Peggy Vasquez frequently takes advantage of the free internet access at Austin Free Net to search for potential employment opportunities.

Established in 1995 by a collaboration between many people in both the public and private sector Austin Free Net helps community organizations such as schools, libraries, and public housing developments launch free Internet access sites for the public in underserved areas. It also provides technical expertise, services and equipment to organizations so they can build technologically and economically self-sustaining computer labs aimed at narrowing the digital divide. Essentially, the goal of the Free Net model is to provide equal access to information, education and involvement in the community.

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Participating community organizations include the Blackland, Rosewood Zaragosa and East Austin Neighboorhood Centers, the Austin Center for the Homeless (ARCH), Casa Marianella, and the Conley-Guerro Senior Activity Center.

In 2008, the most recent count for those unemployed in the Austin metropolitan area rose to a staggering 37, 874 or 4.4%, up from 3.7% in 2007. And just as the economic crisis caused massive job losses, city, state and federal grants that helped fund these sites faced the same disasters.

A quaint room with about a dozen computers fill the public access lab room in The DeWitty Learning Center facility on Rosewood Avenue. Most computers are already occupied by residents, some on social sites, other updating resumes. A tech management room beside the lab holds donated hardware; monitors, printers, and hard drives litter the floor and shelves. A large, broken printer that took some ingenuity to fix---a screw seals the crack, stands as a silent reminder that the non-profit is fortunate to receive what it has.

During the Clinton administration in the mid to late 90s, federal funding for telecommunications saw its best years as the president launched two “digital divide” tours across the country.

Part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Technology Opportunities Program promoted the availability of digital network technologies in the public and non-profit sectors through grants.

From 1994 to 2004, the TOP awarded 610 grants in all 50 states totaling $233.5 million and leveraging $313.7 million in local matching funds. Among them was Austin Free-Net which, at the time, catered to a 95% minority-based community with a median income of $5,983 and a less than 5% computer ownership rate, compared with 52% citywide. The funding intended to help facilitate information gathering on transportation schedules, job banks, and availability of social services, along with communication between parents, students, and teachers through the creation and use of electronic tools.

Photo by Shelley Neuman

Austin Free Net's main goal is to help those in underserved areas access the internet  in order to obtain information and have more involvement in their community.

The Austin Learning Academy and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas also served as partners in Free-Net’s formation. Amid the national effort, the Texas Legislature initiated bills to promote technology as well.

A precursor to the controversial national Telecommunication Act of 1996, Texas’ Public Utility Regulatory Act caused massive deregulation in media outlets and effectively provided billions in revenue to telecomm companies. Because of this, companies were in turn, expected to improve the state’s telecommunications infrastructure and create new funding initiatives for schools, libraries, non-profits and other institutions.

The Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF), a $1.5 billion grant program to be administered over 10 years, began in 1996. The funds came from a 1.25 percent assessment on sales tax revenue of state telecomm providers, and nearly all of them passed the charge on to their customers.

The success of the fund was mixed. Eventually Gov. Rick Perry shut down the agency that managed the grant in 2003, two years shy of its 2005 benchmark. This disappointed many.

Though Gary Chapman, director of the Telecommunications and Information Policy Institute at UT-Austin, does not foresee Texas continuing support for telecommunication funding in the near future, he contends the national dialogue about the divide is on the rise.

In February, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocated $4.7 billion to facilitate broadband technology to underserved and unserved areas and to improve access to broadband by public safety agencies. Through the NTIA, the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program will appropriate at least $200 million for technology upgrades at public computing centers and grant $2.5 to the Federal Communications Commission for the development of a national broadband plan within one year.

In 2000, the TIF Board implemented a “community networking” program in the state with the purpose of closing the digital divide. It provided funding for 188 communities in Texas with a $80 million investment, making this the largest program on community networking in the United States and most likely the entire world, according to a report authored by Chapman. Chapman and UT RTF Professor Sharon Strover helped develop the  Austin community network through The 21st Century Project, a research and education program working to expand public participation in technology.  

Though instrumental in establishing connectivity in K-12 schools, the fund proved limited in several important arenas as personnel, infrastructure, training, and tech support were restricted.

“These were pretty severe constraints,” said Chapman. “You could only buy hardware, networking equipment and the cost of connectivity.”

After developing the Free-Net, Chapman realized the issue is not necessarily about securing grants promoting universal access, or the idea that everyone should be connected, but about training people to take advantage of that access while increasing their computer skills first. The big mistake, he said, is assuming demand comes before media literacy.

“It’s important to figure out people’s need for the technologies. When their demand is strong enough they will want to learn how to use the Internet’s capabilities.”

From personal finance to political mobilization to entrepreneurship and medical research, being logged off oftentimes means loss of productivity and disengagement from the community.

University of Texas RTF Professor and author of the forthcoming book, “The Persistence of Inequity in the Technopolis: Race, Class and the Digital Divide in Austin, Texas,” Joseph Straubhaar stresses the importance of access as a push for equality.

He studies the issue through a cultural lens, examining race, gender, age, and class lines within the digital divide. It appears the division is symptomatic of and intrinsically tied of these variables.

According to a 2007 demographic survey conducted by colleague UT RTF Associate Professor, S. Craig Watkins, Austin Free-Net computer classes are an apt reflection of these statistics,with both Latinos and Blacks comprising 36 percent of attendees. Additionally, almost half  were unemployed and nearly a third earned less than $15,000; the numbers have undoubtley increased amid the staggering unemployment rate.

Furthermore, the “Information Gap”, which bisects communities that rely on information to advance economic, political, and cultural aspects and those who cannot, widen significantly. Information capital, from political mobilization, policy issues on local, state and national levels to networking, is lost on underserved residents, increasing social stratification and diminishing collective knowledge.

The Pew Internet Project's May 2008 survey found offline Americans are overwhelmingly over age 70, have less than a high school education, and speak a language other than English.

With the rise in popularity of social networking sites, Straubhaar found, many older minority residents and young boys, who previously would not have engaged in Internet use are finding reason to surf the Web.

“The barriers to entry for the elderly are coming down, so is gender. But it seems social class, which includes income and education, persist,” he said.

Anglo-oriented stations, Straubhaar says, heavily target Internet users, displaying exponentially more computer ads than comparable minority markets. Inherent in this advertising imbalance is an economic implication- minorities do not possess the financial resources to purchase home computers and therefore fail to be a valued consumer demographic.

More than just prejudiced marketing, this creates a social construct which prevents minorities, especially young males, from feeling comfortable with the Internet.

He recounts a story of a young Latino boy who associated typing with a “girl’s work”, having seen his mother, a secretary, use computers at her job. This gendered stereotype, not uncommon among minority males, is breaking down slowly as boys are introduced to Web sites that mirror their hobbies, such as low rider car design sites and social networking.

To further remedy this, Straubhaar says it is necessary to introduce the Web’s capabilities to minorities and low-income residents at a young age. He highlighted the methods of expression and channels of communication as selling points among these youth.

Local media literacy initiatives such as Heart House and YouthWorks target young children to build a foundation for Internet education.

As for Vasquez, the search is still on nearly one month later. Though she hasn't had any luck yet, she finds it comforting to know her future is just a click away thanks to sites like Austin Free-Net.