The notion of a "digital divide" first came about more than 25 years ago—a time when communication demands first began moving from landlines to the internet. While the focus of this report is the K–12 digital divide, it . Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced last week the formation of a task force to improve broadband maps. The digital divide will not close unless there is an initiative to seal the gap. TechRepublic Premium: The best IT policies, templates, and tools, for today and tomorrow. First, there is the gender divide. Open The Airwaves, Fairly. To successfully partner with businesses, academic partners need to streamline both the administrative and academic aspects of their work. SEE: 5 tips for IT leaders adapting to their changing roles (TechRepublic). But such an endeavor, he added, "will require stakeholders to navigate potentially competing priorities across emerging technologies that can meet needs in the near-term, the long-term desires for faster speeds, and financial support for devices and in-home equipment. And in 2019, more than 14 million Americans did not have access to broadband that fulfilled the new FCC speed threshold (25 Mbps downlink). Private-sector companies excel at building, testing, and scaling tech innovations. working with diverse patients and discussing their technology preferences, most low-income patients are highly interested. 5G: What it means for edge computing (free PDF), 9 tech companies improving the environment, Bitcoin cheat sheet: Everything pros need to know, C++ programming language: How it became the foundation for everything, and what's next (free PDF), Video game career snapshot: Industry insights and jobs for IT pros, Technology that changed us: The 1970s, from Pong to Apollo. This represents the biggest single step ever by the FCC toward closing the rural digital divide. Health Tech has expertise in non-randomized methods, known as implementation science, which can be used to rigorously analyze whether the technology works as intended in real-world settings and if patient outcomes are durably improved. Deloitte says its report substantiates three hypotheses. close the digital divide across communities while simul-taneously benefiting financial institutions and improving economic stability. When the whole world population would reach access to the digital media such as the Internet, inequalities of digital skills, usage The law was passed in 1977 to address redlin-ing—the denial of credit to individuals based on where they This heightened attention has created a unique opportunity to permanently close the divide once and for all. We provide companies with a nuanced understanding of what it will take to implement digital health tools in these settings. The company wished to adapt its educational app and web-based diabetes-prevention platform for underserved populations. Research shows that women are not as likely to own a phone or access the Internet … We relied on our research and clinical experience working with diverse patients and discussing their technology preferences to determine if proposed products had the potential to reach culturally and linguistically varied populations. In reality, if companies prioritize building a product that works for Medicaid’s diverse patient populations and care settings, they will produce better technology and viable solutions that can more easily be disseminated in commercial settings, rather than vice versa. This process identified unrecognized usability challenges, sparking the company to make changes to the platform and onboarding process to improve user satisfaction. We blended the academic practice of peer review with the private-sector model of a pitch competition to identify company partners: stakeholders representing industry, venture capital, academic, health system, payer, and patient perspectives weighed in during the vetting process. Closing the K–12 Digital Divide in the Age of Distance Learning. Our team published these outcomes in a peer-reviewed journal. At the time this article was written, more than 40 million Americans have applied for unemployment. DC’s Public Knowledge to Congress: Close the digital divide Check out key points from testimony before Congress by Public Knowledge President and CEO Christopher Lewis, including a look at broadband equity, digital redlining and more. All too often advances in digital health tools don’t benefit disadvantaged populations. © 2021 ZDNET, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. Another is these companies often operate with different financial models than commercial health systems, struggle with limited resources for technology innovation, and face significant organizational and staffing constraints. Stark disparities in health care access were revealed anew during the Covid-19 pandemic. In academia, administrative processes for obtaining ethical approval for studies involving humans and intellectual property contracting can be restrictive and protracted. Similarly, two other of our industry partners, Health Tech 4 Medicaid and Town Hall Ventures, have demonstrated that it is possible to include diverse patients in technology design from the inception. Today, an internet connection is a must-have for school assignments, healthcare, communicating with friends, finding a job, and starting a business. S.O.L.V.E. Since launching in 2019, S.O.L.V.E has reviewed 33 applications from early to mid-stage digital health companies seeking to expand in the Medicaid space. CNBC's "Closing Bell" team discusses closing the digital divide, outlook and more with Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. As researchers, we bring deep experience implementing and evaluating technology in underresourced health care settings. Senior Researcher and Advocate, Digital Rights. Our experience in this iterative process was an extension of our 2015 pilot of an academic-corporate partnership with Omada Health. For the study, Deloitte says it used various models from publicly available information to assess the correlation between broadband availability and economic prosperity. This is especially true when regulatory approval for their products (e.g., by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) is not required. And finally, the report states if the U.S. had taken the initiative to increase broadband access by a mere 10% in 2015, the result would have been more than 875,000 new jobs— as well as around $186 billion in extra-economic production. Separately, many entrepreneurs and investors incorrectly assume that Medicaid patients are disinterested in using digital tools to manage their own health. Dallas County Commissioner J.J. Koch is set to ask his colleagues Tuesday to position the local government as a leader in closing one of the worst digital divides in … In times of crisis, from natural disasters to pandemics, digital connectivity is what is keeping people, governments and businesses connected. By partnering with academic institutions that are focused on helping indigent patients, digital health companies can develop products that profitably serve all market segments and help make health care more equitable. To synergize these proficiencies, we founded UCSF S.O.L.V.E. The digital divide is also inextricably linked to economic opportunity. In addition, researchers must check their egos at the door and understand that industry partners bring a pragmatic viewpoint to academic recommendations that will result in their selectively acting on them. Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays. For example, our industry and venture capital advisors helped us assess the business potential of applicants’ proposals. "When it comes to the public or private broadband investments to close the digital divide, the economic benefits are clear," Jack Fritz, principal at Deloitte, said in a press release. Perhaps the simplest way to close the divide is to reduce the need for home Internet connectivity. for closing the digital divide. Launching the first phase of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which is set to disburse $9.2 billion over the next 10 years to expand broadband in unserved areas in 49 states and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Your donation will help bridge the digital divide by providing much-needed Wi-Fi services, technology, training, and more to communities in need. These issues are essential to address given the disproportionate burden of illness faced by patients from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and the gaps in digital strategies to provide them with better prevention and treatment. 7 months ago The FCC's Push to Close the Digital Divide October 14, 2020, 5:48 PM EDT 8 months ago A Guide to School Reopenings — in Classrooms, on … Health Tech, an HIT incubator embedded in the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Many companies are encouraged by funders such as venture capital firms to sell their product to commercial insurers before pivoting to public insurers such as Medicaid because the latter’s reimbursement rates are lower. One solution is academic-industry partnerships. • The digital divide cannot be closed completely. Get started with the resources below. Close the Digital Divide. Closing the ‘Digital Divide’ Critical in COVID-19 Response. This shift, according to a new report by Deloitte, resulted in disparities between rural and urban demographics and low- and high-income earners. One reason is venture capital firms often discourage their portfolio companies from focusing on provider organizations (e.g., public hospitals, community health centers, clinics, and practices that serve indigent populations regardless of their ability to pay). With socio-economic divisions already present in today's society, the digital divide is compounding the effects. Nearly Half the World Has No Access to the Internet . For example, a review of 53 studies published between 2013 and 2019 shows that when companies design patient-facing components of electronic health records (“patient portals”) for racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse patients, the portals demonstrate better and more accessible usability for everyone.