MIT Sloan Management Review Article on In Times of Crisis, Digital Businesses Need to Think About ‘Technology Laggards'

Companies must think critically about how to address the issue of technology access and inequity throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has brought on rapid shifts in work, the practice of social distancing, and the need to gather vast amounts of data, it has also revealed a stark gap between the technology “haves” and “have-nots.”

Digital technology has undoubtedly made social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic more palatable for many groups of people. It has allowed households to stay at home and order groceries online, watch Netflix, and conduct Zoom calls for work. But remaining at home throughout the pandemic is not possible for everyone, and much of the news reporting in recent weeks and months has focused on the issue of equity. In a recent paper, we argued that while many news outlets have focused on how this issue of equity reflects income disparity, that discussion has ignored the role of the diffusion of high-speed internet service. We showed that high-income earners are able to better maintain social distancing practices when they have access to high-speed internet.