Chi Hoang: The Internet is Exclusive

Wow, that’s was a journey. Before I begin my talk, I can -- Let me guess the number one question on your mind right now would be, “What on earth have I done with myself right before such an important event?” Long story short, I broke my ankle bone playing soccer. Tragic it may sound, I was so happy, I finally got to go outside and play sports, go in person for classes, masked on of course, and see all the lovely faces here today. In fact, raise your hand if you ever want to go back to lockdown again. I bet this is the only time teachers are happy to see no hands raised. Quarantine was tough, wasn’t it? That’s the reality of a divine. Iin this case, a physical one. But remember though, during this whole time you still have access to online video conferencing apps. your favorite Netflix shows, YouTube baking tutorial and TikTok. I want to encourage everyone to go back and calculate your total screen time after this talk since the beginning of the pandemic. How hard would it be though, for people to go through all of this, completely cut off from the world, both in the physical and digital sense? Yet in the American alone, 44 million US households lack access to a standard broadband connection, According to FCC December 2018, internet services access report An estimation of 10 to 16 million of students do not lack internet access before school shut down. 16 million. That’s the number of students that can fit 150 Michigan stadiums are facing extreme educational challenge due to an invisible barrier, we call Wi-Fi. We might have to name, rename the internet to call it the exclusive net. The physical divide was tough, but it can easily be seen, easily felt and therefore, enter in our daily conversation. But what about the less obvious but equally critical digital divide? Have you even heard these two words in the same sentence? Let’s try to define it. According to the Harvard Business Review the digital divide is loosely understood as the gap between people with reliable internet access and those who don’t. Here is the fact, but it’s not so fun one. The US is not the only one dealing with this problem. In Africa, out of a population of 884 million residents, only 4 million are internet users. That’s 0.4 percent The odds of you living in Africa and having just the necessary equipment to see this TedTalk is even lower than the odds of getting into Stanford, Harvard or any other nearly impossible elite colleges you can name off. But enough of the depressing data. Let’s switch gears to something more uplifting. I want you to close your eyes and picture a hero. What characteristics does your hero possess? Raise your hand if your hero can fly, wears a metallic suit, or move objects with their mind. I must admit, I envy Spiderman’s ability to shoot webs and attach himself from building to building. I wouldn’t have to crutch to class anymore. Glamorous these depictions of superhero in movies can be. I myself find much more charm in a different type of heroes. Those that wear rustic shirts and rustic sandals Their feet stuck deep in muddy trails. But their vigorous hearts and determined eyes kept them walking up nearly 10 miles up a mountain trail to a deserted warehouse, not even located on Google Maps. Why would someone waste so much energy walking up the treacherous mountain trail to a warehouse? The people here, temporary sites like these, however, are the hopes of thousands of kids across the northwestern mountain range in Vietnam in gaining access to an education. Their tables, borrowed from schools and cities or built block by block of wood donated by parents, have no uniform sizes and holes are often present. It’s like playing temple run. These students would have to twist and turn to find a small spot for their notebooks, while also trying to be careful not to press on too hard or else the pieces of wood would wobble and fall apart. Wi-Fi and laptops are therefore out of question. In the case of avalanches, where huge rocks block the only road that connects school from home, and six-year-olds would have to wait behind with their teachers for electricity to be restored and roads to be fixed. An account of such courage and resilience appeared in my feed weeks ago. And memories of a trip to Tà Xùa came back to me. I was in the same province at a different school, but witnessed a strikingly similar story. I saw the same bright smiles and curious eyes of these students, the same one you would find here at Madeira. And yet, there are so many obstacles standing in their way of gaining knowledge and sharing their stories. The true extent of the digital divide is often underappreciated. Agencies like the FCC have spent years paying companies to expand access, but currently, there are no U.S. law that requires internet service providers to cover all families in the countryside. So there are some that don't even have the option of subscription Besides internet infrastructure, affordability and the proficiency of digital user remain tough questions that lack a definitive answer both in the U.S. and around the world. If governments are struggling with this problem, how can we as individuals pitch in? Remember the hero anecdote? Heroes aren’t born, they’re made and standing here today or rather sitting here. I want to appeal to more heroes to reveal themselves. Politicians, businesses, everyone can be heroes. I have seen so many heroes in a country smaller than the size of California. Heroic teachers striking mountains, heroic business leaders building residence halls and stretching internet cables across oceans and heroic individuals donating desks, chairs, laptops, anything that can fit in their minivans. And seeing those kids in new clothes sitting at new chairs, their first click on the internet that connects them with the world. These memories delight me, but at the same time, I’m reminded that there are so many others still cut off from the digital grid. Everyone can be heroes, so I want to end this talk with everyone pitching in and giving a hand to serve justice to families here in the U.S., in Vietnam, in Africa, so that more smiles can be seen and more ideas can be spread just like the mission of TEDx. Thank you.