Libraries, Section 8 + Technology: Challenges in Closing the Digital Divide

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is leading some of the City’s investments in digital equity and is partnering with the Brooklyn Public Library, the New York Public Library, and the Queens Public Library to support low-income New Yorkers on using technology. A significant portion of the agency’s Section 8 households include an older or disabled adult and many are bilingual. HPD and the libraries engaged the Behavioral Design Team at the NYC Mayor‘s Office for Economic Opportunity, run by ideas42—a behavioral science research and design non-profit—to understand whether HPD’s Section 8 clients currently take advantage of the libraries’ technology services and, if not, what new service models might be needed. Here are insights on what the team learned and questions for organizations to ask when researching and designing tech support or digital navigation programs.