The economic impact of digital exclusion

• Digital Impact Group

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12 March 2010In the US, over 100 million individuals representing over 40 million households do not use broadband because they cannot access it, cannot afford it, do not know how to use it, or are not aware of its benefits.  This “digital divide” is costly not only for the digitally excluded but for businesses, government, and the nation as a whole.  In response, the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue to Congress a National Broadband Plan, which “shall seek to ensure that all people of the US have access to broadband capability and shall establish benchmarks for meeting that goal.”  In support of this effort, Digital Impact Group and Econsult Corporation have produced this assessment of the economic impact of digital exclusion. 
 
This report develops a taxonomy of negative economic impacts associated with digital exclusion, articulates the mechanisms through which digital exclusion has adverse impacts, and qualitatively and quantitatively evaluates categories of significant impact.