The coronavirus pandemic is highlighting the importance of strong internet and phone connections for keeping in touch, working and studying.
For people without internet access or computer skills, however, the technology that’s keeping many of us connected could be making them feel even more isolated.
Tech Manitoba’s Margaux Miller told 680 CJOB that approximately 13 per cent of Canadians don’t have a solid internet connection — and many more lack access to consistent service, especially in remote areas.
“Our government right now has done a great job of pivoting and putting services online,” she said.
“But we’re making an assumption when we do that, that we all know how to use digital tools or have that broadband access when in reality, there’s many Canadians who don’t.”
In addition to keeping up with the latest COVID-19 pandemic news, Miller said internet access is also facilitating social connections during these difficult times.
“We could do video calls, you and I, and still feel like we’re connected to someone by seeing their face.
“If you don’t have that functionality, that social isolation is taken to another level as well.”
Miller says even if someone does own a computer and has internet access, they’re still at a disadvantage if they’re not up to speed on how to operate online.
“If you think of a rural or remote area who maybe only got that connectivity in the last couple of years, not everyone will have raced to go and learn how to use it because they had been living life for so long without it,” she said.
“Geography and rurality itself is a barrier.”
Miller said if you’ve got an old computer you’d like to donate, Tech Manitoba is accepting devices to distribute to students needing devices to access schoolwork.
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