November 2008 Archives

As the economy brings little but news ranging from bad to worse these days, many people, like Flora Schmidt of Mineola, N.Y., find that they have to return to work, at least part-time to make ends meet.

However, for Ms. Schmidt there was a small snag: she is 73 years old, and has no computer skills. "If you want to do anything in the workplace, you must know computers," she said. True enough.

To Kristin Fabos, executive director of SeniorNet, a nonprofit group, this does not come as a surprise. "More and more seniors find that they need to return to work only to discover that they don't have the requisite computer skills." To address this particular Digital Divide, her group has established more than 130 volunteer-run computer-learning centers in 33 states and now offers more than 30 courses: ranging from computer basics and the Internet to word-processing programs classes in Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint.

"The demand is great," said Slava Vero, co-coordinator of the SeniorNet center in Huntington, N.Y. Her center has a waiting list.

Ms. Schmidt has now completed several introductory and Internet courses at the Huntington center and is now taking a class on Windows. She worked 30 years as a registered nurse and hopes her new computer skills will help land a nursing paralegal job. "I'm determined," she said. "I need a part-time job to make ends meet, and computer skills are a must today."

The good news is that percentage of older Americans who use computers is rising sharply but is still much lower than that of the general population. From March 2000 to August 2008, computer use among adults 65 and older almost doubled, to 38 percent, according to data from the Internet and American Life Project of the Pew Research Center. That compares with 74 percent of 50- to 64-year-olds and 86 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds.

Susannah Fox, an associate director for the project, says that technologically savvy baby boomers are swelling the percentage of the 65-plus age group, but that factors like income and education remain significant barriers to accessibility. In addition, for some older adults, the use of computers just was not relevant to their previous careers.

A number of organizations are working to close this digital divide. Most community colleges have technology programs geared to older job seekers. SeniorNet awards scholarships and recently established centers in underserved urban and Native American communities. Last year, it introduced online instruction. Some centers, like the Huntington SeniorNet center, plan to offer instruction to homebound older adults via Webcam and to donate recycled computers for students to use.

Last year, the AARP Foundation started WorkSearch, a program for low- to moderate-income older adults that provides skills assessment, training and related employment services. The program, offered free or at low cost, has 75 sites and has courses online.

Emily Allen, the foundation's assistant national director of work-force programs, says computer basics are essential even before landing a job. "More and more companies require filing an application online," she said. Participants learn how to write a résumé on the computer and do online job searches, she said.

Mimi Witcher, 65, of Carrollton, Tex., says she knows how a lack of computer skills can marginalize people. In the late 1990s, she had been a stay-at-home mom for more than 20 years when she had to go back to work. Her husband had lost his job and the couple had college bills for two daughters. "I was 55 and completely computer-illiterate," she said. "For a few years I worked part-time at a local Barnes & Noble, while taking computer classes at Richland College nearby.

Ms. Witcher did so well that about six months later she was asked to teach other older adults at the college. In addition to teaching at Richland, earlier this year she and her husband opened the Computer School for Seniors, www.cs4seniors.com, which offers more than 100 lesson plans online.

It is heartwarming to see that the older segment of our society is not only not being left behind, but also are catching up nicely, with many schools and other organizations willing to help.

Three years ago, the town of McDermitt, Nevada, sorely lacked broadband. Not that Pat Goff set out to change that, but he did.

Goff, a 33-year-old high-school business and computer teacher, wanted to bridge this particular portion of the digital divide and allow his students to learn enough about the Web to prepare them for life after graduation, whether that was technical school, junior college, four-year college, or a job.

Outside of rural Nevada, he observed, computers and the Internet were becoming as commonplace as the telephone.

Not so at McDermitt Combined School. Located three hours northeast of Reno, smack in the middle of the desert on the Nevada-Oregon border, it was pretty much the town that the Internet forgot--or tried to. How could these kids compete, Goff wondered, if they had never built a Web site? If they have never used a search engine? If they have never even sent an email message?

Okay, the state provided some connection, but it was a perpetual bottleneck--too many schools and too few modems--and provided nowhere near the bandwidth necessary for meaningful instruction. In the end, he resorted to using an Internet provider in Idaho, but the long-distance charges added up, limiting the time online.

What he needed was an affordable, reliable, and fast connection. But the community didn't have local Internet access-- and for good reason: McDermitt (population: 756) isn't just out of the way, it's in the middle of the proverbial nowhere. McDermitt's few hundred households weren't enough to attract a provider to the area.

