How to Close the Digital Divide in the US

The US government is negotiating a plan to address one of the most important—but overlooked—problems facing the country: the digital divide. While this problem is often talked about as a simple problem of access to broadband internet service, it is deeper and more complex than mere infrastructure. In truth, the digital divide also is a problem of inclusivity, institutions, and individual proficiency, and a solution needs to address all four dimensions. To close the digital divide, policymakers should:

1. Pay for improvements using a “Romer” tax levied on digital ads
2. Coordinate locally appropriate solutions
3. Recruit Big Tech and major internet service providers to help close gaps
4. Invite public-private solutions
5. Update and expand existing affordability programs
6. Build in future-proofing
7. Invest in digital literacy

Bridging of the digital divide is both complex and daunting, but there are reasons for hope. Many institutions—both public and private—stand to gain from it being addressed. We now have a rare bipartisan agreement on the urgency of solving the problem. Let’s act on it.

[Bhaskar Chakravorti is the Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University and founding Executive Director of Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context.]