally Invisible is a phenomenal must-read for those seeking to understand how the lack of online access is a historical by-product of long-standing systemic inequalities. --Aldon Morris, Northwestern University; author of The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology A timely revelation about technology's erasure of certain communities. --Bishop Leah Daughtry, coauthor, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics

Author Information

Nicol Turner Lee is a fellow in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution, where she specializes in legislative and regulatory policies targeting telecommunications and high-tech industries. Her research also focuses on equitable access to technology and the existential threats of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, on vulnerable populations.

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