Research Papers – If you have suggestions, please let us know by filling in this form.

By publication date

These are arranged in reverse chronological order (latest on top):

• National Skills Coalition (NSC) in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta released Closing the Digital Skill Divide, February 2023
• Global Study from Connect Humanity – State of Digital Inequity: Civil Society Perspectives on Barriers to Progress in our Digitizing World January 2023
• Equity Gaps in Telehealth Use to Manage Chronic Conditions During COVID-19, January 2023
• Broadband Benefit Programs are Helping to Close the Digital Divide Nov, 2022
• Digital Equity Ecosystems Measurement Framework Nov, 2022
• Consumer Reports white paper on broadband pricing, Nov 2022
• Changing Our (Virtual) Reality: Telehealth and the United States Maternal Health Crisis, Brittany Rae Gregory of Next Century Cities, Sept, 2022
• Measuring Library Broadband Networks to Address Knowledge Gaps and Data Caps, Colin Rhinesmith, Sept 2022
• The Critical Role of Web Accessibility in Health Information Access, Understanding, and Use from Ahima Foundation, September 2022
• Connecting Low-Income Families Using Broadband Vouchers, describing the experience of Alabama Broadband Connectivity for Students, September 2022
• Internet access and cardiovascular death in the United States, Sept 2022, American Heart Journal Plus: Cardiology Research and Practice, Volume 21
• Using Tech to Reduce Isolation & Loneliness Among Diverse Populations of Older Adults, August 2022, SF Tech Council Aug
• The State of the Digital Divide in the United States, Purdue, August 17, 2022
• Report on documenting digital exclusion among disadvantaged groups in the South from Purdue University, July 2022
• Three Data Points to Help Plan for Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Broadband Funding (April 5, Benton Institute)
• A case study of community leadership development to promote digital equity and justice (Journal of Community Informatics, March 2022)- also posted by RW Deutsch Foundation
• Report on how libraries help keep communities connected (ALA, March 2022)
• Why Digital Human Capital is important in Community-Building (Brookings, March 2022)
• New England Journal of Medecine article– Digital Inclusion as Health Care – Supporting Health Care Equity with Digital-Infrastructure Initiatives (March, 2022)
• A JAMA paper  looks at how COVID mortality rates varied based on factors like race, socioeconomic status — and internet access. One key quote: “Across all community types, places with limited internet access had higher mortality rates.” (March 2022)

  Related links: an interview with the author on Marketplace Tech podcast, a related Chicago study, and a Vox piece unpacking the study

