Broadband's Impact on Economic Development: The Real Deal

Every two years, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and I team up to survey economic development professionals and others nationwide to learn how broadband is impacting economic development efforts. This year, 301 individuals participated, and their feedback has been particularly revealing.

The 2010 survey is "The Real Deal" as it digs beneath the hype surrounding broadband's potential to influence local economies, and extracts data from those who deal with these issues daily. We also present for the first time the comments respondents offered to help implement broadband projects that produce economic development results. Respondents' peers as well as government policy makers need to read and heed both the data and the comments. Several results of the survey argue sharply against directions that some government agencies, politicians and private industries appear to be leading us. We break out broadband into two categories, wireless and wired, to show that each has different impacts that should be considered when developing broadband strategy. We also look separately at business outcomes (attracting new business, reviving depressed business districts, etc), and personal economic outcomes such as increasing entrepreneurialism and improving job training.