Adoption

This report features global insights and perspectives across five issues: Privacy and security, Openness, Digital inclusion, Web literacy and Decentralization. How healthy is the Internet? In most cases it’s not a simple question. Certainly, there are some straightforward indicators to watch. Things are getting a bit better in areas like: access, affordability, and encryption. And they are getting worse in: censorship, online harassment, and energy use. Simple indicators miss the complexity that comes with global ecosystems like the Internet.

The Chinese internet’s race to go low: lower income, lower-tier cities and lower internet-service penetration. China’s relatively young internet industry is facing a mature-market problem: User growth for popular online services such as instant messaging, search, online news and video has fallen to single digits. Online population growth has hovered around 5% to 6% annually since 2014, which is only slightly higher than in mature economies. Unlike in many developed markets, a vast number of Chinese are unconnected.

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) sent a letter signed by over 60 House members to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, urging him to protect the Lifeline program which provides access to phone and broadband services to over 13 million low-income Americans, the majority of whom earn less than $10,000 a year. 

[Commentary] Eight years ago today, the US National Broadband Plan was released, as mandated by a law that received bipartisan support in Congress. That plan is rooted in a critical understanding of ongoing, dynamic forces that continue to shape what is commonly known as the broadband internet ecosystem. Its three pillars — broadband applications/content, devices, and networks — are essential parts that need to work seamlessly together so that all of us can experience the full benefits of the Internet in every aspect of our daily lives.

This paper examines differences in fixed location broadband adoption rates among households of various demographic and socio-economic characteristics and in different geographic locations utilizing the Federal Communications Commission's census tract level adoption data, demographic data from American Community Survey and the census block level broadband availability data from National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Ordered probit models are estimated and used to conduct simulations in order to analyze the determinants of the broadband adoption rate.

[Speech} You are a force for optimism—and I want to harness your energies this morning to help solve what I call the Homework Gap. After I talk about that, I’ll follow up with a few thoughts about other matters of interest before the Federal Communications Commission. Shool-aged kids without
broadband access at home are not only unable to complete their homework, they enter the job market with a serious handicap. I have some ideas—and that’s where you come in. 

The digital divide is the most critical issue of the 21st century – so this report sets out to talk about why it’s so critical and how we can close the divide. Why do we need to close the digital divide?

Digital equity refers to whether people can access and effectively use the technology necessary to participate in modern society. Another phrase, “digital inclusion,” denotes efforts to remedy deficits in digital equity. Simply put, digital equity is what cities and states want, and digital inclusion is the work they and their partners are doing to create it.