Wait what?! There are people who can access the internet... AND CHOOSE NOT TO?!

Hi,

Over 30 young people. 3 large charities. 1 problem. Inequality, or perhaps more specifically technology and inequality. A problem that affects all of us be it because we’re young or old, male or female, gay or straight, we all face it- The question is what do we do about it?

So our story begins in the Crystal, London- where young people from around the UK have convened to combat inequality in technology. Now, the thing is with a subject like inequality, is that it can mean very different things to different people. To some it is the racist views that have been ingrained into our very society, to others it is the unequal accessibility of technology for different groups of people, particularly in our schools or perhaps for mathematicians such as myself, these signs ‘< >’ may come to mind. But no matter what viewpoint you held, we all agreed that this was an issue.

I must confess as someone who is not particularly well traveled, that to hear about others’ experiences (or lack of) with inequality, particularly in technology really did surprise me. I did especially see a striking difference in the technology available in the schools’ of others, versus that available in my own and in that very moment, the inequality in my own community was spelled out to me in ‘neon lights’ so to speak.

One statistic that still hangs on to me is that 94% of people who don’t use the internet, do so because they don’t want to! That to me just feels unfathomable but it is true. And this poses a severe problem as you can’t force someone to want to use something if they don’t want to… Can you?

Nope, turns out you can’t.

So this is where we come in. Bring on the pressure situation. ‘Let’s through 5 groups of teenagers into a Dragon’s Den style pitch, with an hour to prepare and see what they come up with.’ And we certainly did not disappoint. The ideas were as diverse as poverty and disability to social accessibility of technology. One of the pitches even had 2 of the panelists ready for battle as to who got first ‘dibs’ of their idea!

Each group had an idea that could revolutionise the way we see equality in tech, now here’s the important part: It is all well and good to come up with ideas but what we really need to do is to put them into action. So as the story continues beyond the future forum and into the real world. A problem faces us all, be it because you’re young or old, male or female, gay or straight- it is inequality. We all face it- The question is what will YOU do about it.

Stay Curious,

Vanessa x