Charles Buchanan says there are ghosts among us.
He’s not a psychic. He’s no spiritualist leader. But he is an evangelist of sorts for a perennial problem in our increasingly connected world — technology poverty.
Buchanan’s haunted by the fact that nearly 19 per cent of Canadians barely interacted with the internet in 2020.
“I don’t like the word ‘class’ but there are two clear, distinct digital classes,” he says.
“The people in the upper class don’t even know the people in the lower class because we engage digitally. They’re not on Facebook, they’re not on LinkedIn. They’re not visible. To us they sort of don’t exist.”
That digital non-existence has far-reaching implications for the individuals who can’t connect, and for society at large. But it’s not just individuals who struggle.
Many non-profit organizations also lack the cash, time or in-house skills needed to keep up with the digital transformation, impeding their ability to provide services and remain relevant.
It’s why Buchanan works tirelessly through his social enterprise — Technology Helps — to bridge that digital divide, working with non-profits as well as politicians to try and break down barriers and increase access not only to hardware like computers, but to the skills needed to navigate and thrive in a connected world.
The problem
Technology poverty is a big problem, no just for the sheer number of organizations and individuals experiencing it, but also in terms of its breadth. Everything from slow internet connections, to lack of computers to a lack of education and training all fall under its umbrella.
Its consequences are equally far reaching.
According to Technology Helps, only 59 per cent of low-income homes in Canada have internet access, compared to 98 per cent in the highest income brackets.
Buchanan worked with the City of Calgary on its digital equity task force. The City indicated they were limited in resources to support the project.
“I said to them, whatever money you don’t have today, you better have 10 times that money tomorrow, because the people who are digitally isolated today are going to be your social justice challenges tomorrow, they’re going to be your unhoused problem tomorrow, they’re going to be your healthcare problems tomorrow,” he said.
He’s now preparing to give out around 500 laptops through the city program.
Technology poverty is pronounced in rural communities, low income families and particularly in Indigenous communities, where access to high-speed internet is hard to come by. Indigenous participation in the tech sector is significantly lower compared to non-Indigenous Canadians.
The front lines of those social battles are non-profits, who are constantly chasing funding and trying to prioritize where to spend. According to Technology Helps, the sector saw big drops in funding and increased demands for services during the pandemic.
A study released in 2022 by Sage — an accounting and HR software company — found four out of five Canadian non-profits were facing internal challenges when it comes to digital transformation, and that it was causing internal friction in the organizations.
Those challenges include lack of staff with the right skills for the transformation, challenges and delays caused “different and disparate systems,” and the burden of in-depth reporting.
Despite those challenges, nine out of 10 organizations responding to a survey for the study were focused on some form of digital transformation in the wake of a pandemic that shook the sector.
A newer study by Sage released in 2023 showed another aspect of the challenge: many Canadians are rethinking contributions and volunteering in tight economic times and have new criteria for donating.
The vast majority of respondents are looking to give to efficient organizations with up to date digital engagement and tools.
Speaking on a panel at the recent mesh conference in Calgary, Buchanan says he has helped clients embrace technology to help streamline their operations, reach more clients and even raise more money.
Paradoxically, however, those organizations which adopt technologies for greater impact require their clients to have a basic digital ability and access.
Changing the binary
Tackling the problem will require changes in the way we think about technology and the nonprofits struggling to keep up.
For Buchanan, it means killing the binary thinking that says “we make money over here and we do good over there,” and trying to convince those in the corporate world that an investment in tackling digital poverty is both a social good and a long-term investment.
Non-profits, he says, need more help and more resources.
Alison Pidskalny, a strategic advisor with Pixelated Ventures who sat on the mesh panel with Buchanan, says non-profits also have to start thinking about how they can use their skills to generate new revenue and help fund their own operations.
“That’s where I think digital transformation has particular opportunities, where you’ve got a highly skilled population that are doing something or offering something to a certain client segment, that all you have to do is be strategic and think about how do we shift it a little bit to the left and turn it into something that a broader market might want,” she said during the panel talk.
Pidskalny says the Calgary YWCA is using its expertise in creating conflict-free and inclusive workplaces to develop a program that can be used by the private sector.
“You can package it up and, using digital technologies, make it accessible and scalable for a totally different client segment,” she said. “It’s incredibly brilliant, but it’s also generating a new form of revenue for YW Calgary.”
Buchanan says public and private funders need to start thinking about long-term investments in digital technologies and the social good that comes from it. Every day, month and year it’s delayed, the problems and the costs only increase.
“They’re still investing in programs, or just putting money into annual programs and things that look good, rather than long-term for impact,” he said. “So the biggest change will be for the next generation to acknowledge what the end game looks like, what impact are we trying to have?”
