Role-playing in simulation to learn how the digital divide hurts the region’s residents and their families

Gregory Evans is a smart 19-year-old working part time at a fast-food restaurant with a dream of moving up to management.

But he has major problems blocking that goal. The high school dropout who has aged out of the foster care system can’t afford a laptop or high-speed internet connectivity on his $20,000 salary. So he takes online GED classes at the library and, without a car, coordinates getting there when it is open on his bike or by bus.

His plight — with a few twists and turns added in — was just one depicted in a Digital Divide Simulation exercise convened by Neighborhood Allies with partner organizations, including the Greater Pittsburgh Digital Inclusion Alliance. The event, a major undertaking for the nonprofit, coincided with the start of Digital Inclusion Week. Neighborhood Allies normally provides information about southwestern Pennsylvania’s technology deficits and issues via social media, tabling at events and other collaborations each year, according to Senior Program Manager for Digital Inclusion & Innovation Karen Lue.

This activity mirrors a poverty simulation that has been around for years. Neighborhood Allies purchased a license for it from KC Digital Drive in Kansas City, the nonprofit that developed this activity. Lue said Ibrahim Emara, an American Connection Corps AmeriCorps fellow, found it during his two years with her organization. Her team knew KC Digital Drive through attending national conferences, and Emara took part in the simulation. So they were sold on it.

T-Mobile and Comcast sponsored Monday’s event, and 43 participants from Neighborhood Allies registered to take part. Lue said her team targeted decision makers in government, education, nonprofit organizations and business. The idea: build empathy for people experiencing barriers to digital access and literacy. The potential to find partners and make connections could also occur, with all coming away with tangible items they could implement to assist people learn and achieve such skills. The possibility of learning about philanthropy sources to make those happen could happen, too.

KC Digital Drive developed the simulation to include eight stations representing places people may need to visit to access resources. The Pittsburgh effort had nine: an employment office and workforce center, health center, fast-food restaurant, library (including a digital navigators table), government office, school, electronic and home repair store, utility company, and a digital skills organization

Participants adopted various personas representing a range of ages, demographics and digital abilities. They completed tasks in four timed segments, including applying for SNAP benefits, planning bus travel to the grocery store, creating a resume and LinkedIn profile, and filing a complaint against a landlord for faulty kitchen plumbing.

Neighborhood Allies has worked since 2014 on improving social and physical infrastructures of Pittsburgh’s under-resourced and under-served communities, with technology problems as part of its work. It built upon the achievements of its predecessor, Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development, developing a vision for all neighborhoods to be resilient, thriving and equitable.

Lue said it became more involved in technology issues during the pandemic. That includes finding residents a replacement for the Affordable Connectivity Program that had been administered through the Federal Communications Commission. She called it a vital program that had assisted households struggling to afford internet service before it closed last year after funding ended.

GPDIA is a community-wide, multisector committee of organizations and an affiliate member of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. It raises awareness about digital inequities and their impact on communities, and it supports digital equity and inclusion providers through networking and information-sharing among other goals.

They know the challenges technology problems can present. In Allegheny County lower-income families are less likely to have internet subscriptions, with 23.2% of households earning less than $20,000 annually not having one at all, according to statistics provided at the event. Further, 9.4% households earning between $20,000 and $74,999 annually don’t have one either, and 1.9% of households with $75,000 incomes go without one, too.

In Allegheny County specifically, 17.5% of households lack a desktop or laptop, with nearly 8% relying exclusively on smartphones for internet access.

Rural residents have fewer options for internet service providers, and those are costly. One in three rural residents pay $80 or more monthly for it, significantly higher than those in cities and suburbs.

The problem gets deeper with one in five Allegheny County residents lacking broadband access at home. If the response to that is seek public access, another issue arises: 500 anchor institutions – schools, libraries, health care facilities – also have inadequate broadband access.

Lacking digital skills hurts residents’ employment options. The statistics indicated that 92% of U.S. jobs require them, yet only two-thirds of workers possess them. Having those skills significantly boosts earning potential.

The digital divide affects senior citizens, who need digital skills for health care, banking and government account access and use, and more. Immigrants settling here have digital literacy deficits and need training that needs to be in-depth and individualized because of language issues and other barriers.

Unpredictable events play into widening the divide, even when people like the fictional Evans seem to be making progress.

For example, someone stole his cellphone. A power outage at the apartment he shared with roommates meant their shared low bandwidth internet service would be out for a week. How can he keep up with his online classes that will propel him to a management position? Fortunately, he saved enough money to purchase a laptop and then had a chance to succeed.

It did get worse for others. One scenario included losing a home to a fire. In another, a bus breakdown meant a missed appointment and being charged for it, setting the person back financially. Some kept being shuttled from one government agency or nonprofit organization to another because they didn’t know which one could help them or they had no recourse. The inability to complete required forms on a computer — and yes, several of the library’s computers crashed, so that was not a solution — proved trying. 

The feedback from participants included acknowledging how events can spiral out of control, something they witnessed not only in the simulation but also in the real world.

Some attendees — those staffing the stations and participants — said it hurt them to see people not be served because of the digital divide they were attempting to bridge. “These people are our neighbors,” said Wendy Koch, senior director of regional engagement at United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania. “They live next to us, to our parents. [This issue] is not an us versus them. They want to live their best lives.”

