The Bridging the Digital Divide Project
A 2001 UN study shows that IT progress is a more important factor for increased life expectancy than higher incomes or higher education.
- United Nations Development Programme (2001)
Broadly speaking, the term "digital divide" refers to disparities in access to and facility with information technology based on demographic factors such as race, ethnicity, income, education, and gender. Most of the energy put towards this issue focuses on the problem of access to resources and not enough on helping people to acquire the skills necessary to properly utilize IT.
With that in mind, New York Campus Compact, Broome Community College and Binghamton University's Center for Civic Engagement have come together to launch the Bridging the Digital Divide Project (BDDP). BDDP is a collaborative effort with over 10 community partners whose common goal is to increase access to and training in information technology for local populations of youth living in poverty, the unemployed and under-employed, immigrants and refugees, and the elderly.