Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

A June-July 2021 survey of 2,500 Philadelphia shows that—in the aftermath of the public, private, and philanthropic sectors coming together—there has been substantial progress in closing digital gaps in the city.

Blue River, the hub of the McKenzie River Valley in rural Lane County, Oregon, is no stranger to natural disasters. In September 2020, this former mining and timber town burned to the ground in the Holiday Farm fire. However, despite the challenges, Blue River’s story is one of resilience. It’s the story of a town’s desire to not merely survive but thrive.

Located on the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico, Loíza is one of the most culturally rich municipalities on the island. Known as the “Capital of Traditions,” the area gave birth to many African-influenced traditions that are now synonymous with Puerto Rican culture. As home to the largest population of Black residents on the island, Loíza has a rich cultural heritage that is threatened by high unemployment, extreme poverty, and violence.

On October 5 and 7, The Marconi Society's Decade of Digital Inclusion featured a virtual track called Creating a Secure Network for Everyone with two thought-provoking panels that brought together business, academic, and nonprofit perspectives on digital equity and security on the internet. Digital safety, security, and trust impact everyone from online veterans to the newly and not-yet connected.

For many, the digital divide is the gap between who has access to broadband infrastructure or who does not. But a truer definition is the gap between who's actually using our most powerful communications tools and who is not. Using this broader measure and examining use around the world, we see that women are being left offline. And this gender gap costs everyone.

The Project OVERCOME pilot in Buffalo will provide equitable broadband access, enabling community members to engage with educational, telehealth, and government services. These services have been unattainable due to high internet costs and digital redlining. As part of the project, four Long-Term Evolution (LTE) antennas are being installed on top of the Buffalo General Medical Center (BGMC). These antennas will broadcast signals to the Fruit Belt using the newly available Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum.

While few dispute the existence of the digital divide, the true character of the divide is often masked by high-level information and false assumptions about exactly where the digital divide lives and the daily and systemic economic problems it creates. The Marconi Society's September 28 panel offered rich insights into the digital divide itself and some of the potential solutions for bridging it. Here are the top five takeaways:

In the late 1800s, people knew Turney, Missouri, as a major railroad stop. Today, little retail or industry remains in Turney, with Kansas City just a 30-minute drive away. Left behind by large internet service providers, the residents of Turney are gaining access to improved broadband access through the Project OVERCOME effort.

We might be tempted to remember this as Mark and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. A series of damaging articles in the Wall Street Journal, a whistleblower testifying before Congress, and a massive outage of the platform. But Facebook's problems date back much farther than this week. The ramifications could last long into the future—and impact much more than the social media giant.

Located along the Hudson River, Yonkers is the gateway between New York City and the Hudson Valley. Through Project OVERCOME, the leaders of the digital opportunity zone known as Yonkers Zone, or Y-Zone, will provide free Internet access to approximately 250-350 households in downtown Yonkers using spectrum in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) frequency band.