Overcoming Digital Divides: Public Internet Access
Although internet infrastructure is almost universal in many communities, barriers to internet adoption, including internet affordability, make a significant portion of people in Canada reliant on free public internet access at libraries, retail, and community locations. Over half of Ontarians who would not have otherwise had access to technology relied on a public library to access the internet, with rates higher (up to 68%) for older and low-income residents. Not only is this access relied on, public internet also fosters greater civic, social, and community engagement.
How should Canada expand access and improve the experience of public internet? Which particular groups are least likely to benefit from public internet access and how can this be improved?
We discussed how Canada can better support our public internet infrastructure for the marginalized communities who rely on them and for everyone.
Online event
About the Overcoming Digital Divides workshop series
The digital divide is about more than the lack of internet infrastructure in rural parts of Canada. It includes gaps in every corner of Canada in internet and device affordability, quality and digital literacy. These divides are tied to socioeconomic factors leaving some communities in Canada more disconnected than others.
How can federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments advance policy solutions for full digital inclusion? What community and industry programs and policies can help to close these divides?
We explored these challenges and looked to advance concrete solutions in the Overcoming Digital Divides workshop series with the Ryerson Leadership Lab, Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, and the First Nations Technology Council.
Read a short framing paper put together by our partners that lays out the context, evidence and importance of these discussions.
Part of Towards Equity
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified inequities and exposed the deficiencies of our institutions. It has confirmed we must enact change and signaled that transformation is possible. What must we understand –and do– to recover equitably and reimagine our systems to confront the intersecting crises of inequality, systemic racism and climate change?
Towards Equity, SFU Public Square’s 2021 Community Summit Series took place online throughout the year and brought the university into conversation with local and global communities.
Christina de Castell
Chief Librarian and CEO, Vancouver Public Library
Christina de Castell is Chief Librarian & CEO at Vancouver Public Library, and has held roles across technology, collections, research and public service in her 20-year career as a librarian. She is passionate about the role of libraries in building communities and exploring ideas, and fascinated by the way that technology is changing how we learn and communicate. In 2015, Christina represented libraries at UN forums as manager, policy and advocacy for the International Federation of Library Associations. She is currently vice-chair of the copyright committee for CFLA, and a member of the IFLA Copyright & Other Legal Matters Advisory Committee and the Ryerson Centre for Free Expression Working Group on Intellectual Freedom.
Lawrence Eta
Chief Technology Officer, City of Toronto
In his role as Chief Technology Officer at the City of Toronto, Lawrence provides strategic leadership in modernizing the City's Information & Technology division and developing innovative, resident-centric technology solutions. He oversees the future of technology services and implements developments that align with the digital city’s strategic direction. Lawrence first joined the City in 2019, and previously served as the Acting and Deputy Chief Information Officer.
Prior to joining the City, Lawrence was an industry executive for over 20 years, where he led operations and technology divisions, achieving sustainable and measured results while improving operational efficiency and service delivery. Lawrence previously served as the Global Director of Customer Success within the Internet of Things (IOT) sector, Vice President of Technical Architecture and Director of Business Technology Solutions for an international business process outsourcing organization, and Director of Information Services for one of Canada's top 60 pension and benefits plans.
Michael Lenczner
Director, Powered by Data
Michael Lenczner works in the areas of nonprofit information management and open government and is currently the CEO of Ajah and director of Powered by Data, a nonprofit initiative on the MakeWay shared platform. He is a frequent collaborator on academic-community research partnerships and serves on several nonprofit boards and advisory groups related to technology, democracy and civil society. Since 2018, he has been a Fellow at the School of Public Policy and Administration of Carleton University.
Pam Ryan
Director of Service Development and Innovation, Toronto Public Library
Pam Ryan is Director of Service Development and Innovation at Toronto Public Library, and a member of the Urban Libraries Council’s Digital Equity Action Team.
Expanding public internet access will keep more Canadians connected
By Nour Abdelaal and Sam Andrey, Ryerson Leadership Lab
Lockdowns and social distancing measures have moved one in three jobs and nearly all learning online. However, too many Canadians still do not have a home internet connection or access to digital devices. Public internet access through libraries, community centres and Wi-Fi hotspots are essential to those who are otherwise disconnected from critical online services. The fifth part of the Overcoming Digital Divides workshop series explored how we can better support our public internet infrastructure and expand digital access to marginalized communities that have been left out of our pandemic response.
Overcoming Digital Divides: What We Heard and Recommendations
This final report on the Overcoming Digital Divides workshop series summarizes the main themes shared at the workshops and offers five main policy recommendations to address Canada's digital divides moving forward.
Sponsor
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: Youth and Digital Skills
Join us to discuss how Canada can better support our public internet infrastructure for the marginalized communities who rely on them and for everyone.
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: Public Internet Access
Join us to discuss how Canada can better support our public internet infrastructure for the marginalized communities who rely on them and for everyone.
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: People with Disabilities and Accessibility
The federal and provincial governments have taken some steps to improve internet accessibility and adoption among Canadians with disabilities, but there still remain substantial gaps with many facing barriers in accessing digital services.
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: Older Adults and Digital Literacy
Older adults are less likely to use the internet than younger people in Canada, and many report that information technologies do not improve their quality of life or save time. The issue is more pertinent than ever under the pandemic.
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: Low-Income Communities
Low-income communities continue to experience lower internet access, affordability, and quality. Canadians are at an all-time need for increased access to internet, computer, and tablet devices for e-learning and remote work.
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: Indigenous, Rural and Remote Communities
Are recent public investments and policies sufficient to achieve digital inclusion of Indigenous, rural and remote communities? What Indigenous-specific needs must be addressed to secure digital inclusion?
Read More →
-
Property, Home and Precarity: From Street Sweeps to Housing Justice
As part of our Classroom Partnership Program, senior SFU geography students will present their work on housing vulnerability in Vancouver, focusing on rental evictions, street sweeps, rental financialization, and housing justice movements.
Read More →
-
Hope in Resistance: Stories of Climate Justice
SFU Public Square and Vancity are proud to present Hope in Resistance, featuring Melina Laboucan-Massimo, co-founder of Indigenous Climate Action; Anjali Appadurai, climate justice lead at Sierra Club BC; and Naisha Khan, co-founder of Banking on a Better Future, in a conversation moderated by Nahlah Ayed (host of Ideas on CBC Radio One).
Read More →
-
Mapping Equity: Using GIS and Maps to Make Invisible Realities Visible
Maps are great tools to bring together a massive amount of data and share it in a format everyone is familiar with. They are also a unique tool to bring unnoticeable realities—including realities of inequality—to visible patterns. This 90-minute workshop will introduce you to how to make a thematic map that highlights an equity indicator.
Read More →
-
Equity in Practice: More Stories of Community Capacity Building
SFU’s Community Capacity Building Certificate supports learners as they engage community by sharing lived experiences and adopting new tools for building projects and movements. Learners deepen their relationships with themselves, their communities and the land to create a project and move forward a change they’d like to see in the world.
Read More →
-
Should a Just Recovery Include a Basic Income for B.C.?
At this event we will look at the recommendations and analysis of the Final Report of the British Columbia Expert Panel on Basic Income to ask: should a just recovery for all include a basic income?
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: Youth and Digital Skills
Join us to discuss how Canada can better support our public internet infrastructure for the marginalized communities who rely on them and for everyone.
Read More →
-
Equity in Practice: Community Capacity Building
Join us to hear inspiring stories from the most recent cohort of SFU’s Community Capacity Building Certificate learners and their growth as emerging leaders working towards equity in their communities.
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: Public Internet Access
Join us to discuss how Canada can better support our public internet infrastructure for the marginalized communities who rely on them and for everyone.
Read More →
-
Researching for Climate Justice
Activists, researchers, policy-makers and solution-seekers come together to surface the challenges and opportunities of taking equity-informed approaches to climate research, solutions and policy development.
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: People with Disabilities and Accessibility
The federal and provincial governments have taken some steps to improve internet accessibility and adoption among Canadians with disabilities, but there still remain substantial gaps with many facing barriers in accessing digital services.
Read More →
-
Rosemary Brown Memorial Symposium
Every year, to honour the important legacy of the late Rosemary Brown, SFU's Department of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies (GSWS) brings together distinguished scholars, students, service providers, and the broader community together to speak on current issues of diversity, ongoing inequalities, and ways to create positive change.
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: Older Adults and Digital Literacy
Older adults are less likely to use the internet than younger people in Canada, and many report that information technologies do not improve their quality of life or save time. The issue is more pertinent than ever under the pandemic.
Read More →
-
The 2021 Spry Memorial Lecture
Desmond Cole and Tanya Talaga, along with moderator Candis Callison, will consider recent attention over the escalation of commentary on the representation of Indigenous, Black, and people of colour; the structural challenges that currently impede calls for greater diversity; and how institutions and platforms can foster a more constructive dialogue.
Read More →
-
Dean's Lecture on Information + Society
We are pleased to partner with SFU Library to invite you to the Dean's Lecture on Information + Society: an evening of conversation with Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.
Read More →
-
Decolonizing Scottish Studies
This is the first in a series of events being organized by the Centre for Scottish Studies at Simon Fraser University
Read More →
-
Innovations in Research
Join us in a unique virtual environment using Gather to engage directly with SFU faculty, students, staff, alumni and community partners who are moving us Towards Equity with innovative research from a variety of fields and perspectives.
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: Low-Income Communities
Low-income communities continue to experience lower internet access, affordability, and quality. Canadians are at an all-time need for increased access to internet, computer, and tablet devices for e-learning and remote work.
Read More →
-
Zooming In: Education in 2021
Join the SFU Public Square Peer Ambassadors for a student-focused event on how to improve the online education experience under COVID-19.
Read More →
-
Overcoming Digital Divides: Indigenous, Rural and Remote Communities
Are recent public investments and policies sufficient to achieve digital inclusion of Indigenous, rural and remote communities? What Indigenous-specific needs must be addressed to secure digital inclusion?
Read More →