Inventor of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee says a third of the world’s young people are still excluded from accessing the Internet. He believes that getting them online should be a priority for the global community.
Access to the Internet for world’s young people needs to be a priority
English computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee, known as the inventor of the World Wide Web, is concerned that too many young people around the globe still lack access to the Internet.
To commemorate the 32nd birthday of the World Wide Web, Berners-Lee published a letter in which he stressed the need to “re-imagine our world and create something better” following the pandemic, the Guardian reported.
Berners-Lee highlighted that around the globe, a third of people aged between 15 and 24 are offline. He said that getting them online should be a priority.
“The influence of young people is felt across their communities and online networks,” Berners-Lee wrote. “But today we’re seeing just a fraction of what’s possible. Because while we talk about a generation of ‘digital natives’, far too many young people remain excluded and unable to use the web to share their talents and ideas.”
“A third of young people have no internet access at all,” Berners-Lee continued. “Many more lack the data, devices and reliable connection they need to make the most of the web.”
“In fact,” Berners-Lee added, “only the top third of under-25s have a home internet connection, according to UNICEF, leaving 2.2 billion young people without the stable access they need to learn online, which has helped so many others continue their education during the pandemic.”
Why getting young people online is vital
One of the many ways in which the global pandemic harmed young people was by interrupting education. Students were forced to engage in virtual remote learning. However, those without the ability to access the Internet easily were left in a precarious situation, even in wealthy and industrialized countries.
For example, the government of the UK was accused of not delivering on promises to provide laptops to poorer students months into the national lockdown there, the Guardian reported.
“More than three-quarters of our year 10 pupils do not have access, regularly and consistently, to a device or the internet at home,” said Steve Howell, a head teacher in Birmingham. “The most disadvantaged pupils are hardest hit with IT poverty, and the fact this has taken so long is really making things worse.”
Thriving in the digital world more important than ever
Unquestionably, new generations must be computer savvy as we now live in a digital world. Without these skills that come through early access, future generations may not be prepared for most jobs or have the skills required to run businesses. In many ways, it’s becoming increasingly harder to interact in society as a whole without Internet access.
How many people have online access around the world?
According to a report by the Guardian, roughly half the world is online, and 70 percent of those are between the ages of 15 and 25. And even though younger people are more likely to be online, according to Berners-Lee, one-third of the world’s population of 15 to 24-year-olds do not have Internet access. He argues that making sure we get this young population online will reap benefits for the entire globe.
How do we get there?
Berners-Lee argues that in terms of the cost of getting the young world’s population online, it is relatively cheap compared to the cost that governments around the world spent on programs over the last 12 months. Berners-Lee estimates that an investment of roughly $412 billion over the next decade would ensure that everyone around the world could be provided with a quality broadband connection.
