Mapping the Digital Divide: Before, During, and After COVID-19

11 Pages Posted: 18 Feb 2021

See all articles by Francesco Bronzino

Francesco Bronzino

INRIA

Nick Feamster

University of Chicago

Shinan Liu

University of Chicago

James Saxon

University of Chicago / Center for Data and Computing

Paul Schmitt

Princeton University

Date Written: February 17, 2021

Abstract

The digital divide—and, in particular, the homework gap— have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, laying bare not only the inequities in broadband Internet access but also how these inequities ultimately affect citizens’ ability to learn, work, and play. Addressing these inequities ultimately requires having holistic, “full stack” data on the nature of the gaps in infrastructure and uptake—from the physical infrastructure (e.g., fiber, cable) to speed and application performance to affordability and neighborhood effects that ultimately affect whether a technology is adopted. This paper surveys how various existing datasets can (and cannot) shed light on these gaps, the limitations of these datasets, what we know from existing data about how the Internet responded to shifts in traffic during COVID-19, and—importantly for the future—what data we need to better understand these problems moving forward and how the research community, policymakers, and the public might gain access to various data.

Keywords: digital divide,iInternet, mapping, performance

Suggested Citation

Bronzino, Francesco and Feamster, Nick and Liu, Shinan and Saxon, James and Schmitt, Paul, Mapping the Digital Divide: Before, During, and After COVID-19 (February 17, 2021). TPRC48: The 48th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3786158 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3786158

Francesco Bronzino

INRIA ( email )

Domaine de Voluceau
Rocquencourt
Chesnay, 78153
France

Nick Feamster (Contact Author)

University of Chicago ( email )

Chicago, IL
United States

Shinan Liu

University of Chicago ( email )

1101 East 58th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

James Saxon

University of Chicago / Center for Data and Computing ( email )

Chicago, IL
United States

HOME PAGE: http://saxon.cdac.uchicago.edu

Paul Schmitt

Princeton University ( email )

22 Chambers Street
Princeton, NJ 08544-0708
United States

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