Access to Justice as a Digital Divide Issue

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Access to Justice as aDigital Divide Issue

• Ed Lazowska
• Bill Melinda Gates Chair in
• Computer Science Engineering
• University of Washington
• Technology, Values, and the Justice System
• January 16, 2004
• http//lazowska.cs.washington.edu/tvjs/

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Bringing us together Information technology as
a unifying force

• Access to knowledge, education, information,
  health care, government, entertainment, justice
• The creation of electronic communities
• The introduction of adaptive technology

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Educational Telecommunications Network Sites
Public Baccalaureate (50)
Community/Technical College (73)
K-12 (307)
Library (65 in process)
Independent Colleges (6 approved)
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4
K-20 Intranet Utilization
1000
800
600
Billions of Bytes per Day
400
200
0
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
2001
1999
2000
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K-12 Intranet Usageper Student
Rural 216,869 Students 192 Districts Urban 785,0
62 Students 102 Districts
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Driving us apart Unequal access exacerbates
disparities

• 1995
• National Telecommunications and Information
  Administration (NTIA) (Dept. of Commerce)
  releases Falling Through the Net
• Funding of Community Technology Centers
• e-rate (Telecommunications Act of 1996)

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• 1998
• Second NTIA Falling Through the Net report
• Rise of digital government
• Bridging the Digital Divide comes to be viewed as
  a matter of civil rights, not merely of economic
  opportunity
• 1999
• Third NTIA Falling Through the Net report

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• 2000
• Fourth NTIA Falling Through the Net report
• Strong bipartisan support for various programs
  focused on bridging the digital divide

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NTIA, Falling Through the Net IV, October 2000
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NTIA, Falling Through the Net IV, October 2000
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NTIA, Falling Through the Net IV, October 2000
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NTIA, Falling Through the Net IV, October 2000
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Average Per Pupil Technology Spending
357
93
22
(Expenditures ranged from 5 to 650 per pupil)
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Equity Issues

• High property values correlates to more spent on
  technology (.48).

• High numbers on free and reduced lunch
  correlates to less spent on technology (-.21).

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• Of Africas 6.3M Internet-enabled people
• 3.1M are in RSA
• 2.2M are in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, and
  Tanzania
• Leaving 1M for the remaining 48 nations

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Jolene Jesse, AAAS, The Digital Divide Policy
Myth or Political Reality?, in William Aspray,
Ed., Chasing Moores Law Information Technology
Policy in the United States
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Jolene Jesse, AAAS, The Digital Divide Policy
Myth or Political Reality?, in William Aspray,
Ed., Chasing Moores Law Information Technology
Policy in the United States
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Since 2000

• Early 2002
• National Telecommunications and Information
  Administration releases A Nation Online
• Federal programs put on the chopping block
• An explicit decision to leave to market forces
  the bridging of the remaining digital divide
• But we are contemplating spending 1.2 billion
  for research on hydrogen powered automobiles!

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• Late 2002
• Data reinterpreted in Bringing a Nation Online
• Benton Foundation and Leadership Conference on
  Civil Rights
• Conclusion Federal leadership matters

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Technology and Justice An Exciting Partnership

• Access to justice is a fundamental right of all
  Americans
• Technology can employed in a way that levels the
  playing field, or it can be employed in a way
  that exacerbates disparities
• It is up to us