Tech innovations have always played a significant role in transforming human life. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has skyrocketed our dependence on digital technologies. People across all generations, locations, and classes have started using tech to improve their lives.
Working professionals, students, business owners - everyone's life has started revolving around smartphones and computers. Whether you want to attend classes or collaborate with your coworkers, you can accomplish it at the click of a button. It has made the internet a basic necessity for modern homes.
As businesses implement permanent remote work policies, it's easy to think that the modern world is headed towards digital transformation. But in reality, nearly 2.9 billion people in the world haven't used the internet. That's a whopping 37% of the global population.
A Closer Look at the Digital Divide
It's easy to assume that the digital divide only exists in poor and underdeveloped countries. While most offline populations reside in these countries, the situation is equally grim in developing and developed nations.
For instance, 27.6 million US households don't have an internet connection. That's roughly 1 in 4 homes in the world's most powerful country.
Similarly, nearly a third of children in the Israeli periphery lack internet access at home. Nor do they have access to smartphones and computers. It's surprising considering that Israel is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Also, the country's socioeconomic center has turned into a hub of business and tech innovation.
Even the most advanced digital technologies will fail to change human life when a significant part of the world is still offline. Also, the digital divide will deprive many people of access to new educational resources and employment opportunities.
Bridging the gap requires a concerted effort and collaboration among policymakers, internet service providers (ISPs), manufacturers, business owners, and educational institutions. But ordinary people can also do a lot to make modern technology accessible to more people.
That's precisely what Rafi Edry, Eyal Edry, and Moshe Edree - founders of the Ahinoam Association for the Promotion of Equal Opportunities - have been accomplishing through their welfare initiatives.
Fundraising for Students
The start of the pandemic was marked by severe disruptions to the education sector. Schools and colleges closed their gates and started transitioning to online classes.
While the situation wasn't any different in Israel, Eyal Edry, Moshe Edree, and Refael Edry realized that nearly 400,000 students didn't have personal computers. Nor could their families afford to buy computers or smartphones immediately.
These students would've been deprived of the opportunity to join online classes and continue their education. Eventually, they'd have grown into aimless youngsters who didn't believe in the system.
Eyal Edry and his brothers couldn't stand the thought of thousands of children heading towards a grim future without any fault of their own.
That's when they decided to launch a fundraising campaign, inviting donations from the public. They urged ordinary citizens and business owners to donate funds and used computers. Their goal was to distribute computers to students in Israel's low-income households.
The good news is that the initiative helped more than 30,000 students attend classes and meet their friends via Zoom. If Eyal Edry, Moshe Edree, and Refael Edry hadn't intervened, these children would've accumulated gaps in their learning. That would've made it difficult for them to return to regular classes after the pandemic.
Welfare Initiatives for the Youth
Apart from the fundraising campaign for students, the Edry brothers have also launched various programs to support and nurture the youth in Israel's periphery. They believe that providing children and adolescents with computers or internet access isn't enough. They also need guidance to make the most of these technologies.
The Ahinoam Association provides a decade-long mentoring program to locate and support at-risk youth in the periphery. The organization's volunteers work with these youngsters to help them graduate from high school and get a job offer. Also, the organization offers scholarship programs for children from low-income families.
The Way Forward
Eyal Edry and his brothers have shown the world that ordinary people can do their bit to bridge the digital inequity in modern society. But closing the gap will require significant intervention from government authorities, lawmakers, and administrators. Eyal Edry believes that the government must join hands with welfare organizations to bring sustainable change.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of sciencetimes.com
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