Seventy-one percent of San Bernardino County households have access to the internet, according to the county’s chief information officer, Jennifer Hilber.
In her presentation of a proposed resolution in favor of an effort to promote internet access, Hilber told the county board of supervisors this week that “27% of all Californians, 40% of low-income households and 29% of San Bernardino County households are not connected to the Internet with broadband, leaving more than 14 million Californians without high-speed Internet access at home.”
Hilber was making a pitch for the Get Connected! Program, which was originally launched by the California Emerging Technology Fund in June 2009 in Los Angeles as a public awareness program to educate the public about the importance of, and how to obtain, broadband access.
Hilber said the ongoing effort was intended “to close the digital divide, thereby accelerating economic recovery.” She defined the digital divide as “an inequality concerning the access to information and technology, such as the internet, among groups.”
“In 2011, Get Connected! Inland Empire conducted three regional roundtables that included participation from 44 organizations throughout San Bernardino and Riverside Counties,” Hilber said. “Each roundtable focused on topics such as the digital divide in local communities, accessible technology for people with disabilities and seniors, California’s broadband infrastructure and the potential for health care technology applications to drive economic development, how small businesses can grow when they have access to broadband and the important role digital literacy plays in developing a strong workforce to support economic growth.”
The California Emerging Technology Fund’s mission is to “provide leadership statewide to close the digital divide by accelerating the deployment and adoption of broadband to unserved and underserved communities and populations,” she said. “The program includes participants such as health providers, community based organizations, government agencies, small businesses, libraries and schools. These entities share resources and collaborate to bring new resources to their regions.”