One person said his work requires travel throughout this side of the state, where he sees packed libraries in counties such as Fayette and Somerset. Patrons wait to access computers, and staff sometimes try to help three, four or five people at the same time. And when they do use those devices, it’s not a private space for conducting telehealth visits or government aid applications.

The organizers made a point of noting World Mental Health Day, annually marked on Oct. 10, coincides with Digital Inclusion Week. The digital divide complications brought forth in the simulation and in the panel discussion that followed showed how it creates or amplifies mental health issues.

Jennifer Blatz, Greater Pittsburgh Digital Inclusion Alliance program director and state coordinator of the Keystone Internet Coalition, moderated the panel. Comcast Senior Director for Digital Opportunity Christina Wiskowski, T-Mobile Nonprofit Account Executive David Ombres, Computer Reach Executive Director Dave Sevick, Jewish Family and Community Services Director of Refugee and Immigrant Services Ivonne Smith-Tapia, and Steel Smiling Founder and Managing Director Julius Boatwright took part.

Wiskowski said Comcast makes sure it has “high quality, low-cost solution for our low-income households,” which remains one of her company’s biggest challenges. In addition it supports a variety of community-based organizations that touch on mental health and well-being issues, especially those that serve veterans and senior citizens. It also focuses on workforce development.

She explained when residents have basic digital skills, they can transfer them to looking for medical or mental health resources. That enables them to “build the scaffolding” so when challenges pop up, the needed support systems and skills help people stay resilient when facing major life challenges.

“So for us, that’s the biggest thing we do,” she said. “We want to make sure there’s that baseline of access and skills so that people can thrive, whatever thriving looks like for them.”

Boatwright said Steel Smiling started the Black Mental Health Fund at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 when mental health crises started not only in Pittsburgh but also globally. So much was changing, he continued, “especially we had to go from doing things in real life to now doing things in digital states.”

That meant tele-mental health therapy became an important need, and people needed financial resources to access it, too. His group’s fund bridged that gap and helped Black community members seeking mental health care providers. That work has continued, and in five years his organization has invested over $500,000 to cover mental health support for Black residents of Pittsburgh and Allegheny Countys.

Smith-Tapia said in her work with immigrants resettling here the anxiety and stress levels increase as the people leave their countries and cultures — and often their occupations — to start over. Add to that a lack of language skills to navigate communities, and mental health needs continue to rise.

Her JCFS team has educated itself first on their challenges before trying to help them. One thing the Colombian native said the team has learned to do is create videos in different languages, covering how to write a check or leave a voicemail and more.

These employees “create a pathway” for the new residents, helping them learn about the resources available to them and connecting them to other organizations and groups with the specific expertise they need.

Sevick’s organization makes technology available to people most in need through refurbished equipment, computer literacy, training and support, according to its website. Computer Reach has been working with Comcast, and he thanked it for the support. Now it is in a partnership with T-Mobile and a foundation to offer eligible families 4G and 5G WiFi Mobile internet service for $14.50 per month as a recurring prepayment. It also offers budget Wi-Fi for $35 a month. 

He said when his organization provides someone with a device, it creates a personal desktop for them with layers that link to productivity apps, United Way’s 211 emergency service, all the region’s health care providers, veterans administration and artificial intelligence among others.

T-Mobile helped Pittsburgh Public School families with 6,000 hot spots during the pandemic, alleviating a large amount of stress about home internet access then, Ombres said, and it continues working on students’ and families’ digital projects. It has programs for blind and low vision individuals, and the Veterans Administration has been one of its biggest customers, helping all with health care appointments and more.

At the conclusion, the five participants explained what they hoped would solve some of the issues.

Wiskowski said she hoped talking about the digital divide will lead to convening among the organizations represented to create awareness of the problem and then start solving it.

Boatwright wants to be sure that when organizations discuss resolving technology deficits that they don’t forget the value of human beings. “I think it starts and ends with the human touch,” he said, adding that “sometimes we think that if we have the right tech that it’s just going to solve the problem.” The warm, compassionate follow through, translating the technology is key, he said. “So it’s simple, but it’s relational.”

Smith-Tapia said her JCFS team has found that bringing some of the students back to work with new immigrants has become a plus. They tell their backstories and then facilitate training sessions in a collaboration that includes shared expertise and experience.

Ombres said the region’s elected leaders need to be educated on the digital divide, too. He just attended a municipal conference where the problem was not brought up or discussed. He found some didn’t know about the United Way 211 service, either.

Sevick’s organization is launching a computer tutoring service at the end of the month that will have scholarships available to reduce the payment per hour to $10 with the additional $65 covered by a foundation.

T-Mobile can help organizations by treating them like its government customers, Ombres said, meaning no contracts, no termination fees and no risks. It will also help with digital needs for special events, such as online registration and silent auction bids that will increase on-site fundraising. 

Information on the digital divide and projects to close it is available on the Neighborhood Allies’ website as well as one maintained by the Greater Pittsburgh Digital Inclusion Alliance.

The United Way of Southwest Pennsylvania’s PA 211 that provides service and connects people to resources they need in 30 counties in Pennsylvania can be accessed here. People in a non-life threatening crisis or emergency situation can just call 211.