Enter ingenuity: with the help of school principal John Moddrell, Goff found a solution. McDermitt Combined could get high-speed service by connecting via satellite through Intellicom, a provider based in Livermore, California. Only, there was a catch: it would cost $1,900 a month, far exceeding Goff's budget.  However, if the school turned around and sold McDermitt residents access to its Internet connection, Goff could indeed afford the service.
Which is precisely what he and his students did. They formed McDermitt-Humboldt Internet Provider (M-HIP) and rounded up enough customers to cover expenses. Because M-HIP was a local call, unlimited Internet access was available to anyone in the northwestern corner of Nevada--as long as you had a phone and a computer.

That was almost three years ago. The result?

In some ways, McDermitt is far more up-to-date than it's ever: students are finally researching homework assignments and college scholarships online--Goff achieved his goal.

Also, parents are taking college courses online; farmers and ranchers are on the verge of selling hay and cattle online; and residents are sending email far and wide, reestablishing old connections and making new ones.

But in reality, the Internet hasn't transformed the town. Not yet anyway. McDermitt looks much the same as it has for years--like a former mining community that's seen better days. Rather than generating a tidal wave of changes, the Internet is making ripples--subtle changes in people's lives. The technology and its potential are spreading, but they're doing so gradually. Not everyone sees the possibilities and wants to change. After all, McDermitt got by without the Net for more than 100 years.

(This blog is an extraction and condensation of a longer article by Chuck Salter, which you can read in full at http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/45/mcdermitt.html -- it's well worth reading).

One of the best articles I have come across of late about President-elect Barack Obama.and his intended spanning and/or reinforcement of the digital divide bridge is written by Dr D.C. Misra in All News and can be found at http://www.bloggernews.net/118625.

His insightful analysis of not only Obama's Open Government agenda, but the obstacles he will face and must overcome, are well worth reading.

As you will see, Obama's agenda is ambitious indeed, and we wish him nothing but the best of luck in implementing it.

A few days ago Nokia today announced that it plans to launch Nokia Life Tools, a range of innovative Agriculture information and Education services targeted to non-urban consumers.

Designed specifically for emerging markets such as Asia and Africa, Nokia Life Tools helps overcome information constraints and provides services to this next generation of mobile users. Nokia plans to launch the service, beginning in the first half of 2009 with the Nokia 2323 classic and the Nokia 2330 classic as the lead devices in India and expand across select countries in Asia and Africa later in 2009.

"Filling in the information gaps in agriculture and education with Nokia Life Tools, we strive to contribute towards empowering people with the right tools to help them make informed decisions in their daily lives" said Jawahar Kanjilal, Global Head of Emerging Market Services, Nokia. "Nokia Life Tools was developed to help bridge the digital divide in the emerging markets."

"Nokia has a strong sense of local markets. Here in India, agriculture employs more than 60 percent of the workforce; but this sector of the economy needs fresh inputs via technology for it to achieve a 3 percent growth" said Shiv Shivakumar, Vice President, Nokia India.

Nokia plans to conduct a limited scale pilot in India before the end of 2008. Reuters Market Light (RML) is the content service provider collaborating with Nokia for agriculture services in the pilot, where accurate and regular information on weather, prices and availability of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and prevailing market prices for the produce are sent to the farmer. The information is customized to the farmer's location and selection of crops, and will be delivered directly to his Nokia mobile phone. By getting the latest information directly on their mobile phones, farmers can overcome uncertainty and get just the right information that they need to grow and sell their crops.

"Technology is changing the way farmers, their families and their surrounding communities are contributing to the economy, as well as benefiting from it. Reuters Market Light has already proven the value of customized and localized information to the farming community, with thousands of farmers having already made significant additional profits using RML" said Amit Mehra, Managing Director, Reuters Market Light. "Through our collaboration with Nokia, we hope to reach even more farmers so that they can make informed decisions that have a direct and positive impact on their productivity and yield"

"Nokia Life Tools was developed in collaboration with the target users and the industry. The success of this initiative can be assured through regular consumer feedback to ensure that their needs are best met. More importantly, it will require a collaborative effort between Nokia, our operator partners, industry participants and information providers across the agriculture and education sectors as we connect the next billion mobile phone subscribers - many of whom will indeed hail from these developing regions" added Mr Kanjilal.

Nokia Life Tools services use an icon-based, graphically rich user interface that comes complete with tables and which can even display information simultaneously in two languages. Behind this rich interface, SMS is used to deliver the critical information to ensure that this service works wherever a mobile phone works, without the hassles of additional settings or the need for GPRS coverage.

Nokia Life Tools will be available in local languages for the target audience. The pilot will be enabled on the Nokia 2600 classic and the Nokia 1680, and available in Marathi, Hindi and English.

More information and photos in print quality can be found at www.nokia.com/press/entry.