“If you’re not online, you don’t exist.” This is increasingly becoming the reality of modern global societies. When your healthcare, your education, and your job prospects are all online, what happens if you don’t have reliable access to the internet?
In Digitally Invisible: How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass, author Nicol Turner Lee tells stories from across America – including two from Hartford – that highlight the challenges and inequities faced by communities in a digital desert.
Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee, Director of the Brookings AI Equity Lab and Center for Technology Innovation, joins us on Digital Learning Day to reveal how the global digital divide is affecting our community and the world – and how closing the gap will increase America’s competitiveness on the global stage.
In partnership with the Hartford Public Library.
The Details
When: Thursday, February 13th | 5:30PM – 7:00PM
Where: Hartford Public Library, Downtown branch
Tickets: Free | RSVP required
Support global engagement in Connecticut by contacting CEO Megan Torrey about sponsorship opportunities
About the Author
Dr. Nicol Turner Lee writes at the intersection of technology, race, and social justice. She is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, and the founder of the AI Equity Lab. A tech policy expert and storyteller, her work has appeared in the Washington Post and New York Times, and on NBC, CNBC, NPR, and the PBS NewsHour. She has served as an adviser on technology policy issues for government agencies, including the National Academies of Sciences and the Federal Communications Commission. She received a PhD from Northwestern University, and resides in Alexandria, Virginia.
About the book
Digitally Invisible: How the Internet Is Creating the New Underclass by Nicol Turner Lee
Billions of people around the world lack internet access. No one cared until the whole world had to go online.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly said that the United States would close the digital divide under his leadership. However, the divide still affects people and communities across the country.
Economic and health disparities are worsening in rural communities without available internet access. Students living in urban digital deserts with little technology exposure are ill-prepared to compete for emerging occupations. Even seniors struggle to navigate the aging process without access to online information and remote care.
Nicol Turner Lee, a leading expert on the American digital divide, uses personal stories from individuals around the country to show how the emerging digital underclass is navigating the spiraling online economy, while sharing their joys and hopes for an equitable and just future. Turner Lee argues that achieving digital equity is crucial for the future of America’s global competitiveness and requires radical responses to offset the unintended consequences of increasing digitization. Learn more and get a copy of Digitally Invisible.
Stay Globally Involved
Become a member or renew today. As a member of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut, you can get exclusive access to events and travel opportunities, build relationships with local leaders and global dignitaries, and join our community of global citizens. Let us bring the world to you.
