How Technology Can Help Equalize Opportunities
The Gaps in Society
In society, we see many gaps that need to be filled. From inequality in educational outcomes to health outcomes, there are disparities between communities based on their resources. This is often a conversation of rural vs urban communities. When underprivileged, rural communities try to cope with these disparities, they are often met with punitive responses, isolation, and silencing.Â
This comes from a historical inequality of rural vs. urban as society shifted from agriculture to the information age. Back in the day, rural communities tended to be prosperous because we were an agricultural society.Â
We have shifted away from this agricultural society to an information based society. As a result, urban communities are the center of wealth and resources.Â
ROI recognizes that at its core, this problem is deeply systemic and can only be fully resolved through institutional restructuring. One small solution may be to use transformative technologies as tools to replace punitive solutions with restorative ones.Â
Transformative Technology as a Gap-Closing ForceÂ
Transformative technology is technology that has the potential to radically change how we live our lives. It can be something as simple as a new type of phone or as complex as a new way of doing surgery.Â
When new technologies are introduced, those who have the resources to adopt them first tend to benefit, widening the gap between those who have access to new technology and those who don’t.Â
However, over time, as the technology becomes more widely adopted, the gap begins to close as the benefits of the technology become more widely shared. If we can get the technology in the hands of more underprivileged or under-resourced spaces, it can be a gap closing force. So, how do we ensure that technology is being used to help equalize opportunities?Â
Crossing the ChasmÂ
Organizational Theorist Geoffrey Moore introduces the idea that a company needs to be able to cross a chasm between early adopters and the mainstream market in order to be successful.Â
The early adopters are typically technology enthusiasts who are willing to try new things, while the mainstream market is much larger and more risk averse. Crossing the chasm means reaching the tipping point where the early adopters become the mainstream market.Â
Successfully crossing the chasm can be the difference between a successful company and one that fails.
The key here is for grassroots organizers interested in bringing technology solutions to their communities – especially in rural, majority African American communities, like the community that ROI serves, to get in on the early market phases. If we want to spread technology or practices to effectively close gaps in society, we have to use this framework.Â
Current Opportunity
Grassroots organizations and nonprofits should build relationships and network with people who already have these technologies and best practices. We can close the gap by taking the deep assets of rural communities like our own, and pairing them with the innovators and early adopters who are doing the most cutting-edge work in our society.
We want to support these early market tech enthusiasts and visionaries and provide coaching and guidance and resources. We want to help them use their best practices and technology to be a gap-closing force.Â
Our ask, in closing, is that if you are an innovator or early adopter, or if you know one who is pioneering the most effective approaches to solving inequalities in society – we’d love to connect. We want this work to be centered in a rural community like our own and we’d love to work together.