• Affordability and the Digital Divide, from EveryoneOn & John Horrigan, Dec 2021
• Census Bureau has Household Pulse Survey bi-weekly, which included Computer & Internet Availability in households with children in public or private school in phase 3.1 (April 14,2021 through July 5, 2021). It is available on a per-state basis within a tab. The latest and historical information is available here.
• Analyzing the Hiring Technology of Large Hourly Employers, Upturn, July 2021 exposes the digital-inclusion related barriers to applying for employment
• Expanding Broadband in the Black Rural South, Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies, July 2021
• Focusing on Affordability, Benton Foundation, April 2021
• Digital inclusion as a social determinant of health, NPJ Medecine, March 2021
• The Journal of Community Informatics (most recent, Dec 2020) publishes research focused on working with communities to use information and communication technology in support of their own community-defined goals
• Digital inequality, faculty communication, and remote learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: Survey of undergraduates (Feb 2021)
• The Digital Divide: What Is It, Where Is It, and Federal Assistance Programs,  Congressional Research Service, November 17, 2020.
• Growing Healthy Digital Equity Ecosystems During COVID-19 and Beyond, published by Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, November, 2020
• Closing the K-12 Digital Divide in the Age of Distance Learning from Common Sense Media, October 2020
• The Pandemic of Health Care Inequity, October 2, 2020, discusses consequences of the pandemic on health equity
• Presentation from National Skills Coalition at NDIA Webinar on research, presented Sept 23, 2020. Feel free to use these charts or graphs in your own publications and presentations with attribution to NSC.
• John Horrigan’s analysis of The Digital Divide in Connecticut, how digital exclusion falls hardest on low-income households in cities, older adults, communities of color, and students, Sept 2020
• State broadband policy: Impacts on availability, September 2020
• Technology access & education for refugee women in Seattle & King County, (link to abstract) August 2020
• Broadband and Job Productivity- What Matters August, 2020
• New American Economy, https://research.newamericaneconomy.org/report/internet-access-covid-19/, August 2020
• Community Networks, US Ignite and Altman Solon Broadband Models for Unserved and Underserved Communities June 2020
• The New Landscape of Digital Literacy May 2020, National Skills Coalition
• New American Economy, Immigrants Working in Education During Covid-19 Crisis May, 2020
• Lloyd Levine of UC-Riverside, Broadband adoption in urban and suburban California: information-based outreach programs ineffective at closing the digital divide (also available: abstract from researchgate) April 2020
• Pew Research Center – 8 charts on internet usage around the world April 2020
• Broadband and Student Performance Gaps, from Quello Center at MSU, March 2020
• Pew Research Center – The homework gap at the start of COVID-19 closures March, 2020
• Psychological Barriers to Digital Living in Older Adults: Computer Anxiety as Predictive Mechanism for Technophobia, September 2019
• Digital Inclusion in Austin: 2019 Austin Digital Assessment Survey, and Updated final report from 2018 (updated August, 2019)
• Pew Research Center – Americans and Digital Knowledge 2019
• Internet Connectivity and the “Digital Divide” in California – 2019, UC-Berkeley August 2019
• Technology Policy Institute – Reaching the Unconnected August 2019
• Broadband Adoption Gap Analysis, California Public Utilities Commission, June 2019
• Pew Research Center –Mobile Technology and Home Broadband  2019
• Connected Insights has a collection of research papers related to digital inclusion.  2019
• The Digital Divide Index (from Purdue University) 2018
• Technology-based learning in the public workforce system June 2018
• Lloyd Levine of UC-Riverside Closing the Digital Divide: A Historic and Economic Justification for Government Intervention May 2018
• Pew Research center – The meaning of digital readiness   2016
• National Skills Coalition The New Landscape of Digital Literacy 2016

By Topic

Experiences of mobile-only users vs. computer users are compared.

• Ed Tech Magazine (2022): Chromebooks in Education
• Pew Research (2020): Digital Homework Gap in 2020
• Teresa Correa, Isabel Pavez & Javier Contreras (2020) Digital inclusion through mobile phones?: A comparison between mobile-only and computer users in internet access, skills and use, Information, Communication & Society, 23:7, 1074-1091, DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2018.1555270
• Tsetsi, Eric & Rains, Stephen. (2017). Smartphone Internet access and use: Extending the digital divide and usage gap. Mobile Media & Communication. 5. 205015791770832. 10.1177/2050157917708329. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2050157917708329
• Philip M. Napoli & Jonathan A. Obar (2014) The Emerging Mobile Internet Underclass: A Critique of Mobile Internet Access, The Information Society, 30:5, 323-334, DOI: 10.1080/01972243.2014.944726
• Katy E. Pearce, Ronald E. Rice, (2013) Digital Divides From Access to Activities: Comparing Mobile and Personal Computer Internet Users, Journal of Communication, Volume 63, Issue 4, August 2013, Pages 721–744, https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12045

General Resources

As a general resource, NDIA has a database of research relating to broadband which includes research from 2000 to the present.

There is also a Research Studies section on our Public Policy Initiatives page.

NDIA has put together an explainer for ACS and FCC data, two key sources of federal data related to connectivity.

FCC’s Urban Rate Survey (updated annually, most recently in July, 2020) is available at https://www.fcc.gov/economics-analytics/industry-analysis-division/urban-rate-survey-data-resources

Information on broadband adoption based on census bureau data (ACS 5-year data) for many demographics and for Internet adoption is available via the I3 Connectivity Explorer (https://i3connect.org) at the tract level and above.