Business & Community Leaders Call For Federal Role In Closing Persistent Digital Divide.

There are few who would debate that the Internet has moved from technological novelty to necessary medium that is crucial to our lives and work. Many policy makers, business and community leaders credit two federal programs slated for elimination in the FY2003 budget — the Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) and the Community Technology Centers (CTC) program — as important tools for expanding access to technology and the Internet. But despite the fact that significant in-roads have been made, anecdotal and research studies indicate that there is still a significant digital divide based on income, race and ethnicity; and it is Hispanics and Blacks that are left behind.

On October 8, 2002, domestic and international policy makers, and business and community leaders will gather at the “Back to the Future 2002” conference (http://www.backto.org) at the Roone Arledge Auditorium at Columbia University to discuss the digital divide. Presented by The Alliance for Latino Community Technology (ALCT) (http://www.alct.org) i n partnership with IBM; Sears, Roebuck & Co.; Intel; PepsiCo; ASPIRA; The Walt Disney Company; NBC; American Airlines; Cisneros Group of Companies; Gateway and the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans, the conference will provide a forum to address the current divide and possible policy and private sector solutions.

“We still see a major technology divide in certain traditionally underserved communities here in the US and around the world. The major advances to be made in technology are transforming the way the world communicates. It’s allowing us to work in more efficient ways and reach out to our neighbors in Mexico and Latin America,” said conference Chairman and ALCT Founder, Arthur Navarro. “This conference brings together leaders from education, business, academia, the United Nations and government to seek expeditious solutions on providing equal access to the technology that is essential for advancement in today’s information driven economy.”

In early 2002 the Department of Commerce under the Bush Administration issued its report “A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet” declaring substantial gains in access to computers and the Internet for all Americans. Despite overall advances in access, there remains a significant divide among minority groups and most notably between the White and the Latino and Black communities.

A follow-up report issued in July 2002 by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund and the Benton Foundation, with support from the Ford Foundation, concluded that continued Federal leadership is essential to bringing the nation online, given the significant technology gaps that remain along economic, racial and geographic lines. For example, Internet use by Whites and Asian American/Pacific Islanders (both at 68%) is more than double that of Blacks (30%) and Hispanics (32%). Additionally, less than 50% of Hispanics are computer users. In households where Spanish is the only language spoken, only 14.1% use the Internet.

The “Back to the Future 2002” conference will provide a platform to address possible solutions to bridge these glaring gaps. The day will be divided into three sections each highlighting aspects of the digital divide and the arenas of technology that affect the underserved communities. (See below for highlight list of speakers and agenda.)

“Back to the Future 2002” CONFERENCE PROGRAM

8:00 – 8:30 am REGISTRATION

8:30 – 9:00 am OPENING REMARKS
Tom Daschle
United States Senator
Taped remarks

Jose Maria Figueres Olsen
President UN ICT Task Force
Special ICT Advisor to Secretary General Kofi Annan
Taped remarks from Geneva, Switzerland

9:00 – 10:15 am PANEL I – DIGITAL DIVIDE: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
Panel Moderator: Gregory Rhode
Former Assistant Secretary of National
Telecommunications and Information Administration

10:30 – 11:45 am PANEL II – DIGITAL DIVIDE AND BUSINESS
Panel Moderator: Joe Lockhart
Former Press Secretary to President Clinton

12:00 – 1:30 pm VIP LUNCHEON
Luncheon Remarks: Dr. Pekka Tarajanne
Executive Director UN ICT Task Force Secretariat
United Nations

1:30 – 2:45 pm PANEL III – PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR STRATEGIES
Panel Remarks: Lawrence Grossman
Former President NBC News
Founder Digital Promise

Panel Moderator: Professor Eli Noam
Director, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information
(CITI)
Columbia University

3:00 pm CLOSING REMARKS