FCC Chairman Genachowski endorses a “Digital Literacy Corps!”
Chairman Genachowski spoke at a press conference on October 12, 2011 about the importance of broadband adoption.
Said Chairman Genachowski, “The goal of deploying broadband networks to every American is vital. So is empowering every American who has access to broadband to adopt it. Right now, 100 million Americans – including the 18 million Americans I mentioned – aren’t adopting high-speed Internet at home. That’s one-third of our population – a 67 percent adoption rate. Compare that to South Korea and Singapore where adoption rates top 90 percent.”
And building on a big idea developed in the National Broadband Plan, we’re proposing to work with America’s schools and public libraries to launch a Digital Literacy Corps to help promote and teach digital literacy. Digital literacy refers to the basic skills necessary to seize the opportunities of broadband Internet – how to use a computer, navigate the web, or take actions like posting a resume or processing a basic Internet transaction.”
As the FCC requested industry input when developing the National Broadband Plan, one of the first filings to the FCC was jointly written by USIIA President and CEO David McClure and Net Literacy’s Daniel Kent. It emphasized that America had every much of a broadband adoption problem as it did a lack of broadband infrastructure problem, and recommended the FCC consider the Net Literacy model of student volunteers.
Later in a second filing to the FCC, Net Literacy again recommended that a Digital Literacy Corps of student volunteers be created based upon Net Literacy’s success, and the FCC included this concept citing Net Literacy in the National Broadband Plan presented to Congress.
Said Daniel Kent, Executive Director of Net Literacy, “we believe that students and libraries working together is a step forward to reducing the digital divide. Net Literacy’s first support which included curriculum and computers was donated by the Carmel Clay Public Library. We are grateful for their continued support and pleased that the model we proposed to the FCC is being considered on a national basis.”
To view the Digital Literacy Corps website, click on the link below:
