Net Inclusion 2019

New data on broadband adoption for metros, counties and cities over the past two decades reveals that broadband adoption is strongly linked to economic outcomes for community residents as well as businesses.  Tracing broadband adoption over time provides a better picture of cause and effect than has been possible in prior studies.  This research shows that it is more inclusive communities that experience better economic outcomes; that digital inclusion leads to economic benefits at the community level.  Disparities in broadband adoption over time also track the widening inequalities that have become apparent across regions and communities in the U.S., and digital inclusion is a necessary part of policy solutions for narrowing place-based gaps in economic opportunity.

This research is part of a new book project with co-authors Caroline Tolbert and Kellen Gracey, analyzing two decades of data on broadband adoption for communities that was generated in a National Science Foundation project (the University of Iowa and Arizona State University broadband data portal https://policyinformatics.asu.edu/broadband-data-portal/home).

Karen Mossberger, Ph.D. is the Frank and June Sackton Professor in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University.  Her research interests in digital inequality began with her experience in workforce and economic development while working for the City of Detroit.  Her academic career has included research and teaching in local government, urban policy, digital government, and digital inclusion.  Prior co-authored books on technology include Virtual Inequality:  Beyond the Digital Divide (Georgetown University Press, 2003), Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society and Participation (MIT Press, 2008), and Digital Cities:  The Internet and the Geography of Opportunity (Oxford University Press, 2012).  She evaluated Chicago’s Smart Communities program, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Partnership for a Connected Illinois/BTOP.  Mossberger is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.