Strickling at SHLB

Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Lawrence Strickling delivered a keynote address at the annual conference at the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition. He spoke about the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s $4 billion worth of investment in roughly 230 projects around the nation to expand access to and use of broadband.

NTIA and the Census Bureau have also found that one third of American households still do not subscribe to broadband at home. And roughly one fifth of American households do not use the Internet at all. Nearly half of all households that do not have Internet access say they do not subscribe because they do not see a need or are not interested. Another quarter of households say broadband is too expensive. NTIA’s broadband grant program has addressed these issues from the outset. We awarded $250 million in sustainable broadband adoption programs to teach digital literacy skills to those who are not comfortable going online and to help low-income households acquire discounted computer equipment and sign up for affordable broadband service. We also provided roughly $200 million in grants to install and upgrade computer centers in schools, libraries and other public buildings to provide Internet access to those who do not have it at home. These adoption and computer center projects are also providing online job search and career assistance for the unemployed, and are helping small businesses integrate technology and move online to expand their reach. Along the way, we have all learned a lot about what works – and what does not work – when it comes to setting up the most functional computer labs, designing the most effective broadband training programs, and helping the most disadvantaged people use technology to improve their lives.

Let me share a few of these lessons:

• First is the importance of making the Internet relevant to people. The most successful digital literacy programs start by showing people why the Internet matters to them and how it can make their own lives better. They teach people how to apply for a job over the Web; how to bank or find coupons online; how to use the Internet to help their kids with their homework; and how to use an online calling service to communicate cheaply with family members in distant countries.
• Second, partnering with established neighborhood institutions that people already know and trust can be a key to engaging populations that are hard to reach. That is one reason why anchors such as schools and libraries are at the forefront of so much digital inclusion work. These institutions already have strong personal connections within their communities and can leverage those existing relationships.
• Third, computer centers and training programs must be accessible and convenient. For a library, this could mean keeping a computer lab open at night so people can stop by after work. For a school, this could mean offering digital literacy training for parents during the day when their kids are in class. It also often means offering classes in different languages to serve people who do not speak English.
• Fourth is the need to make services affordable. Cost can be a big barrier. That is why many successful adoption programs provide not only digital literacy training, but also assistance with finding discounted computer equipment and signing up for affordable broadband service.
• Finally, perhaps the most important lesson of all is that increasing the level of broadband adoption is a complex, multi-faceted challenge with no simple, one-size-fits-all solution. Addressing it requires a comprehensive, multipronged approach. Moreover, we must find a way to tackle this challenge beyond the communities served by our grants so that we can reach the millions of households that still do not subscribe to broadband today.