On June
7, Comcast and technology non-profit One Economy announced that the first year
of the cable giant’s learning and service after school program that taught
students about broadband technology completed its first year.
Comcast
Digital Connectors, as the program was called, was held on the South Side at
the New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church and on the North Side at
Alternatives Inc. The program
reached out to over 26 middle and high schoolers, as well as college-age youth,
and exposed them to the world of digital technology.
Days
before that announcement, Comcast representatives stood with Mayor Rahm Emanuel
at Woodson Regional Library to announce that the cable and Internet provider
would be providing low-cost Internet access and affordable computers to some
low-income families. The program, called Internet Essentials, is set to begin
at the start of the next school year – which begins in August and September –
and run for three years.
It was
part of the commitment made to the Federal Communications Commission as part of
the Comcast NBCUniversal deal that was approved by the government agency last
year.
Comcast
became the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, creating one of the
largest multi-media entities in the U.S.
In a one-on-one
interview with the Defender, Comcast Corporation Executive Vice President David
Cohen talked about why the company is putting forth efforts to “bridge the
digital divide” and fortify its work and partnerships with highly recognized
non-profit community organizations. Cohen revealed that Comcast reaches out to
urban communities it serves with its cable, telephone and Internet service to
offer scholarships, and work with the likes of Boys & Girls Clubs, United
Way, Urban League, One Economy and City Year.
Chicago
Defender: Why the interest in youth and broadband, especially with minority
communities?
David
Cohen: As people – as human beings – we are struck by the inequality that
results when large swaths of our population don’t have access to the Internet
and don’t have an opportunity to take advantage of the leveling impact that
broadband can have on education opportunities, accessing health care, accessing
jobs and accessing entertainment. ... As a company, we’re committed to trying
to improve the lives of all the communities where our employees live and work.
... It’s only natural that one of our focus areas, given our business, would be
in digital literacy and in a variety of programs designed to close the digital
divide.
CD:
How much money has Comcast invested in bridging the digital divide?
DC: It’s
hard to (give an accurate dollar amount). In cash and in-kind services, we’re
at the $7 to $10 million so far, cumulative over the last few years. It’s very
hard to put a dollar value on this. The cost of the Internet Essentials program
will depend on how many people sign up for the service and subscribe to the
service. I think you can safely say that we’re investing millions of dollars
annually in a variety of programs designed to close the digital divide and to
make sure that we bring broadband and make it available on an affordable basis
to every area of the communities that we serve.
CD:
What roles do community orgs play, with help from Comcast, in bridging this
divide?
DC: We
think it is essential to connect the company to the community that we
serve. … I’m not really interested
in reinventing the wheel, as a company. I think that one of the best ways that
we can do business in our community investment strategy – that’s what we call
it, we don’t think this is charity we think it’s investments in our
communities. And I’d rather not go reinvent the wheel community-by-community.
I’d rather find really strong non-profit partners and then use our resources,
our financial resources, our in-kind resources, our people resources to help
those non-profit organizations level successful and proven models. … These
non-profits are extremely important for our being able to execute our community
investment initiative in an efficient and effective manner.
CD:
What type of outreach are you doing for more rural areas?
DC: Well,
Comcast is a very heavily clustered urban cable company so we don’t have a lot
of rural service areas within the Comcast footprint. But when we do, we try and
find strong non-profits in rural communities and partner with them in the same
way.
CD:
How has taking over NBCUniversal broadened the scope of what you (Comcast) are
able to do and what you want to do?
DC: I
think that we are at the very beginning of that process, but it’s obviously
given us even more of a national footprint than we had previously. We think the
combined platform that Comcast and NBC Universal provides to us will give us an
opportunity to make even a larger commitment to our communities.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
