UNIVERSAL BROADBAND ADOPTION: How To Get There, And Why America Needs It Universal Broadband Adoption: How to Get There, And Why America Needs It TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................9 PART ONE – THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE: CLOSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE.....................................................11 Chapter 1 – The Importance of Broadband to Minorities............................................................12 Why Connecting the Unconnected to Broadband Helps Everyone on the Network.............................12 How People of Color Use Broadband.............................................................................................13 8 Reasons to Adopt Broadband Now..............................................................................................14 Minorities Embrace Internet Access in the Palm of their Hands.....................................................16 How to Sustain Innovation in the Wireless Sector...........................................................................17 Further Evidence of a Looming Spectrum Crisis.............................................................................18 Chapter 2 – Minorities and The Digital Divide.............................................................................19 Why Broadband is the Top Civil Rights Issue of the 21st Century...................................................19 Why the Unconnected are Second-Class Digital Citizens..............................................................20 Coming to Terms with Our Nation’s Persistent – and Evolving – Digital Divide..............................21 Adding Fuel to the Fire: Assessing NTIA’s Broadband Adoption Study...........................................22 The State of Race in America and What is Means for Broadband..................................................23 Hispanic Population Growth and Broadband Adoption...................................................................24 Our Technology Obsession Misses the Mark — Adoption is the Issue that Matters Most..............25 PART TWO – THE BENEFITS OF BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY........................................................27 Chapter 3 – Broadband and Economic Empowerment ................................................................28 The Role of Broadband in Job Creation..........................................................................................28 Cloud Computing and Economic Empowerment............................................................................29 Assessing the Economic Impacts of Broadband on Women and Racial Minorities........................30 World Economic Forum: Broadband is the Pivot Point for Economic Change................................31 Minorities, Broadband and Employment: A Circular Problem.........................................................32 Startling Minority Employment Gap in High Tech Sector.................................................................33 Oh, The Unemployment Rate is Frightful...Broadband is Needed to Make it Delightful.................34 The Importance of Virtual Job Fairs................................................................................................35 National Urban League’s Call to Action for Minority Unemployment...............................................36 Online Shopping is the Way of the Future......................................................................................37 5 Chapter 4 – Broadband and Education..........................................................................................39 Embracing Educational Technology................................................................................................39 How Today’s Youth Use Broadband................................................................................................40 Digital Literacy: Investing in Our Children.......................................................................................41 Using Broadband to Transform Education in the Classroom..........................................................42 Who Falls Behind, When Homework Goes Online?.......................................................................43 Online Education in K-12 Schools — Testing the Limits of Broadband Access..............................44 Where Do You Go for Internet Access When the Library is Closed?..............................................45 Using Broadband to Level the Playing Field in Higher Education...................................................46 Distance Learning is the Future — but for Everyone?....................................................................48 Distance Learning’s Role Could Grow as Colleges Cut Faculty.....................................................49 Protecting Our Children Online: Priority Number One for Parents in the Digital Age.....................50 Chapter 5 – Broadband and Civic Engagement.............................................................................52 Another Layer of the Broadband Adoption Story: Civic Engagement.............................................52 The President on Facebook: A New Way to Make Age-Old Connections.......................................53 Politics in the Internet Age..............................................................................................................54 Tune Out the Political Poison – and Use the Web to Make Up Your Own Mind.............................55 The YouTube Revolution: From the Trivial to the Tunisia Uprising.................................................56 The Story of Egypt and the Lesson for America: Connectivity Can Make a Difference..................57 Chapter 6 – Broadband and Healthcare..........................................................................................60 Broadband is Key to Healthcare Reform........................................................................................60 Progress on the Telemedicine Front...............................................................................................60 The Rapid Rise of Mobile Healthcare..............................................................................................62 Using Telemedicine to Reach Minorities in Underserved Areas.....................................................63 Chapter 7 – Broadband and Energy...............................................................................................64 Smart Grid, Smart Nation................................................................................................................64 Smart Homes: The Future is Now...................................................................................................65 Smarter Cars: Driving in the Right Direction Toward Greater Energy Efficiency.............................66 An Enhanced Federal Focus on the Smart Grid.............................................................................67 Chapter 8 – Broadband and The Media..........................................................................................69 The Social Consequences of Broadband: The Transformation of the Media and Its Impact on Non-Adopters............................................................................................................69 Minorities and American Media in the Digital Age...........................................................................70 6 Broadband and Sirius XM................................................................................................................71 Big Voice, Big Heart, and a Big Life Change: How Broadband Took Ted Williams from the Side of the Road to the NBC Studios..................................................................................72 Broadband Delivers an Important Message: “I Love My Hair”........................................................73 Part Three – Public and Private Sector Efforts to Close the Divide.......................75 Chapter 9 – The Role of Federal, State and Local Government in Closing the Digital Divide.....................................................76 President Barack Obama’s National Wireless Initiative..................................................................76 State of the Digital Union................................................................................................................77 Assessing the President’s Innovation Plan.....................................................................................78 Mapping the Way Forward: NTIA Releases Interactive Broadband Map.......................................79 An Introduction to the Universal Service Fund: How it Can be Used to Bolster Broadband Adoption.................................................................80 Introducing E-Rate: The Federal Fund for Enhancing Broadband in Schools................................82 Introducing Lifeline and Link-Up: Two Programs That Could Bolster Broadband Adoption............83 Moving Forward with USF Reform..................................................................................................83 Exploring Alternate Uses for Broadcast TV Spectrum....................................................................85 Why Online Privacy Matters...........................................................................................................85 Taxing Digital Goods: We Need a National Framework....................................................................87