The Rainbow PUSH Coalition held its annual Public Policy, Media & Telecom Symposium. This year’s event titled, “The Future of Media: Policies, People and Players” included panels on media portrayal’s of people of color, on digital technology in the classroom, voting, and financial literacy. The second day of the symposium started with an informative panel on the broad implications of broadband technology in the energy, education and health sectors.
Panel experts included Maurita Coley, COO of MMTC, Debra Berlyn, President of Consumer Policy Solutions (CPS), Kimberly Marcus, Deputy Director of the Office of Minority Business Development (MBDA) at the Department of Commerce and Nsenga Burton, Executive Director of the National Association of Multicultural Digital Entrepreneurs, (NAMDE).
Engaging Older Americans Means Talking About More Than Health Applications
Joseph Miller, Deputy Director at the Joint Center moderated the discussion. The audience was particularly interested in understanding the role of the Internet in the lives of senior citizens and most of the conversation focused on challenges and opportunities for seniors in the broadband world.
Miller started by asking panel experts to talk about some of the broadband and technology issues specific to older Americans. National numbers show that adults 65 and older have among the lowest home broadband adoption rates of any group, he pointed out.
“Older adults want some of the fun stuff as well, not just the health information,” said Debra Berlyn of Consumer Policy Solutions. She said that the number one reason older Americans choose not to subscribe to broadband services at home is that they believe the Internet has low relevance for them. “The fact is that once they get online they love it!”
While tele-medicine applications are important for aging Americans, they are interested in more than just monitoring blood sugar levels, one of the panel members said. Subscribing to broadband in the home offers so many different and exciting opportunities; these kinds of benefits should also be promoted to older Americans if we want them to be interested. They might start to understand why broadband is relevant if they knew more about the “fun” side of home Internet access.
According to a recent Pew study, 67 percent of non-broadband users among Americans aged 65 and older cited a, “lack of need” as the primary reason they are not using the Internet at home. Only 26 percent of people aged 16 to 44 and 46 percent of people aged 45 to 64, cite “lack of need.”
Computer Ownership And Internet Usage Lag For Older Americans Of Color
Computer ownership, Internet usage and home broadband for older Americans is significantly less than for any other demographic group. Adults 65 and older comprise almost half (49 percent) of non-Internet users overall. Looking at members of the G.I. Generation, those born in 1936 or earlier (ages 77 and older in 2013), a full 62 percent don’t use the Internet or email at all.
The Consumer Policy Solutions President said that broadband adoption rates among older Americans of color are significantly lower than the overall rates of adoption for adults 65 and older. She quoted NTIA data showing that 37.5 percent of African Americans in the 65+ age groups have broadband at home. This is compared to overall figures showing that 54.8 percent of adults 65 and older subscribe to broadband in the home.
Berlyn who is also Executive Director of the Project to Get Older Americans Online (Project GOAL) provided great insights on the opportunities and obstacles for seniors on the web. She cited resources like AT&T Digital Life, which makes home energy savings possible. This is great service that seniors can take advantage of, she said. It’s one of many Internet enabled tools that can help older Americans age in place.
The panel provided attendees with practical examples of how broadband transforms daily life. They discussed how remote health monitoring applications help seniors access preventative care resources from their home.
Instead of visiting the doctor’s office every week, seniors can use home monitoring devices, which reduce travel costs and transportation related injuries. It also frees the family member who may have had to accompany an older relative to the hospital.
Relevance And Cost Are Not The Only Issues Of Concern When It Comes To Inclusion
The second most frequently cited reason, according to a recent NTIA report, for non-Internet use in the home behind “Relevance” is the costs. Nearly 30 percent of all non-Internet households said cost was the primary reason they did not use the Internet. The issue of cost is resolved entirely percent by these kinds of initiatives although they are steps in the right direction. Also digital literacy and modernizing the nation’s broadband infrastructure continue to present substantial challenges.
Maurita Coley, COO of MMTC, discussed some of the public-private partnerships aimed at reducing the costs associated with broadband use like Comcast’s Internet Essentials program and Connect2Compete. Both of these programs provide low-cost Internet service and discounted computers. These resources are invaluable to seniors and others with limited financial resources.
The moderator posed a question to the panel on the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields for the nation’s economic development. Kimberly Marcus of the MBDA responded that communities of color must develop strong cultural supports that lead the younger generation toward developing STEM related skills and expertise.
Entrepreneurship Impacts Participation of Minority Groups in Broadband Economy
Dr. Burton responded with some interesting points on the economic impact of entrepreneurship. She mentioned the rise in entrepreneurship among African American women as a demographic group. A new report by the Center for American Progress indicates that the number of companies started by African American women increased by almost 300 percent from 1997 to 2013. In 2013, African American women-owned businesses comprised 42 percent of all businesses owned by women of color and nearly half of all African American owned businesses.
It’s unclear why there aren’t more African American women in STEM fields, said Dr. Burton. This is where all of the opportunities are going its one of the few sectors where we see growth.
The relatively small number of African Americans pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities in STEM industries may be related to the under-representation of African Americans in these fields more generally. Fewer than 3 percent of African American women are represented in STEM fields, while women as a group make up close to 25 percent of the STEM workforce.
Culture Of Entrepreneurship And Skill Development In STEM Necessary For Inclusion
NAMDE, Executive Officer Dr. Nsenga Burton commented that communities of color must also develop a culture of entrepreneurship. It is important that young people come to understand that entrepreneurial opportunities are just as feasible as becoming an employee for someone else, she Dr. Burton.
Coley provided examples of programs like the Percy Julian STEM Institute, which is run through church sites like the Metropolitan AME Church in DC. The Institute’s mission is to address the under-representation of minorities in STEM fields by targeting middle school students and engaging their parents in the process.
Halfway through the session, Joseph Miller focused the conversation on solutions asking, what could be done at the grassroots level to guarantee that people of color have a voice for in the frontier of broadband and technology.
The panelists discussed entrepreneurship as a means for communities of color to develop their voice and create new opportunities in the changing economy. Debra Berlyn commented that entrepreneurship is not only for young people; older Americans have the added advantage of being able to draw from a lifetime of work experiences.
Metropolitan areas like DC house great communities of entrepreneurs as well as strategic resources that help them grow. In addition to non-profit’s like NAMDE, which is a trade organization for newer technology and broadband industry businesses, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is a national resource for minority businesses in all industries. Deputy Director, Kimberly Marcus explained to attendees that the MBDA helps established minority-owned firms (operating for 3 or 5 years) expand into new markets both domestically and internationally.
In her closing remarks, Marcus left attendees with a sobering example of the breadth and scale of the challenges associated with full engagement in the broadband world. She described a scenario in which a $1,500 Christmas budget purchases mandatory school supplies on a list with only 2 items—iPad’s for school use. The benefit for the family is access to the student’s educational life; it is easy to see why cost is critical in this case as well as other scenarios. The broadband ecosystem is replacing all of the old standards, it transforms every aspect of American life and enabling each community to make the transition should receive more direct attention. This is one of the more important take-away messages from the session as well as the Rainbow PUSH Telecom symposium.
For seniors, minority entrepreneurs and young students, accessing fundamental resources in the “broadband everything” world requires several things: New skills, new devices and national cooperation. The full participation of all of these and other groups is necessary to guarantee the economic benefits and efficiencies technology offers.