20 Jul 2020

Resisting Technology, Appalachian Style

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It’s true that many rural areas aren’t served with the fastest broadband and the most robust cellular coverage in the U.S. But in the wake of the Cambridge Analytic a scandal in which the data from an estimated 50 million Facebook users were used to craft and inform online political advertising, it’s worth considering whether people in Appalachia are deprived of the benefits of technology – or if they’re protecting themselves from harmful effects of its misuse.

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20 Jul 2020

Broadband: A solution for rural e-Learning?

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Rural and remote learners are disadvantaged even with online provision due to poor connections. Broadband offers a potential solution. This paper looks at the initial results of a project to install broadband services in the Western Isles of Scotland. It focuses on the educational potential of broadband and the design implications for online courses. It also considers more informal kinds of learning that broadband facilitates in rural areas.

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20 Jul 2020

Remote Rural Home Based Businesses and Digital Inequalities: Understanding Needs and Expectations in a Digitally Underserved Community

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The digital economy offers home based micro-businesses in rural areas many advantages but stubborn social,economic and territorial digital divides continue to create challenges for this sector of the rural economy.Complex digital inequalities are illustrated in our case studies of the digital behavior and Internet experiences of those running micro, home based businesses in a remote, digitally underserved rural community before,during and after the deployment of broadband technology. Findings draw attention to the role and importance of fit-for-purpose broadband in promoting digital inclusion for individuals, households and small, home based businesses: in a fast changing digital national and global economy remote rural home based micro-businesses are at risk of being left behind.

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20 Jul 2020

Disconnected: Seven Lessons on Fixing the Digital Divide

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Communities across the country are in an economic race. To compete, they need employers and qualified workers, both of which require a robust information- and knowledge-sharing infrastructure. While some communities are ahead of the pack, others are falling far behind.
Broadband is a critical component in this economic race, allowing businesses large and small to reach customers, farmers to deploy resource-saving technologies, and workers to learn critical job skills.

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20 Jul 2020

DEEDP Broadband Research

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Beginning in mid-2017, DEEDP endeavored to answer several questions arising surrounding broadband and its impact on rural Missouri. Key questions included broadband’s impact on out-migration and in-migration, the impact of low services, slow speed broadband and relatively high prices compared to areas with fiber’s high-speed broadband and low prices. In the analysis the economic and social impact of high-speed broadband was both qualitatively and quantitatively presented in an easy to understand format designed for policy makers and business executives.

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