City sees Web access as important educational and economic tool
City sees Web access as important educational and economic tool.
Its latest effort is Wireless Philadelphia, a nonprofit organization started in 2005 by the office of the city’s mayor, John Street. The initiative’s mission is to help Philadelphia neighborhoods gain high-speed Internet access through an affordable digital-inclusion program that helps economically disadvantaged citizens — as well as businesses, schools and community organizations that are not online — get connected with hardware, software, technical support and training and wireless broadband Internet service.
“We have learned through research that a lack of Internet technology is the basis for the digital divide,” says Greg Goldman, Wireless Philadelphia’s CEO. “We don’t expect Internet access alone to be the panacea for all the social problems and challenges that the city faces as we look to the future. But by the same token, we know that people depend on access to information and employment opportunities and educational options in today’s world.”
“This technology has huge potential to really level the playing field in Philadelphia. With access to technology [people] have more options and access to more content,” says Sallie A. Glickman, CEO of the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, an organization that released a study earlier this year about the state of city workers. “Technology is a great leveler; especially with content for distance learning now available. Skills could be delivered through the Internet,” she says.
The study found that although educated workers are driving Philadelphia’s renaissance, 60% of the city’s adult population have low levels of literacy, and more than 80,000 residents between the ages of 25 and 45 have enrolled in a college but never graduated. In addition, according to the report, a significant portion of Philadelphia’s population is isolated geographically from work locations and can’t access the online educational and employment resources that could connect them to a job.
“There is not one solution or one group that owns the solution, but clearly, with Wireless Philadelphia, [a solution] is more possible. [The technology] provides a host of potential,” Glickman says.
Wireless Philadelphia has been given 25,000 half-price accounts earmarked for households that qualify for welfare-to-work programs and other low-income households. The basic retail price is about $20 per month, but the organization offers the service to its target customers for $9.95 per month.
At the outset, Wireless Philadelphia provides supplemental training, administered through its community partners, to teach people how to use the Internet to its maximum potential. Orientation and training take place when residents sign up through such groups as the community-based Employment, Advancement and Retention Network (EARN) centers or the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corp., which are part of the city’s welfare-to-work program. The training is a standard program offered by one of Wireless Philadelphia’s partners. Technical support from EarthLink, the program’s ISP, is available for Wireless Philadelphia customers.
EARN centers, which handle case management, job placement and other services to help welfare clients become self-sufficient, are picking up the monthly tab for some residents on an incentive basis. In addition, Wireless Philadelphia partners are picking up the bill for a package that includes a refurbished laptop, one year of Internet access, and technical support and training. Five welfare-to-work clients received this bundle on June 14.
By the end of fiscal 2007, Wireless Philadelphia will have raised more than $500,000 from public agencies, foundations, other nonprofits and individuals.
Revenue from the half-price Internet-access accounts goes directly to EarthLink, but Wireless Philadelphia will receive a 5% share of the revenue from all EarthLink accounts starting in the third year of the program. In the program’s first two years, Wireless Philadelphia is receiving $1 million per year in operational support.
Matteo is an independent wireless/mobile technology writer in Lumberton, N.J. She can be reached at soninamatteo@techresearchservices.com.
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