From Access to Outcomes

Introduction

The United States now has a remarkable opportunity to marshal the resources and energies that have been summoned to the cause of closing the digital divide and create a powerful social movement capable of producing real improvements in the daily lives of millions of people who are living at the margins of our economy. The key is for our society to unite around a new set of premises for technology investments in and by low-income communities.

Premise One: Focus on Narrowing Social, Not Digital, Divides

Wide gaps in economic and educational opportunity have existed in this nation for generations and will continue for generations more. Because of those disparities, large technological gaps have developed as well.

It is time to stop focusing so intensively on the technology divide, for the real differences we should seek to narrow are America's core social divides: the grave disparities in economic opportunity, education, health, safety, housing, employment, and even transportation. No easy ways exist to eliminate these social disparities; if easy answers were available, the disparities would be significantly smaller than they are today. But without question, technology could do far more to help. New technologies, applied in targeted ways, can make individual and group efforts to narrow social divides far more effective.

Premise Two: Concentrate On Achieving Concrete Outcomes

Efforts to help low-income communities gain the benefits of technology must be directed toward achieving specific outcomes -- in other words, tangible improvements in people's standards of living. Many initiatives focus on helping people increase their technological literacy, which can be an important goal. But the application of technology also can contribute to a wide range of health, economic, and educational outcomes, from increased vaccination rates to improved job placement to higher test scores.

Focusing on outcomes is easiest when the application of technology represents just one component of a comprehensive solution to a need. It is much harder to focus on outcomes when launching a stand-alone technology project, such as providing wiring for a school or community center.

Premise Three: Work Through Trusted Leaders In The Community

No matter how impressive the technology or how well-intended the motives, technology initiatives imposed on a community by outsiders are often ineffective. One clear path to achieving real-life outcomes with technology is through the existing veins of strength and vitality in the community --the organizations and individuals who have already established bonds of trust and have the proper channels to reach a relatively large number of people. As a result, those who hope to promote the use of technology in low-income communities should devote a great deal of time to identifying and then cultivating relationships with key local leaders and organizations.

Premise Four: Support Efforts By Communities To Strengthen Their Capacity

Some low-income communities are not ready to take advantage of new technologies. In those communities, the social fabric is threadbare and people can focus on little beyond the most basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. In such settings, the wisest investments are those that build the community’s "capacity" -- that is, its basic assets, such as affordable housing, health clinics, community organizations, public transportation, banking services, retail stores, roads, and sewage systems.

The hard truth is that until at least a basic level of community capacity is in place, large-scale technology initiatives have little hope of success. The only proven application of technology when community capacity is very low is to arm local activists and other "change agents" with communication tools such as email lists, which can connect them to like-minded members of other communities that have faced similar challenges.

Premise Five: Apply Technology To Help Build Capacity

Once a community has achieved at least a basic level of capacity, technology can be a powerful tool for the next stage of capacity-building efforts. Technology can help in three ways:

• If we are willing to provide long-term resources and support, targeted applications of technology can help government agencies, community groups, and other organizations deliver services more effectively and at a lower cost.
• Technology applications can enable certain individuals, especially "early adopters," to spark catalytic change in their communities.
• Technology applications can help create and sustain online and offline networks that introduce and interconnect people who are working toward similar goals.

Premise Six: Recognize That Technology Requires Its Own Capacity

As anyone who has ever attempted to set up an Internet account or pick up the pieces after a computer system crash knows all too well, information technology is not nearly smart enough to be easy to use. Therefore, investments in technology must go far beyond funding for hardware, software, and wires; they must include significant additional funding to help people understand, apply, and manage the technology.

For most projects, no more than one-third of the funding should go to technology itself, leaving more than two-thirds for educating staff and developing programs that help organizations tap technology’s true potential. In addition, large investments are sorely needed to help build and strengthen intermediary organizations that can better assist low-income communities in their efforts to acquire, apply, and support technology.

Premise Seven: Make The Case For Applied Technology

Individuals and organizations who are committed to closing social divides should devote considerable time and effort to building the case for the relevance of technology within low-income communities. Given the evangelical fervor for technology that infuses many digital divide efforts, some may regard this step as superfluous. The truth is that most people, especially those in low-income communities, see little reason to embrace technology.

Worse still, many people fear or distrust technology. A September 2000 by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 57 percent of people without Internet access do not plan to log on. Cost is a factor for some potential users, but not for as many as one might think.

