Google Plan Leaves Digital Gap with White Neighborhoods Getting Ser- Google Offi Cials Say the Split Was Not Inclusion Program Manager
FREELAND EYES EDITION PLAYOFF RETURN — SEE SPORTS, B1 GREATER PORTLAND PortlandTribuneTUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2014 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPER • PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED TUESDAY AND THURSDAY Google plan leaves digital gap with white neighborhoods getting ser- Google offi cials say the split was not inclusion program manager. Experience in Kansas vice and traditional minority neighbor- intentional, but an inadvertent result To better overcome them, the hoods being left out. of how they let neighborhoods decide company has increased its efforts to City sours some on “Originally, the way Google provid- whether they want service. They point convince all potential customers about ed the service, there was a stark divi- to research that shows there are many the benefits of being online in this high-speed venture sion between the historic haves and reasons people don’t have — or want digital age. have-nots,” says Rick Chambers, exec- — high-speed Internet access, includ- “We are doubling down and really By JIM REDDEN utive director of the Center Education ing cost, perceived relevance, lack of working with communities,” says The Tribune Foundation, a nonprofi t organization computer skills and worries about Swanson. that raises money for schools with identify theft. As part of that effort, Andrew Bent- To hear Mayor Charlie Hales and large numbers of low-income students “The challenges are quite complex,” ley, a Google digital inclusion special- other local elected offi cials tell it, in Kansas City, Mo. says Erica Swanson, Google’s digital ist, recently came to Portland to learn everyone will benefi t if Google about the city’s community and other brings its ultra-high speed broad- organizations working to expand In- COURTESY OF KEITH MYERS/THE KANSAS CITY STAR band network to the region.
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