Mind the Gap:

Closing the Digital Divide in

America
Stephanie Vaughn
Abstractions II
August 23, 2019
Inline Stage - 1:30 PM
About Me
● Detroit native

● Communications professional-turned-Techie

● Front-End Web + Software Development

● Passionate about Tech Literacy + Computer Science

Education

_@SLVaughn
 Feel free to live-tweet this
talk!

Tag me while you live-tweet:

@_SLVaughn

Use hashtags:
#AbstractionsCon
#MindTheGap

Photos are welcome too!

View slides and follow along:
bit.ly/MindTheGapAbstractions

_@SLVaughn
 1996
● America Online leaves behind
its pay-per-hour system for a
flat $19.95 monthly fee for
dial-up Internet. The modern
Internet era begins.

● Millions of America Online trial

CDs are repurposed as
frisbees.
_@SLVaughn
 2019
● There’s no way around it.
The Internet is ubiquitous.

● We can get it in our cars,

on planes, hot spots on
the street, underground on
the subway...you get the
point!
_@SLVaughn
 40%
of Detroit residents do not have Internet access at home.

70 percent of school-aged children are among them.

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Detroit is One of The Worst Connected Cities
In June 2018 the National Digital Inclusion Alliance published a report that revealed:

● Detroit as the ranks 2nd worst connected city in the

country, over 147,000 households without fixed
broadband Internet.
● 100,000 households have no Internet at all.

_@SLVaughn
● It is important to note that the term “Fixed broadband Internet” as used by
the Census includes wireline broadband technologies (cable Internet, DSL,
fiber to the premises) as well as satellite and “fixed wireless” technologies.

● It does not include 3G and 4G mobile service such as one purchases for a
smartphone, or non-broadband connections like dial-up modems.

_@SLVaughn
SOURCE: Detroit’s Broadband Infrastructure, Connectivity and Adoption Issues [FCC]

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SOURCE: Worst Connected Cities 2016 [National Digital Inclusion Alliance] _@SLVaughn
 Smartphone
Dependency
● As the adoption of traditional
broadband service has slowed in recent
years, a growing share of Americans
now use smartphones as their primary
means of online access at home.

● Today one-in-five American adults are

“smartphone-only” internet users –
meaning they own a smartphone, but do
not have traditional home broadband
service.
_@SLVaughn
This trend is important to note because it is
strongly reflected in the 57% of households in
Detroit that rely solely on their smartphones to
access the Internet.

_@SLVaughn
_@SLVaughn
_@SLVaughn
What does this look like in everyday life for
people within these demographics?
● Think about everyday tasks you perform on a computer. Now think about
trying to do them exclusively on your phone in a mobile app or mobile
browser.

● Think about the overall user experience on a desktop device vs. a mobile
device.

● Think about how the devices that we have at our disposal inform both Internet
access and tech literacy.

_@SLVaughn
 “When you kind of think about all the ways
the internet affects your life and how 40
percent of people in Detroit don’t have that
access you can start to see how Detroit has
been stuck in this economic disparity for
such a long time.”

Diana Nucera, director of the Detroit Community Technology Project

_@SLVaughn
The Big Question™ after all of that
sobering data:

Where do we even begin to approach

solutions to the Digital Divide?
_@SLVaughn
 Detroit Community
Technology Project

● Within the last couple of years a

growing cohort of Detroiters have
started a grassroots movement to
build the Internet themselves.
● It’s a coalition of community
members and multiple Detroit
nonprofits.
● They call it the Equitable Internet
Initiative.

_@SLVaughn
JOURNi

● JOURNi is an organization dedicated to equipping urban communities with

the skills and resources necessary to jumpstart their local economies.
● It strives to build an authentically inclusive tech ecosystem in the city of
Detroit, by tapping into the heart and spirit of its residents.
● To achieve this goal, they provide immersive courses, youth-centered
programming, beneficial employment opportunities, startup education, and
socioeconomic resources.

_@SLVaughn
JOURNi program flier
_@SLVaughn
 Innovation
Huddle
● Innovation Huddle is a STEM +
Entrepreneurship program for the
students at Fisher Magnet Upper
School.
● The aim of the program is to
introduce students to STEM/STEAM
careers, and the principles of
entrepreneurship.
Introducing IH students to pair programming

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Back to The Big Question™

_@SLVaughn
Thank You!
Feel free to:
● Come up to me after the session and chat
● Follow me on Twitter: _@SLVaughn
● Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/slvaughn7
● View my slides: http://bit.ly/MindTheGapAbstractions
● View my resources: http://bit.ly/MindTheGapSources