COVID-19 Illuminated the Urgency of the Digital Divide—Here’s How We Can Close the Gap

By Jennifer Artley, President, BT in the Americas & Managing Director of Technology, Life Sciences and Business Services 

The fact that 3.7 billion people around the world live without adequate internet connectivity—the digital divide—has universally held back innovation, economic prosperity, education, healthcare and civic engagement. Today, a global pandemic has rendered technology more essential to daily life and wellbeing than ever before and the world is feeling the divide far more acutely.

The need to accelerate closing that gap has been evident for years, but the past few months have shown us just how quickly we are able to act and adapt when we unite around a purpose. When COVID-19 hit, organizations that had dragged their feet for years on developing digital transformation strategies were suddenly able to shift entire IT infrastructures to allow for remote-enabled work and rapidly achieve mass adoption of new platforms and tools. While it took a global crisis for this remarkable change to take root, every leader can and should decide right now—today—to keep this unprecedented momentum going. 

Organizations must implement more robust responsible technology policies and upskilling efforts, while investing in the technology society needs. Measures must be put in place to ensure that as our digital ecosystem expands, it also remains equitable. Here’s how:

Investing in People and Plans that Drive Change

While bringing more people online should be our top priority as leaders, we must also focus on upskilling global workforces who have internet access, but whose skills are not keeping pace with our ever-evolving technology. The World Economic Forum estimates one billion people will need to be upskilled by 2030 and the rapid digital transformation we’ve already seen in 2020 has only increased the urgency for that progress. The responsibility of making it happen is two-fold. First, companies must invest not only in training and digital infrastructure for the future, but they must also allow for time in their employees’ workdays to learn. A leader in global upskilling, PwC, found, among roughly 22,000 working adults surveyed in 11 markets, only about one-third of employees ,on average, were given upskilling opportunities outside of their normal duties. Second, we, as individuals, should seek ways to invest in ourselves and in our own futures. At BT, we expanded our Skills for Tomorrow platform to help our colleagues and individuals in various phases of their lives and careers advance their digital skills—from accessing public services to practicing coding to improving cybersecurity.

Adopting Next-Generation Technology Responsibly

As we bring more people online, we must also be prepared for higher volume demands. Better networks via 5G and software-defined WAN will be critical in meeting our growing needs. Already, the pandemic has put immense pressure on organizations to extend their network capabilities at a speed and scale many had previously thought impossible, and these changes won’t be short-term. Twitter recently announced employees could remain remote indefinitely, and many other companies are actively looking to decrease office real estate. As we reimagine the workplace of the future, cutting-edge connectivity enabled by 5G and SD-WAN will be a key distinguisher in this progress. Among the benefits of SD-WAN are heightened security, better access to cloud-based applications and enhanced IT management. Meanwhile, 5G will help enable networks to be faster and more decentralized.

Likewise, the need for all students to have Wi-Fi at home shouldn’t be overlooked, even as schools resume onsite operations. Organizations and communities able to build on the momentum created by this forced transformation by expanding their infrastructure will see the greatest long-term benefits.

Including Everyone, from Corporation to Communities

The pandemic has made one thing abundantly clear—even the best technology won’t be a solution to closing the digital divide, in and of itself, without motivated leaders and a collective willingness to adapt. Strong leadership and forward-looking organizations coupled with widespread policy and implementation will be vital for change. For the past three years, the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) has prioritized expanding broadband across America. That progress must continue and gain momentum. In 2019, for example, 99 percent of school districts met short-term connectivity goals, but COVID-19 proved this to be insufficient. The public and private sectors must collaborate to ensure technology is a priority and that broadband is available to all households, not just in workplaces, schools and other public settings.

In many areas, the technological progress we’ve seen over the past four-plus months would have taken at least two years under normal circumstances. At BT, we helped a major pharmaceutical company double its VPN capabilities in JUST over 24 hours. From pharmaceutical companies to healthcare providers, we’ve seen how much productivity and solidarity can be achieved when the right technology is deployed properly.

We all have a role to play in closing the digital divide. As individuals, developing digital skills will prepare us, both personally and professionally, for what’s next. For business leaders and organizations, opportunity and competitive advantage will come from upskilling employees as well as prioritizing network infrastructure that can reach everyone. Corporations have knowledge, skillsets, and expertise that other parts of the community may not and should ensure these points of view are actively shared with schools and communities to help them become more digital. COVID-19 may have exposed weaknesses in our digital ecosystem, but we can choose to make that the catalyst for harnessing the great power of technology to usher in a brighter, more connected future.

Learn more about how BT can build business infrastructure to support current needs while anticipating future demands.