SocEnt
LEAD Facilitator
Abhinav Vinnakota
LEAD Facilitator
Ava (Eden) Puchitkanont
Document Type
Presentation
Type
Social Entrepreneurship (SocEnt)
UN Sustainable Development Goal
UNSDG #4: Quality Education
Start Date
28-4-2021 10:05 AM
End Date
28-4-2021 10:25 AM
Abstract
Around the world, nearly 1.3 billion children are unable to access the internet, hindering their ability to engage with digital learning and converse with one another (US Census Bureau, 2020). This problem has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, where most students were forced to move online to learn. The problem presents itself in three ways. First, a lack of accessible connection — traditional internet connections are far too expensive, costing thousands of dollars on average. Second, a lack of internet access — certain locations, specifically rural entities, do not have reliable internet access available, and even if they do, connections are oftentimes weak and lackluster. Students are often provided with computers from schools, but not with access to the internet. This problem is also a problem in equity, with the need for internet and computer access varying greatly amongst different family incomes. Families making under $10,000 in income have the greatest need for computer and internet access (about 45% of these families lack computer access and 30% lack internet access), while families making $100,000 or more have about 8 times less need for internet and computer access. In addition, around 35% of American Indian/Native Alaskan individuals and 20-30% of African Americans lack access to computers and reliable internet, while around 1/3 of White individuals lack access. EquiTect works to battle these imbalances and create equity in the online learning environment by providing all students, especially those who cannot afford their own internet or computer, proper internet and computer access. Our idea utilizes white space technology, social enterprise, and philanthropy. We plan to balance both our business goals and our social ones, pursue partnerships with internet service providers as well as other companies who specialize in white space connectivity, and hold fundraisers for schools or areas that could not otherwise afford our product/services. White space is essential the radio band that lays in between the unused frequencies normally used by Television providers. These frequencies are long-range, stable, and also almost never obstructed as there is very little activity happening in those frequencies. The novel technology provides promise in solving the equity problem in internet and computer access. Compared to MiFi, both MiFi and Equitect are accessible because they easily allow users to access the internet cheaply and efficiently. EquiTect will work similarly to Mifi in the sense that it will allow multiple users to access the internet. This will be very efficient since oftentimes, an entire family with multiple students needs internet and computer access. At the moment, most MiFi mobile broadband provides standard 3G or 4G connection speeds, depending upon network coverage, with 5G options just entering the market. On 3G and 4G connections, there can be a considerable slowdown when sharing MiFi connections across multiple devices and users. In contrast, white space relies on stable, long-range frequencies which is far more reliable. Finally, with MiFi, when more devices connect, the speed gets reduced and the battery drains faster, which causes the frequency of the wifi to get poor. This is a disadvantage that EquiTect must also battle. In the future, we plan to branch out to adult remote workers, satellite connectivity, and optimizing our devices.
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EquiTect: Solving the Lack of Internet and Computer Access During Online Learning
Around the world, nearly 1.3 billion children are unable to access the internet, hindering their ability to engage with digital learning and converse with one another (US Census Bureau, 2020). This problem has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, where most students were forced to move online to learn. The problem presents itself in three ways. First, a lack of accessible connection — traditional internet connections are far too expensive, costing thousands of dollars on average. Second, a lack of internet access — certain locations, specifically rural entities, do not have reliable internet access available, and even if they do, connections are oftentimes weak and lackluster. Students are often provided with computers from schools, but not with access to the internet. This problem is also a problem in equity, with the need for internet and computer access varying greatly amongst different family incomes. Families making under $10,000 in income have the greatest need for computer and internet access (about 45% of these families lack computer access and 30% lack internet access), while families making $100,000 or more have about 8 times less need for internet and computer access. In addition, around 35% of American Indian/Native Alaskan individuals and 20-30% of African Americans lack access to computers and reliable internet, while around 1/3 of White individuals lack access. EquiTect works to battle these imbalances and create equity in the online learning environment by providing all students, especially those who cannot afford their own internet or computer, proper internet and computer access. Our idea utilizes white space technology, social enterprise, and philanthropy. We plan to balance both our business goals and our social ones, pursue partnerships with internet service providers as well as other companies who specialize in white space connectivity, and hold fundraisers for schools or areas that could not otherwise afford our product/services. White space is essential the radio band that lays in between the unused frequencies normally used by Television providers. These frequencies are long-range, stable, and also almost never obstructed as there is very little activity happening in those frequencies. The novel technology provides promise in solving the equity problem in internet and computer access. Compared to MiFi, both MiFi and Equitect are accessible because they easily allow users to access the internet cheaply and efficiently. EquiTect will work similarly to Mifi in the sense that it will allow multiple users to access the internet. This will be very efficient since oftentimes, an entire family with multiple students needs internet and computer access. At the moment, most MiFi mobile broadband provides standard 3G or 4G connection speeds, depending upon network coverage, with 5G options just entering the market. On 3G and 4G connections, there can be a considerable slowdown when sharing MiFi connections across multiple devices and users. In contrast, white space relies on stable, long-range frequencies which is far more reliable. Finally, with MiFi, when more devices connect, the speed gets reduced and the battery drains faster, which causes the frequency of the wifi to get poor. This is a disadvantage that EquiTect must also battle. In the future, we plan to branch out to adult remote workers, satellite connectivity, and optimizing our devices.