This page contains a historical collection of research and public policy programs in the digital inclusion space.

The state of digital equity

• On April 6, 2022, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform passed H.R. 3544 for full consideration in the House of Representatives. The bill, the Computers for Veterans and Students Act, would make hundreds of thousands of repairable federal computers available to nonprofit refurbishers to repair and distribute in communities nationwide.
• This great article, from December, 2021, addresses the extent to which each state is prepared to handle the influx of federal funds to improve broadband adoption.
• This January 2022 blog post from NDIA describes the federal government’s final rule for ARPA funds and how they can be used to support digital inclusion efforts at the state and local level.
• As of November 15, the bipartisan infrastructure bill (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) has become law. It includes $65 billion for broadband and digital equity, and is a huge step forward. Read the NDIA blog posts about the bill passing in the House,  passing the Senate, as well as the pre-passage summary of broadband aspects of the bill. Benton Institute has a great summary of the digital equity aspects of the bill, as well as a breakdown of each of the provisions
• The State Digital Equity Scorecard has been launched. It documents how each state is addressing digital equity, spotlights best practices, and provides a tool to measure, review, and replicate successful efforts
• The 2021 Digital Equity Trailblazers list was released on July 6, 2021. This is a public inventory of local government initiatives promoting digital skills and broadband access for underserved residents. See here for the list of indicators used to identify qualifying communities. Congratulations to all those communities which support their citizens and made the list
• North Carolina launches country’s first office of digital equity and literacy
• American Job’s plan broken down by state, with separate subsection highlighting  broadband
• The Bridge Act (June 2021)
• On February 26, 2021, the FCC released rules for EBB (Emergency Broadband Benefit). NDIA has provided a blog highlighting the announcement and the rules, as has the Benton Institute. The EBB program will provide eligible households with subsidies up to $50 a month for internet service ($75 a month for tribal households) and up to $100 for devices.
• See Benton’s analysis of support for Broadband in the December 2020 Consolidated Appropriations/COVID Relief Bill and the STEM Alliance presentation on Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB)
• NTIA will be hosting a Webinar on March 17 to discuss the Grant Programs created by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. These new NTIA grant programs include the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Grants, Broadband Infrastructure Deployment Grants and the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program.
• Public Knowledge has put together a Legislative Tracker for broadband bills. We are expecting further action soon, some of which may be based on the Affordable Accessible Internet for All legislation introduced last year. Here is a handy explainer
• This blog post provides a description of the homework gap and the need for public funds to address it. It is, as one of our volunteers stated “a simple, plainly stated view of one of the many problems” involving digital inclusion
• As key background to federal proposals, the Digital Equity Act of 2019, introduced by Senator Patty Murray in April 2019 and Representative Jerry McNerney in September 2019, supports a diverse array of digital equity projects at the state and local level to help close the digital divide. These projects may range from providing digital skills education to low-income populations, improving the online accessibility of social services for individuals with disabilities, to more accurately mapping broadband access and adoption in rural communities. On July 1, much of that bill was included in the “Moving Forward Act” (HR 2), which passed the US House, but did not gain traction in the Senate. See NDIA Blog Post.
• NDIA maps show home internet connection rates by census tract throughout the US, posted December 11, 2018. While the census data can be hard to wade through, check out Census Data Gems for hints on how to find specific information
• NDIA’s “Worst Connected Cities” Page, updated September 2020. It includes the report for 2019 with links to previous years
• Seattle 2019 Digital Equity Plan – https://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/digital-equity. In February, 2019, they released their Technology Access and Adoption Study findings. This survey looks at connectivity, devices, online use and skills, tech support, privacy and security concerns, civic engagement, training needs, and barriers to adoption within Seattle.
• Broadband’s Impact: A Brief Literature Review – January 2018 by Roberto Gallardo and Brian Whitacre  https://www.pcrd.purdue.edu/files/media/Broadbands-Impact-Final.pdf
• Unequal deployment of broadband services = September 11, 2017 – ://connectyourcommunity.org/ndia-report-strategic-investment-in-digital-equity-for-cleveland/

Library Impacts

• Libraries Evolve to Bridge Digital Divide, published by the online Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Denver’s Morgridge College of Education, published November 2018

