Internet access improves the life of many. But these New Zealanders are being left behind

Wednesday, 13 December 2017

Digital exclusion manifests in a variety of ways in a child's life, both in the short and long term, research shows. When a child is deprived of access to information, they're denied a fair chance to develop and better their situation.

Until a few months ago, Anita Sauafea and her two children didn't have access to the internet at home. It just hadn't been a priority for the single mother, who works in the office of a local primary school in Ellerslie, Auckland. But when her daughter started college this year, the 14-year-old was having to stay late after school and spend her weekends at the library to complete homework. In her form class, she was the only student without access to the internet at home.

Then, through her work, Sauafea heard about Spark Jump — a low-cost, prepaid internet service for families with no current broadband connection. The service includes 30GB of data per month for $10.

'I remember the first day we actually got connected, I said to my daughter, and my son, who's 11, you can do your homework at home now. They were so excited. In all honesty, it's helped so much.'

To ensure they don't waste data, Sauafea turns off the modem after 'homework time' each day. However, the children can log on again if they 'want to find something out'. 'They can research it themselves rather than sitting around asking me.'

But another 100,000-odd kids are still living in households without an internet connection. That's just over 10 per cent of the total population — a meaningful minority when you consider the United Nations has resolved internet access is a basic human right.

Worldwide, 71 per cent of 15-24 year olds are online — meaning 346 million young people aren't, according to Unicef's report, The State of the World's Children 2017: Children in a Digital World, published this week.

A student learns with the help of a computer tablet provided by Unicef at a school in Baigai, northern Cameroon.

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The report, which surveyed the landscape of digital opportunity as it affected children, shows the divide amplifies the advantages of children from wealthier backgrounds and fails to deliver opportunities to the poorest and most disadvantaged children. While technology can be a game changer for some of the world's most marginalised children — helping them fulfil their potential and break intergenerational cycles of poverty — digital access is becoming the 'new dividing line', as millions of the children with the most to gain from digital technology are missing out.

Spark Foundation general manager Lynne Le Gros says private companies have a role to play in helping close the digital divide.

Often without help the help of adults, young people are using online platforms to do their homework, learn new skills, foster relationships, research information, and express their talents and opinions. As children enter adulthood and the world of work, the report said, connectivity is increasingly the difference between their ability to earn a living or not. And OECD data shows adults without information and communications technology (ICT) experience, even if employed, are likely to earn less than those with ICT skills.

'There's a huge contrast between internet access in the developing versus the developed world,' Unicef New Zealand child rights and youth participation manager Jacqui Southey says. 'If we then look at what it means for [New Zealand] internally, even though we're quite well connected, socioeconomic status remains a factor in the divide.'

Digital New Zealanders: The Pulse of Our Nation, a report commissioned by the Government and released this month, notes while research on the subject is limited, the digital divide appears to mirror geographic, income, and ethnic divisions. While an average of 15 per cent of families across the country are without internet access, most of them are packed into low socioeconomic areas. The actual percentage varies from nearly 50 per cent in the likes of Kawerau, Opotiki and Wairoa, to as low as 4 per cent in Auckland's North Shore.

Children and young people in state care are at the sharp end of that, says Dr Ainsleigh Cribb-Su'a, chief executive officer at VOYCE - Whakarongo Mai.

'As well as the known challenges that come from changing schools and communities frequently, these tamariki may also experience the setbacks that come from irregular or absent connectivity.'

Labour MP Clare Curran says a new digital curriculum about to be introduced to schools will help boost digital literacy among children and young people.

One example: the state's care allowance for foster families includes pocket money for the child. Without an internet connection, even if their family sets up a bank account to receive payments, they will struggle to access the money in the future.

Ideally, Cribb-Su'a adds, every child in care would have access to a device that was internet enabled, with privacy and caregiver controls of access, that became theirs and could move with them between homes.

'It's essentially driving a wedge between the internet haves and have nots,' says Laurence Millar, chair of 20/20 Trust, an organisation promoting digital inclusion in New Zealand.

By the end of 2022, 87 per cent of Kiwis should have access to ultra-fast broadband (UFB), putting New Zealand among the top five OECD countries for the proportion of the population with access. But briefings for incoming Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, Clare Curran, reveal only about 60 per cent of the country (around 1.2 million households and businesses) currently has access. 'I've heard numerous reports of people in regional parts who get up in the middle of the night to do their business because that's when they get the best connectivity,' Curran says.