A crucial step for encouraging people to get over their fear and distrust is showing that technology can be highly relevant to their lives. One can make the case for technology in low-income communities in many different ways, including ambitious public-awareness campaigns and large-scale community organizing efforts.

Premise Eight: Make Major Changes In Public Policy

Although public officials have been quick to grasp the importance of helping low-income communities participate in the digital revolution, public policies have lagged behind public pronouncements. To achieve meaningful national outcomes rather than just a set of small, isolated victories, federal and state governments should do much more to provide frameworks and incentives to help focus philanthropic resources and stimulate private investment in low-income areas. For example:

• To bring down costs, governments should do more to ensure highly competitive markets for technology.
• Governments should dramatically increase the scale of their own funding for technology-related initiatives, not just by expanding the handful of existing, isolated programs but by seeking to integrate technology into the broad range of programs that serve low-income Americans.
• To help demonstrate the value of technology and break down barriers to its adoption, governments should take more aggressive steps to digitize government services and open new avenues of interaction with citizens.
• Drawing upon the model the federal government successfully used in responding to the Y2K challenge, the president should empower a high-level official to coordinate technology programs across government agencies and ensure greater transfer of technology-enabled solutions.

Premise Nine: Dramatically Expand the Availability of Capital

To address a social challenge of this size, the sheer magnitude of available capital must increase exponentially, and that capital must be invested strategically. As stated in Premise Eight, federal and state governments can and must step up to the plate -- but they cannot do it alone.

Many new philanthropic models could help. For example, we believe that the philanthropic and high-tech communities should join forces to create a pool of equity capital for outcomes-based technology investments in and by low-income communities -- as well as to develop a pool of talent that can provide strategic management assistance to augment the capital. With participation from the largest foundations and businesses, this "social venture fund" could grow to a billion dollars or more.

Regardless of whether old or new models are used, the philanthropic sector simply must do far more to promote innovation in the use of technology to achieve social outcomes. Just as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has done in the field of health care, all philanthropic givers should take a close look at how they can help nonprofit organizations apply technology to achieve outcomes in their respective fields of focus, from housing to education to crime prevention to child care. Today, many grantmakers view technology as little more than an additional overhead expense.

Premise Ten: Dramatically Broaden the Scope of Efforts

In order to apply technology effectively in low-income communities to help people improve their lives, we must be prepared to confront challenges that are far greater than most public- and private-sector leaders have yet acknowledged.

Community needs are hauntingly large, and community capacity is dangerously weak. Technology is becoming more expensive and complex. Technical talent is in acutely short supply. The nation has few large-scale providers capable of serving the need for technology-enabled solutions in low-income communities.

The problems cannot be solved piecemeal; they require comprehensive solutions that integrate people, processes, and technology. They demand a fundamental shift in thought and action in public policy, philanthropy, and corporate and nonprofit leadership. Anything less than a massive mobilization of resources, financing, talent, and innovation is destined to produce only incremental and isolated victories.

Conclusion

Malcolm Gladwell's book "The Tipping Point" illustrates the premise that movements and ideas, like tall objects, often have tipping points; once they hit that precise point, dramatic change can come about quickly. The book has struck a powerful chord with entrepreneurs and change agents from both for-profit and nonprofit enterprises.

Where is the tipping point for America's digital divide efforts? What will it take for the nonprofit sector's investments in information technology to begin to achieve hard and fast outcomes on a national level?

As a society, we must summon the finances and moral courage to push toward this potential tipping point. The window of opportunity is small, and the price of inaction would almost certainly be far steeper than the cost of action. The consequences of inaction would take two forms. First, enormous opportunities would be missed, through the loss of financial and social contributions that people in low-income communities could be empowered to make. Second, tens of billions of dollars would be added to entitlement payments and other social payments. It is no exaggeration to conclude that if we do not dramatically increase the size and effectiveness of our efforts, we could cement a permanent underclass in our society.

The challenges are large, but so is the opportunity. Efforts to close the digital divide have mobilized resources and sparked attention across the nation. Now is the time to leverage the resources already committed to this cause and use them as a down payment toward the far more sizeable investments that will be required. Together, we can unite our efforts around shared expectations and goals and create a powerful social movement. Together, we can work to create a broad, grassroots awareness that it is crucial for technology applications to be firmly rooted in the real needs and realistic capacities of the low-income communities they are meant to serve. Together, we can achieve lasting improvements in the lives of America's most hard-pressed citizens.