Demographics, tech, and the digital divide
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Demographics, tech, and the digital divide
In the tech industry, one of the central debates has been over whether continued technological innovation can do much good for a wider group of people than just a narrow slice of the urban upper middle class. Tessie Guillermo, CEO of the tech consulting company ZeroDivide, has been thinking about these issues.
The “digital divide” — the gaps between technology haves and have nots — which inspired the name of her firm, is a real and pressing issue. The skewed demographics of the tech industry can also make using technology to improve social outcomes a challenge.
“It creates a lot of anxiety and fear,” says Guillermo.
The ability to give digital literacy to these groups — community organizations and underserved communities — is difficult, and the demographics compound the challenge.
Furthermore, the way the tech industry sells these improvements could be counterproductive.
“There’s not necessarily an app for everything,” says Guillermo.
There is an impatience to how the tech industry deals with problems, in terms of the constant iteration, that doesn’t always translate to other contexts.
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