What will you be doing today? Probably more than a few of the things we take for granted these days… a bit of shopping (online), a catch-up chat with the children (by Zoom), or maybe, like me, writing and posting a Blog (harnessing streams of electrons on the internet). Because the fact is, so much of what we do now is digital, we take those technologies for granted; not everyone has the luxury of daily access. In the United States, for example, the World’s leading and most advanced economy, more than a quarter of the rural population (some 14.5 Million people) have no access to broadband. Across the globe, that figure rises to a staggering three Billion of our fellow citizens. They won’t be shopping online today, chatting with their children on Zoom, or posting any Blog any time soon…
So, let me say a word (or two) on their behalf… in an ever more connected World, being connected isn’t a luxury anymore, however much we take it for granted. Those three Billion people are forced to live their lives in the shadows, doing the best they can on the outer margins of a digital planet: often without access to a bank account, with limited access to education, healthcare, and employment (can you imagine what it’s like to apply for a job, without access to a computer?). This is not just about missing the latest Netflix episode, wanting Amazon, or hankering after video games…it’s about equal opportunities for all and not leaving any of our fellow citizens behind.
And it's certainly not about expecting anyone to expect less than we do ourselves.
That’s worth reflecting on …as we go about our daily lives.
India Leads the Way…Again
In 2016, the Indian State of Kerala made a bold announcement that computer access for all its citizens would be a fundamental human right: but hey, these are just politicians, right? Money’s an object, and you couldn’t expect them to make good on their word… but they did (and they have).
All thirty-four Million people living in Kerala now have a right to digital access, seamlessly moving beyond the challenges posed by COVID, not to mention a particularly ugly corruption challenge levelled against the man entrusted with the delivery of the programme (he denies it by the way): every household in Kerala will now be getting affordable broadband access, and so too does every Government Agency and business throughout the State.
Anyone living in the far-flung, deeply inaccessible clearings of Wayanad can now Zoom their children whenever they want and buy whatever they want on Amazon…and that has to be a good thing. Like the rest of their fellow residents, they’ll finally be able to spark up a data package for as little as Rps 300 a month.
Isn’t it about time the rest of us followed Kerala’s example…
We take a lot of things for granted these days, but connectivity shouldn’t be one of them.
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