Technology
Technology · Issue No. XII
Digital Equity
Promise and progress — examining the gap between digital access and digital inclusion in America.
Special.Report Editors
2022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Digital equity — the condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in society — remains an aspiration rather than a reality for millions of Americans. This report examines the dimensions of the digital divide, the policy interventions designed to close it and the evidence on what works.
THE REPORT
The COVID-19 pandemic made the consequences of digital exclusion impossible to ignore. Remote work, remote learning and telehealth all depended on broadband access that millions of Americans lacked. The $65 billion broadband investment in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act represented the largest federal commitment to closing the digital divide in history.
But access is only part of the challenge. Digital equity requires not just connectivity but the devices, skills and content that make connectivity meaningful. This report examines the full scope of the digital equity challenge and the policy frameworks designed to address it.
