THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN TEXAS:

AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Jeannie Wong Joe

MBA Student from University of Houston - Victoria
Phone: (281) 937-1395 Email: jwj72@att.net

James Cashion
MBA Student from University of Houston - Victoria
Phone: (713) 877-2742 Email: jcashion@tbc-brinadd.com

Charles Bullock, Dean

School of Business Administration
University of Houston – Victoria

Corresponding Author: Jeannie Wong Joe at jwj72@att.net

Abstract: The term “digital divide” refers to the widening gap between those who are able to effectively use modern information and
communication tools, such as the Internet, and those who are not able. This disparity is an unfair and serious disadvantage for those

populations that lack access to computer technology and the adequate skills to effectively use it. The scope of this paper is to make readers

aware of this growing dilemma in the state of Texas, looking specifically at those populations which are most affected. Research indicates that

Whites, Asians, the wealthy and the educated are far more likely to use information technology than are Blacks, Latinos, the poor, and those

living in inner cities or rural areas. The general consensus of this research is that more work is needed to establish additional

computer-literacy programs, to increase government support for digital divide special interest groups and to increase federal and state

government funding for educational programs.

INTRODUCTION

Since the inception of the Internet in the early 1990s, it has rapidly become an essential tool for individuals to work,
communicate and shop worldwide. Technology has brought many advantages and conveniences to our lives, and it has changed
the way we approach work, education, communication and personal fulfillment. Although the total number of Americans who
use computers and surf the World Wide Web increases each day, there are still large segments of our society that are being
excluded from this Information Age. The unequal access to and adoption of technology precludes many individuals from
reaping the full benefits of our e-economy. The term "digital divide" refers to this gap between those who can effectively use
modern information and communication tools, such as the Internet, and those who cannot (Hoffman and Novak, 1999). Unless

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 the growing digital divide is addressed, individuals without sufficient computer literacy skills or adequate access to current
information technology will not benefit from the advantages offered by developments in technology. This paper focuses on the
past, present and future forecasts of the digital divide status in Texas, with specific emphasis on demographic and
socioeconomic factors influencing digital divide.

Past

Five years ago, the digital divide barely existed and certainly did not have its own name. Today it is talked about everywhere,
from the local pub to the White House - Whites, Asians, the wealthy and the educated are far more likely to use information
technology than are Blacks, Latinos, the poor and those living in inner cities or rural areas. This disparity is an unfair,
debilitating and serious disadvantage for those ethnic groups that lack sufficient access to computer technology or adequate
computer literacy skills.
Those individuals who are on the less fortunate side of the divide have fewer opportunities to participate in the new
information-based economy, in which many jobs are dependent upon computers and computer-related skills. Now that a large
number of Americans regularly use the Internet to conduct daily activities, people without access to this technology are at a
growing disadvantage (Swartz, 2001). For years, Texas has been listed as one of the states with the worst digital divide problem
because of its many rural areas, large Hispanic population and significant number of low-income residents.
Nothing else in recent history has done so much so quickly to change the way people work, learn and live. For example, it
took 38 years for the radio to reach 50 million American homes and 12 years for television. The World Wide Web reached a
similar milestone in only four years. Moreover, with this vast following, many have become educated, entertained and received
economic levels not otherwise possible without this form of communication.

Present

Modern society and economies have become increasingly more dependent upon information technology for conducting
business, communicating needs and providing services. As of September 2001, 66% of the population used the Internet, with
access growing fastest among America’s poorest households, those earning less than $15,000 annually (Dickard, 2002).
However, households earning more than $50,000 are still three times more likely to have Internet access at home than
households earning less than $25,000. Only one in four of America’s poorest households were online in late 2001, compared to
8 in 10 homes earning over $75,000 per year.
Racial and ethnic gaps are also a contributing factor in the digital divide. The gap for access to computers and the Internet
continues to grow larger, primarily in the categories of education, income and ethnic group membership (Falling Through the
Net, 1999).

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 Social Group Home computer Home computer Change from 1998
net access (1998) net access (1998) to 2001
Anglo 30% 50% +20%
Americans
Asian 36% 52% +16%
Americans
African 11% 25% +14%
Americans
Hispanic 13% 20% +7%
Americans

Table 1: Home Computer Net Access by Social Group.

Narrowing the digital divide is critical to maintaining healthy economic growth in Texas. Consequently, the same level of
Internet access that is available in urban areas must also be available in rural Texas. The primary technology issue facing rural
Texas is the penetration rate of high-speed access to the Internet. Rural Texas is lagging far behind the state’s urban centers in
access to high-speed Internet connections, and this disparity is not good news for the state’s economy. It further concentrates
businesses and people in already crowded urban areas. In the long run, the economic viability of enormous stretches of Texas
may be at stake. The Public Utility Commission of Texas released a report stating, "High-speed access to the Internet is seen as
increasingly critical to Texas' economic development, especially in rural Texas. While some rural areas may be well connected,
most still lack access to the same telecommunications infrastructure or technologies enjoyed by those living in urban areas."
Concern for the rural Texas economy emphasizes the importance of enabling rural cities to meet their telecommunication needs
and providing them with tools to participate in future technological developments and economic trends. Texas policy makers
have suggested flexible funding options in which local governments apply for Technology Infrastructure Fund grants. Another
recommendation involves amending the Texas’ Economic Development Corporation Act by allowing cities to pass bonds or
implement a sales tax to fund programs that meet technology and infrastructure needs. This amendment would enable cities to
develop projects related to supplying the infrastructure required for broadband or similar access to the Internet (Chapman,
2001).
The Texas Computer Education Association is dedicated to the improvement of teaching and learning through the use of
computer technology. Texas State agencies oversee several efforts to provide the infrastructure and equipment necessary to
provide greater access to electronic information. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) coordinates the federal E-Rate program
in Texas; the state’s schools received more than $260 million during the first two years of the program. The Texas
Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) Board administers grant and loan programs to fund technology projects
including cabling and Internet access. The Legislature has authorized $1.5 billion over 10 years for grants to public schools,
public libraries, institutions of higher learning, and public nonprofit health care facilities. Funds are derived from annual
assessments on telecommunications utilities and commercial mobile service providers.
State lawmakers are making another effort to address the digital divide by proposing a sales tax holiday for computers,
making such a purchase far more likely among low-income families. Those in favor of the sales tax holiday believe it will boost
the Texas economy through increased consumer spending and retention of business that could be lost to neighboring states. The
Consumer Electronics Association estimates savings of up to $125 per family if a sales tax holiday were to go into effect

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 (Swartz, 2001).
Within Texas, the city of Houston plans to narrow the digital divide by launching a program to offer free e-mail and use of
personal computer software to its 3 million area residents. Houston's program is the latest to encourage Internet use, with a
primary objective to encourage Internet use among minorities, the poor and people in rural areas. Initially, the service will be
offered in three low-income areas and then spread throughout the city. Additionally, Houston residents will have free use of
approximately 1,000 personal computers located in public libraries and fire and police stations throughout Houston. Mayor Lee
Brown commented, “We saw an opportunity in the information age to bridge the digital divide by making computers accessible
to every Houstonian” (Greenburg, 2001; Swartz, 2001).