Even then, affordability can be a problem — some households simply can't fork out $60 to $100 per month for a quality internet connection. (A premium broadband service with unlimited data and a voice line costs around $90 per month.)

But access is only one indicator of digital inclusion, Millar says. As well as that, people must also have the motivation, skills, and confidence to go online. The World Internet Project survey in 2015 found Māori and Pacific people were over-represented among the digitally excluded, with just 87 per cent and 80 per cent of of respondents, respectively, likely to use the internet. The figures for Pākehā were 92 per cent, and for Asian, 99 per cent. The same survey observed 76 per cent of Pacific people consider the internet to be 'important', while just 60 per cent of Māori agree.

'A lot of whānau don't understand or see the internet as something that can make a difference to their lives,' Miller says. 'But because they're part of the digital and connected world, it's increasingly harder for them to keep up.'

Lack of access affects education, employment, and ultimately income, which goes on to affect health and other lifestyle factors. 'Putting it another way, connectedness is an important factor in getting out of poverty. We don't think getting everyone digitally connected will solve everything, but it's a relatively low-cost way of making a big impact on disadvantaged families.'

It's all very well building UFB, Curran says, 'but if you're not doing the work to understand why people aren't able to access it and why, all you're doing is creating a new measure of poverty'.

Curran was elected in 2008, and has spent the last nine years in what she describes as a 'digital apprenticeship' in Opposition. 'I've been talking about this for a number of years now. I've been saying there's a gap.' So, is it growing, or shrinking?

'That's what we have to determine. To be honest, I can't comment definitively on that. My fear is that it's getting worse.'

When asked if 2020 is a realistic deadline, she says she's not sure: 'It's an ambitious, aspirational goal. It's hard to know whether we will achieve that until we work out how wide and deep the divides are.' The 2018 Census is likely to play a role in that, she adds.

'It's clear young people really figure in the digital divide. The biggest concern for me is that they're the future, and the future workers. If they're being disadvantaged in accessing the same kind of opportunities at school, in their education, in their lives, than other kids … that digital exclusion gets entrenched into their lives. It's a priority for this Government which links into the bigger priority: kids and reducing poverty.'

The new Government has set a goal to close the digital divide by 2020. But the road map is yet to be determined, by a chief technology officer yet to be appointed and a reference group she hopes to announce by Christmas. 'There are a lot of excellent people out there who have been doing work on this area but there's been no coordination to it. I'm going to try and bring them together and work out, as quickly as possible, how we can create something more structured.'

The chief technology officer will be responsible for preparing and overseeing the national digital strategy for the next 5-10 years. In the meantime, a new technology-focused curriculum — announced in June by previous Education Minister Nikki Kaye — will be implemented from January 2018.

Like Sauafea, Curran, who has twin 17-year-old sons, is familiar with the educational benefits of having at home broadband. 'It feels very real for me. I feel like my boys have got opportunities, and just because I'm in a privileged position of having a good salary, other kids shouldn't be disadvantaged. The thing about technology and access to the internet — that's why I say it should be available to everyone — is that it's such a great equaliser.'

Lynne Le Gros, general manager of the Spark Foundation, says telecommunication companies also have a role to play in closing the gap. Through Spark Jump, they've removed barriers that normally prohibit people from becoming customers: credit checks, big contracts, monthly bills. But the subsidised plan has been slow to take off. With 5000 connections on offer, after one year, only 500 families signed up. A lack of awareness, rather than funds, was the problem, Le Gros says.

'Awareness is the number one thing we're working on now. It's also about trust and confidence. Lots of feedback tells us these families are the most challenging to reach, the most withdrawn from so many parts of society, so they need to feel … they don't want the shame.'

Despite calling herself 'not really an online person', Sauafea appreciates being able to check work emails from home, and look up public transport timetables. But the most rewarding thing has been the impact on her children's learning.

'It's a big help with homework,' she says. 'Especially for my daughter, having stuff she needs to do using the internet, and being able to send it straight through to the teacher. When we first got hooked up, she went back to school and put her hand up and said: 'Well, I have the internet at home now'. She could properly participate.'