FOCUS AREAS

Data Poverty

There are many people around the world for whom data is prohibitively expensive or difficult to access, including many people in developed countries.

Data poverty is often related to financial poverty, but not always, and it can’t be defined by simple metrics like internet speed or monthly data allowance. Data poverty is a relative concept that represents whether a person is able to access the web services that they need to function and participate in society.

"I am increasingly aware that we need to think beyond our day to day experience of the web with high speed fiber broadband and mobile data, and think more about the users who do not have the same privilege in their access to the internet." - Tom Greenwood

dEFINING DATA POVERTY

Poverty in a general sense means not having enough resources to meet one’s needs. This is usually quantified in monetary terms, with the World Bank currently defining absolute poverty as being an income of less than $1.90 per day.

Data poverty is often related to financial poverty, but not always, and it can’t be defined by simple metrics like internet speed or monthly data allowance. Data poverty is a relative concept that represents whether a person is able to access the web services that they need to function and participate in society.

What causes data poverty?

Data access can be limited by many factors, including the cost of data per megabyte, physical limits on access to data and low internet speeds, resulting in prohibitively high time required to obtain information and perform tasks online.

"These users are more common than we like to believe, and at various times even include those of us working in digital jobs in developed countries. We must think about the importance of the services that we are creating, understand the needs of the least privileged users and use our ingenuity to design solutions that can meet their needs. By doing so, we’ll create a web that is more resilient, more environmentally friendly and that empowers everyone – from those of us who are ‘data rich’ to the most vulnerable – ensuring information is accessible to those who need it most." - Tom Greenwood