Bridging the Divide–Investing in Digital Equity

With Patron Programming Sponsor

SpeakerS:

Vikrum Aiyer, Former White House Senior Policy Advisor, Obama Administration; Concordia Advisor
Rose Stuckey Kirk, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, Verizon

The digital transformation is the economic story of our time, but equity remains a problem. Beginning with statistics, Vikrum Aiyer, Former White House Senior Policy Advisor for the Obama Administration, noted that 67% of students in the country moved to distance learning during the pandemic, but only 41% had access to computers or Internet connectivity. Approximately 19 million people in the country lack access to the Internet, including about one-quarter of rural Americans. For Rose Stuckey Kirk, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Verizon, this means we need to address the issue broadly through public-private partnerships. Over the last 10 years, Verizon has reached more than a million students through its efforts to invest in underserved schools. 

Access, she continued, is not the only issue. Affordability and equity are also crucial factors in thinking about allowing for scalability. Aiyer asked how we can improve readiness for the jobs of the future with the anticipation that many or most will require digital fluency. Kirk agreed that we need to upskill and reskill existing workers as well as prepare students. She noted Verizon’s efforts to upskill its own employees and move them into new positions. She finished with an appeal to professionalize the entire education system, including school boards, to better insulate them from political pressures. 

“We are increasingly reliant on an Internet-everything world, not just for schooling but for mental health services during the pandemic [and] telehealth services.”

 

Vikrum Aiyer, Former White House Senior Policy Advisor, Obama Administration and Concordia Advisor

“We need to think about up-skilling and re-skilling the workforce so that people have the skills needed for the new digital economy.”

 

Rose Stuckey Kirk, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, Verizon