Future

Although there are many groups interested in mitigating the digital divide, the Bush administration has retreated from the
national fight to bridge the digital phenomenon. The unequivocal message of the president’s fiscal year 2003 budget is that the
digital divide is no longer a national priority. The administration’s 2003 budget calls for the elimination of two critical digital
opportunity programs: the U.S. Department of Education’s Community Technology Centers (CTC) program and the U.S.
Department of Commerce’s Technology Opportunities Program (TOP). Hopefully, the ultimate fate of these programs will be
like that of the eRate program - the foundation of the nation’s digital opportunity effort. Almost a year after the administration
proposed eliminating the $2.25 billion per year eRate, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is asking for
suggestions on how to improve the program. These developments, and other changes in fiscal policy make it even more
important that the educational needs of the technology community be communicated to and heard by lawmakers (National
Telecommunications and Information Administration, http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/net2/falling.html ).
Many projects initiated by the Department of Education were just started in the last few years, and given the rapid advances
in technology, TOP’s demonstration work is as timely as ever. Now is definitely not the time to discontinue these efforts. TOP
programs provide matching grants for projects that use technology in innovative ways to solve social problems and improve
community access to modern telecommunications. However, elimination of these programs is planned for 2003. Michael
Gallagher, with the office that administers TOP, was quoted in the Washington Post as saying that TOP has “fulfilled its
mission” and that in a time of national crisis, resources needed to be devoted to defense and other pressing priorities (Dickard,
2002).
After discussing the digital divide and the efforts to lessen its negative, socioeconomic impact, we must give serious
consideration to the question - “What is the next step?” Ongoing efforts to bridge the gap between the “have’s” and “have
nots” require continued funding from the public and private sectors. Consequently, the effectiveness of and the positive results
from programs such as TOP and TLCF must quantified before additional funding for future programs can be requested.
Furthermore, the results may be more of a qualitative nature, rather than a quantitative nature, and may be difficult to measure.
A proposed research effort to measure the success of these programs would involve giving a pretest on computer literacy to a
sample of people from a rural area prior to providing them with access to modern computer equipment and the Internet. The

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 pretest would be designed to test certain basic skills such as typing, reading, logical thinking, coordination, etc. After a
predetermined period of time, the same test would be administered to the same sample. The test results can then be compared to
determine the effect of a technology facilitating and training program. To ensure equal variance among the subjects in terms of
exposure to technology, the participants should log all of the time they spend utilizing the technology. Participants should be
required to work with the technology for a minimum number of hours before they can take the post-test which measures their
skill level after being exposed to the technology. The critical part of this research design is the content validity of the test
administered to the participants.
Another alternative for studying the effectiveness of programs aimed at addressing the digital divide would be to survey
administrators of the existing programs from targeted areas of Texas. The surveys would be directed toward identifying critical
success factors relevant to the ultimate success of the programs. Once those factors are identified, different aspects of the
programs can be compared based on the existence or absence of these critical success factors. From the findings, certain
conclusions can be drawn regarding the effectiveness of these factors.
Demographics will also play a large role in evaluating the success of each program and the relevant attributes of each
program. It is necessary to measure demographic factors such as location, ethnicity and others when conducting a statewide
survey. From these surveys, conclusions can be drawn to determine which factors have a greater success rate under which set of
socioeconomic and other demographic conditions.
Finally, the digital divide is a problem for everyone regardless of which side of the divide one falls. The “have not’s” are not
equipped to participate in the ever-changing, growing techno-economy; while the “have’s” struggle to find computer literate
employees with the proper technical skills. After awareness, comes action, and action involves supporting the programs
designed to bring technology and the Internet to rural populations and to the indigent. Once these programs are established, they
require time and uninterrupted financial and participatory support to flourish before measurable success factors can be achieved.
In conclusion, the digital divide is a problem with a lengthy and complex solution that requires patience, endurance and
diligence to resolve.

Acknowledgement

This article is based on a class project in MGT6316, spring 2002 offered by University of Houston - Victoria. We wish to thank
Loren Kool and Tsung-Cheng Ko for their valuable contributions. Also, we wish to offer a sincere thanks to Dr. June Lu for her
detailed guidance in improving the quality of this paper and for her recommendation to SWDSI.

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References and Citations

Chapman, G. (2001). The great digital divide. [Online]. Availabile: http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/2001-03-01/techtexas.php.

Dickard, N. (2002). Federal retrenchment the digital divide: Potential national impact. [Online]. Available:

http://www.benton.org/policybriefs/brief01.html [2002, March 18].

Falling through the net. (1999). Retrieved from http://www.digitaldivide.gov/about.htm

Hoffman, D.L., & Novak, T.P. (Nov, 1999). The growing digital divide: implications for an open research agenda. Retrieved

from http://ecommerce.vanderbilt.edu/research/manuscripts/index.htm

National Telecommunications and Information Administration. (2000). Falling through the net II: New data on the digital divide. Retrieved from

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/net2/falling.html

Swartz, J. (2001). Houston tackles ‘digital divide’ with free e-mail. [Online]. Available:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-08-20-free-e-mail.htm [2001, August 20].

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