FCC Realizes That Digital Literacy and Rural Access Are Key To Closing The Digital Divide

An article by Navarrow    View Comments

As Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski spoke a panel at the Edtech conference two themes echoed loud and clear. He mention broadband is no longer a luxury and the two areas we need to focus on are digital literacy and Rural broadband access.

There is no question that today being digitally literate is essential to participate in our economy, and there is no question that these technologies provide the opportunities to equalize opportunity,” he said. “The costs of digital exclusion are growing larger.”

Although the United States has mobile innovation that’s”the envy of the world,” the nation has significant gaps and challenges, the chairman conceded.

In particular, there is a broadband deployment gap in areas of rural America, with about 20 million people living in areas without broadband service.

Hearing the chairman publicly commit to making these obstacles his focus is encouraging. We need to make sure that we work and push to make those roadblocks become things of the past. As the chairman mentioned the opportunities are too great not to.