Benton Welcomes National Broadband Adoption Expert John Horrigan

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Executive Director Adrianne B. Furniss named John Horrigan the new Benton Senior Fellow. Horrigan has been a regular contributor to Benton’s Digital beat blog in recent years. He is a national expert on technology adoption, digital inclusion, and evaluating the outcomes and impacts of programs designed to promote communications technology adoption and use. He served at the Federal Communications Commission as a member of the leadership team for the development of the National Broadband Plan. Additionally, as an Associate Director for Research at the Pew Research Center, he focused on libraries and their impact on communities, as well as technology adoption patterns and open government data. In the coming months, Horrigan will lead Benton’s research on the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program which provides discounted phone and internet service for low-income Americans. Horrigan’s research will examine whether or not the Lifeline program is living up to that promise, especially given the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and Congress’ creation of the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program which provides a much more substantial subsidy to make home broadband service affordable.