SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - Louis Escareño, of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership, cannot believe how big the digital divide is in the Rio Grande Valley.
Preparing to participate on a webinar hosted by Connect Humanity, Escareño did some research. During the event he said he was shocked by what he learned.
“A couple stats sort of leapt out at me: that 46% of the households in the RGV do not have broadband. I went, what? That's pretty staggering,” Escareño said.
“(Also) 80% of the jobs that people are looking for in that area (the RGV) are online. And 90% of those jobs require some sort of digital skills requirements. Well, how does that happen if you're not connected? How do you find a job? How do you all of that stuff?”
The webinar was held to provide more information about Connect Humanity’s plans to build a $10 million fund to help finance the digitalization of small businesses along the South Texas border region.
The webinar included entrepreneurs and local leaders that discussed the importance of investments in digital infrastructure, broadband affordability, and skills — and how this can act as a catalyst to help build the foundation for a vibrant South Texas economy.
“So, the data is telling us that, at least with many areas, but especially the Rio Grande Valley, (that) we have a tale of two different cities, two different communities,” Escareño said. “San Antonio-Austin, and then the cities along the border. And that should be of concern to us.”
By way of example, Escareño spoke about his father. He said his father needed help from a health care agency.
“Everything we did with the health care agency that was taking care of him was done digitally. Everything. The appointments, the prescriptions, all of that stuff. My mom couldn't have managed that if she was the only caretaker helping him,” Escareño said.
“I was really kind of taken aback by how all of it… is online. It's hard to talk to a person (because everything these days is digital) and that's what really has struck me. So, how are people doing it?”
Escareño added: “I’m wondering about the people that… aren't accessing (these digital services). It is affecting the quality of their healthcare, their ability to see a doctor. All those things in the healthcare world. That is a real world problem.”
The webinar was moderated by Jordana Barton-Garcia, a senior fellow at Connect Humanity. Barton-Garcia cited a study that showed how bad the digital divide was in the Rio Grande Valley.
“The Brookings Institute put out an article in February of this year talking about how dramatically jobs in the United States are increasing in digitalization and (how) these are jobs that offer higher wages. And, unfortunately in the article, they point out that two metropolitan statistical areas on the border, the Brownsville-Harlingen Statistical Area, and the McAllen-Edinburg-Pharr Statistical Area are the least digitalized areas of the country,” Barton-Garcia said.
Barton-Garcia said the Brookings study showed thatin 2002 only 50% of jobs required digital skills. By 2020 that percentage had shot up to 77%.
"Two thirds of all jobs require medium or high digital skills training, even middle skills jobs. That don't require a college degree. Ninety percent of them require some level of digital skills, and those are the higher paying jobs. And salaries have increased for those jobs but they haven't for the jobs (that don’t). They point out that many Latinos are in jobs that (require) non-digital skills.”
Barton-Garcia said the one problem with the Brookings study was that it failed to focus on the need for infrastructure investment.
“They leave out something that we know in this region… that if we don't invest in the foundation, the actual fiber optic infrastructure of the digital economy, of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we will not be able to support the kinds of digitalization that we need for small businesses, for them to be able to compete in the larger economy.”
Barton-Garcia added that the JOBS Act has spurred the Rio Grande Valley Broadband Coalition to step up its work in pushing for more infrastructure investment.
Christopher Worman, co-founder and chief partnership and strategy office for Connect Humanity, kicked off and ended the webinar. In his remarks, Worman said it was “past time” for border communities to engage in digitization.
“As you heard from basically everybody here, it is past time perhaps that we engage in digitalization. As my Dad used to say, there is no time like the present. No time like the present to ensure that families can build wealth,” Worman said.
Worman said one of the panelists, Gilberto Ocañas of the Ocañas Group was correct when he said that the poverty trap is now digital.
“We can't wait for others to come in. Government investments in connectivity are neither enough nor structured in a way that is likely to serve communities like those in the Rio Grande Valley,” Worman said.
Worman added that it is important that all those that tuned in for the webinar engage to help improve broadband accessibility in South Texas.
“We'll follow up with more on our plans and how this fund that has been talked about here today will catalyze learning, community and investment, sparking both digital and economic development in the region. We would ask that you to take a look at that. Take a serious look and think about what you can do either as a funder partner, or an advocate sharing this with people you know,” Worman said.
“We need all of the above to get our communities online on terms that work for them. So, again, thank you for joining and we are looking forward to working with all of you.”