National/International Organizations

1. The National Digital Inclusion Alliance  was founded in May 2015  to provide a unified voice for home and public broadband access programs, and local technology training while serving as a bridge to policymakers and the general public.Take a look at their site and consider joining. See NDIA’s recommendations to the federal government on digital inclusion as an example of their good work.
2. The Benton Foundation has published a report on Digital Inclusion and Meaningful Broadband Adoption Initiatives, available as Benton-Foundation-DI-Report
3. There is an initiative called “ConnectHome” led by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) working to accelerate broadband adoption by children and families living in HUD-assisted housing across the nation.
4.  The Association for Repair – repair.org, is an organization which advocates for the right to repair, promoting legislation and other solutions. Membership fee is waived for non-profits.
5. In May, 2020, the Office for Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) gave direction to banks to include digital inclusion programs in Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) loans. See NDIA Blog for details

Research Studies

The NDIA Digital Inclusion created a Digital Inclusion Resource Library – a collection of documents, reports, teaching aids and other assets used by digital inclusion practitioners. The platform can point to interactive content as well.

The open access journal Social Inclusion published, in May 2020, a special issue co-edited by Dr. Bianca Reisdorf (UNC Charlotte) and Colin Rhinesmith (Simmons University) titled “Digital Inclusion Across the Globe: What Is Being Done to Tackle Digital Inequities?”

In addition, here are a list of resources, particular focused on economic impact of digital training.

• NTIA internet Use Survey, published June, 2020, and the accompanying blog entry
• Digital Distress: What is it and who does it affect. Published February 2019, looking at specific socioeconomic characteristics of those living in digitally distressed neighborhoods part 1 and part 2
• US AID Report: Feb, 2017 Connecting the Next Four Billion: Strengthening the Global Response for Universal Internet Access
• US AID Report: Jan 2020  Digital Development
• Connected Insights has a collection of research, including Adoption Persistence: A longitudinal study of the digtial inclusion impact of the Connect Your Community project, Creating opportunity through connectivity, and Bridging the Gap: What Affordable, Uncapped Internet Means for Digital Inclusion
• Papers on Digital Skills and Earning:
  • Benton-Foundation-Digital Inclusion and Meaningful Broadband Adoption Initiatives
  • Chapter 6 New Technology and Digital Worlds Analyzing Evidence of Equity in Access Use and Outcomes
  • Colleges teaching digital skills can bridge middle skills gap 1
  • Connect Your Community – Employment Impact Survey
  • Developing digital immigrants computer literacy the case of unemployed women
  • Digital inequalities and why they matter
  • Does having digital skills really pay off
  • Employer Perceptions of Critical Information Literacy Skills and Digital Badges
  • Gallipolis 2 pager
  • Make Money Surfing the Web – The Impact of Internet Use on the Earnings of U.S. Workers
  • Measuring_Relationship_between_Digital_Skills and employability
  • Prospects for Poor Neighborhoods in the Broadband Era Neighborhood Level Influences on Technology Use at Work
  • Rethinking Digital Inequalities The Experience of the Marginalized in Community Technology Center
  • Searching for work in the digital era
  • The empty rhetoric of the smart city from digital inclusion to economic promotion in Philadelphia
  • The Key to a Good-Paying Job Is_Microsoft Excel_ – At Work – WSJ
  • The Training Difference – How Formal Training on the Internet Impacts
  • New Users
  • What the Experts are Saying_DW_final_updated

Lifeline Services and Broadband

For the latest information on Lifeline and Broadband, check out FCC lifeline support. 

Lifeline typically provides up to a $9.25 monthly discount on service for eligible low-income subscribers. Subscribers may receive a Lifeline discount on either a wireline or a wireless service, but they may not receive a discount on both services at the same time. FCC rules prohibit more than one Lifeline service per household.

The FCC reconsidered the policy to extend  Lifeline’s monthly credit for low-income households to include broadband which was made in December of 2016. See this link for the Modernization document, and this link for the Order of Reconsideration revoking Lifeline Broadband Provider designations for 9 carriers. For reactions to the revocation, and other FCC policies see:

• NDIA’s December 2017 blog post on Impending Changes to FCC’s Lifeline Program
• NDIA’s blog on September 2017 Blog on broadband for all Americans
• NDIA’s open letter to FCC Chairman Pai
• Benton Foundation’s The FCC is Sucking the Life out of Lifeline
• Wired Magazine’s Millions need the broadband program the FCC just put on hold
• New York Times editorial An Anti-Consumer Agenda at the F.C.C.

For additional perspectives on the original extension of lifeline to include broadband, see:

• Benton Foundation newsletter about Lifeline
• Policy Brief – Trends in Broadband
• Connected Nation’s national fact sheet.