The coronavirus pandemic has illuminated the alarming digital divide in Canada. Many in low-income, northern, rural, remote, and Indigenous communities lack reliable access to high-speed internet, making access to services, programs, education, work, and even friends and family impossible in times of physical distancing. Access to laptops and smartphones, too, is limited in low-income homes. And gaps in digital literacy and skills represent a newly urgent problem. What needs to change? What type of funding will it take, and how can the philanthropic sector, business, and leaders in our communities, step up to close the digital divide?
Speakers: Fiona McKean, Founder and Chair, Thistledown Foundation; Kamau Bobb, Global Lead for Diversity Strategy and Research, Google; Laura Tribe, Executive Director, OpenMedia
Moderator: Vinod Rajasekaran, Publisher, Future of Good
Opening remarks: Maureen James, Community Investment Program Director, CIRA