Digital Inclusion in San Francisco Tom Berman Matthew Case Joshua Daniels Mara Larsen-Fleming Sun Ha Lee May 17, 2007 San Francisco City Hall

Roadmap of Project  What is the digital divide and what is its impact?  The magnitude and scope of the digital divide in San Francisco  Current digital inclusion efforts and city resources  Further considerations and suggested research

What is the digital divide and what is its impact?

The Digital Divide  Digital Divide: inequities in the use of technology by certain populations. Access Skills & Knowledge

Impact of the Divide As more economic, social, and government activities move online, many San Franciscans are less able to experience the educational, workforce, and civic benefits of digital technology.

The magnitude and scope of the digital divide in San Francisco

The Personal Access Divide Exists in San Francisco  Location is a significant factor in home use  Mapping of City Survey Results (Bay Area Council/Field Research, 2007), (BAYCAT/Full Circle Fund, 2006)

Computer at home by District 68% 91% 83%

63% 78% 87% 64% 87% 78% Internet at home by District

Skill divide exists for under-served communities National data indicates that certain demographic groups have lower levels of knowledge about and skills to use digital technology: Low-income Elderly Less-educated African-American Latinos Limited-English speakers

Skill divide exists for under-served communities in SF Qualitative Data from Focus Groups:  Adults from underserved communities have low computer and internet skill levels  Young people feel comfortable with navigating internet and social networking, but not full capabilities of computers  Intergenerational transmission of skills, but cultural/linguistic barriers

What are current digital inclusion efforts and are they enough?

Recent Policy Efforts to Close the Personal Access Divide SF Tech Connect Initiative  Universal Wireless  Hardware Access New PC Purchase Program Refurbished computer purchase

Are hardware and internet access programs enough to deal with the divide? While PC purchase programs address most resource barriers to personal access, they do not address barriers due to: Skills Knowledge Limited resources of very poor

Recent Efforts to Provide Public Access & Training  SF Connect Community Events  Public Schools  Libraries  City Colleges  Community Technology Programs Housing Developments

Public Schools (SFUSD) Challenges of providing consistent and adequate across schools:  SFUSD Technology Master Plan Under-funded Student-to-computer ratios widely variant across schools Aging equipment & under maintained equipment Technology integration into curriculum lacks funding and infrastructure

Libraries  Not enough computers in some branches  Maximum of one hour use per day for patrons  Funding limited due to Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) non-compliance  Some foundation money to mitigate this, but not a guarantee going forward  Training programs inconsistent across libraries

City Colleges  Some free computer classes  Locations and public access sites limited  Computer classes in Chinese and Spanish limited  Funding through workforce development board

Community Technology Programs  140 Community Technology Programs provide access and training services to under-served groups and neighborhoods  Concentrated in the city center, fewer in “at risk” areas  Housing Project CTC and Wifi pilot projects

Community Technology Programs in San Francisco

SFUSD Student to Computer Ratios (All Computers)

Student to Computer Ratios (4 Years or less)

Computers in the Libraries

Summary of Remaining Gaps  Community Technology Program coverage is incomplete  Schools are not meeting their target student computer ratios (5:1) When older computers are excluded, the ratios get much larger (as high as 435:1)  School and library resource gaps are citywide problems, not location-specific Not sufficiently meeting additional need in low home use areas

Important Considerations Targeting vs. Leveling of Technology Resources Across the City Stakeholder Involvement (Schools, Libraries, Community Technology Programs, etc.) Needs of Providers vs. End-Users Evaluation/Benchmarks for Success

Further Research  More concrete information is needed about skills and knowledge in SF  Targeted community assessment of special needs (i.e. limited-English, older adults, disabled)  Role of attitudes in persistence of digital divide

Closing Rapidly changing nature of digital technology requires ongoing commitment to ensure that underserved communities are able to keep up