Bridging the Digital Divide in the US Planning Innovative State and Local Approaches

Preface

Part 1 Policy and Theoretical Background

1. Why Does the Digital Divide Persist in the US?

Mildred E. Warner and Natassia A. Bravo

2. Federal-State Realignment of Broadband and Digital Equity Policy in the United States

Johannes M. Bauer

3. The Importance of State Policy Design

Natassia A. Bravo and Mildred E. Warner

Part 2 Local Initiatives Lead the Way

4. Framework for Local Action

Y. Edward Guo and Mildred E. Warner

5. Minnesota – An Early Leader in Addressing Rural Broadband 

Y. Edward Guo, Elizabeth M. Redmond, and Mildred E. Warner

6. Colorado and Maine – Regional and Middle Mile Approaches

Natassia Bravo, Duxixi (Ada) Shen, Elizabeth M. Redmond, and Mildred E. Warner

7. Getting Around Preemption: The Power of Public-Private Partnerships

Duxixi (Ada) Shen, Mildred E. Warner, and Natassia A. Bravo

Part 3 Institutional Leadership for Digital Equity

8. Indigenous Leadership in Addressing the Digital Divide

Duxixi (Ada) Shen, Mildred E. Warner, and Natassia A. Bravo

9. Outreach and Education Responses to the Digital Divide: Research and Action through Cooperative Extension

John J. Green, Roberto Gallardo, and Roseanne Scammahorn

Part 4 Implications for the Future

10. A New Policy Window to Center Digital Inclusion

Mildred E. Warner, Natassia A. Bravo, and Duxixi (Ada) Shen

Biography

Mildred E. Warner is a Professor of City and Regional Planning and of Global Development and directs the Polson Institute of Global Development. She is an expert on state and local government policy and has published widely on infrastructure, economic development, finance, service delivery and community development.

Natassia A. Bravo received her Ph.D. Candidate in City and Regional Planning. Her research focuses on infrastructure policy, especially rural broadband access. She has published popular reports on broadband policy and local initiative. She and Dr. Warner were winners of the Charles Benton Broadband & Society Prize in 2023. Her research focuses on infrastructure policy, especially rural broadband access, and she has published popular reports on broadband policy and local initiative.

Duxixi (Ada) Shen is an infrastructure planning consultant and former researcher at Cornell whose research focuses on bridging the digital divide in a wide array of communities, including Colorado, Maine, Alaska, and the Choctaw Indian Nation. She received her master's degree in Regional Planning from Cornell.

"Bringing broadband to unserved Americans is not as simple as hanging wire on a pole. While most literature focuses on a single aspect of the digital divide–market dynamics, availability of middle mile, impact measurement–Warner, Bravo and Shen have brought those pieces together in a single compendium, clarifying our understanding of the problem and deepening our understanding of solutions. This book fills a critical research gap and is an essential read for any practitioner of telecommunications, infrastructure, state or local policy."

Kathryn de Wit, Project Director, Broadband Access Initiative, The Pew Charitable Trusts

"This book offers a fresh perspective on broadband policy, emphasizing the intricate interplay between federal, state, and local efforts to close the digital divide. It is an essential read for anyone interested in advancing digital equity and for scholars exploring the dynamics of multilevel governance in the 21st century."

Hernan Galperin, Professor and Director of Doctoral Studies, USC Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California

"This book explores the next chapter in U.S. Digital Divide research, taking us into how communities can build durable programs to redress digital needs and inequities. Closing the Digital Divide in the US: Planning Innovative State and Local Approaches should be required reading for the groups and policymakers who want permanent solutions to delivering the online connectivity everyone requires in the 21st century."

Sharon Strover, Philip G. Warner Regents Professor, University of Texas at Austin and Co-Director, Technology and Information Policy Institute

"Bridging the Digital Divide in the U.S. lays out a comprehensive roadmap on how to achieve universal broadband access and digital equity. This collection addresses a missing piece in the digital divide scholarship by describing how state and local initiatives can effectively address social and digital inequity."

Colin Rhinesmith, Director, Digital Equity Action Research (DEAR) Lab, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

"This is an important book for a time when the federal government is considering dramatic changes to Internet policy.  It provides keen insight into the local and regional programs and partnerships that are making a difference for people on the wrong side of the divide. Many thoughtful examples provide inspiration and details for other communities to follow."

Christopher Mitchell, Director, Community Broadband Networks, Institute for Local Self-Reliance

"With thoughtful policy analyses and insightful case studies, this is the first edited collection to rightly highlight and champion the crucial role played by local and state initiatives and stakeholders working to make digital equity a reality in the United States."

Dr. Christopher Ali, Pioneers Chair in Telecommunications, Penn State University