We hear a lot of talk about the “digital divide.” But what does it mean?

More than a few answers came to light during a recent symposium in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Alliance for Digital Equality, the Alliance for Public Technology and the Communications Workers of America.

A few key points:

1) America’s 42 million low-income workers will be all but cut out of participation in a “knowledge economy” without increased Internet access to job training skills. That’s according to Dr. Eileen Applebaum, director of the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University. She also noted the U.S. ranking of 15th in the world in broadband capacity, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

2) Not everyone who has Internet access enjoys the benefits of equal access. Those with slow dial-up service can’t receive and transmit information necessary for them to participate in many new applications, such telemedicine for instance. In the future, this means healthcare professions, in this instance, will be able to monitor some patients from remote locations, but not others. The question becomes: If it’s your loved one, will doctors and nurses know through monitoring devices whether there is a dangerous drop in blood pressure, say, or glucose levels? And if not, what will be the consequences?

3) The cost of broadband access is a driver of differentiation. Women, minorities and immigrants are disproportionately in the low-income category that typically has less access.

4) Another point from Dr. Applebaum, as reported by New American Media: The knowledge economy is not limited to highly skilled and technical jobs, such as in engineering and computer programming. To the contrary, jobs that depend on digital literacy extend to every kind of job there is.

5) High-speed Internet access equates to new, unprecedented opportunity for low-income and unemployed Americans. A single mother, for example, might not have transportation or babysitting available to enable her to go outside the home for job training. Job training via the Internet can be the ticket, both to higher skills and a higher quality of life.

These are just a few examples of why the digital divide matters, and why the Knight Center of Digital Excellence is devoting so many resources toward the goal of equal access for equal participation in American life, culture and the economy of the future. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, through its funding of our work, is making possible additional research and exploration of options in solving the digital divide.