TAKING THE Measure of Broadband Adoption

1. How well-connected are we as a nation? TAKING THE Measure of Broadband Adoption James McConnaughey, Chief Economist Office of Policy Analysis and Development SHLB Conference Arlington, VA Karen Hanson, Federal Program Officer May 23, 2012 Broadband Technology Opportunities Program

2. NTIA Data Products • Availability • Adoption • Program Efficacy

3. Availability: National Broadband Map • NTIA partnership with the FCC and state and territorial governments • Granular data mapping availability for approximately 1,800 broadband providers • Visit broadbandmap.gov to explore map or download complete dataset

4. Adoption: What is meaningful? • Access is not adoption • Subscriptions don’t tell the whole story • Need to know who, where, why, and how of actual use

5. How do we measure broadband adoption? CPS Computer and Internet Use Supplement Data collected since 1994

6. Data Collections and Reports Falling Through the Net: November 1994 October 1997 December 1998 August 2000 A Nation Online: September 2001 October 2003 Networked Nation: October 2007 Digital Nation: October 2009 October 2010 July 2011

7. Comprehensive Metrics • 54,000 households • Data collection by Census Bureau • Focus on meaningful adoption

8. Extensive Characteristics • Demographics: Income, Age, Education, Gender, Race, Disability, Employment, Household Type • Geography: Population Density, States, Regions, U.S. • Technology: Connection Type, Devices Used

9. Baseline Questions • At home, does anyone in this household access the Internet using… [cable, DSL, etc.]? • Do you access the Internet at any of the following locations outside the home? [work, school, etc.] • What is the main reason that you do not have high-speed Internet access at home? [not interested, too expensive, etc.]

10. New in 2011 • When you use your cellular phone or smartphone, do you… [browse, email, social networking, etc.]? • Do you rely on the Internet for… [work, entertainment, finance, etc.]? • Which is your PRIMARY source of news or other information? [TV, Internet, etc.]

11. Meaningful Broadband Adoption • Uses: rural telemedicine, urban telework, employment searches, job training • Challenges: privacy, child online safety • Motivating Factors: reasons for going online, reasons for switching providers

12. Flashback “The 1998 data demonstrate that community access centers are particularly well used by those groups who lack access at home or at work. These same groups (such as those with lower incomes and education levels, certain minorities, and the unemployed) are also using the Internet at higher rates to search for jobs or take courses. Providing public access to the Internet will help these groups advance economically, as well as provide them the technical skills to compete professionally in today's digital economy.” -- NTIA, Falling Through the Net (1999)“…residents of households with no broadband primarily accessed the internet at work, school, or the public library.” -- NTIA + ESA, Exploring the Digital Nation (2011)

13. Data-Driven Policy: Implications of Our Research • “Don’t Need / Not Interested”  Consumer education, digital literacy • “Too Expensive”  Targeted support (e.g., USF) • “No / Inadequate Computer”  BTOP Public Computer Centers, recycled equipment

14. BTOP Goals • Programmatic goals • Moving people along the adoption continuum > competent, confident users • Focused training and skill-building • Data collection and assessment goals • What’s working? Which audiences? How? What are the barriers?

15. What will BTOP teach us about adoption? • SBA data collection: Quarterly and Annual reports • ASR Analytics: case studies, best practices, and economic/social impacts • Grantee-funded evaluations (program impact, differences among methods)

16. BTOP Quarterly and Annual Reports • Training offered: types, hours, and participants • Subscribers • Equipment purchased • Barriers to adoption • Lessons learned www2.ntia.doc.gov

17. BTOP Programmatic Evaluation • ASR Analytics evaluation contract • Goal: to identify impacts and socioeconomic outcomes of BTOP investment • Uses case studies as well as longitudinal econometric analysis • Update: Round 1 PCC/SBA case studies nearly complete

18. BTOP Grantee Strategies • Common survey questions (e.g. UAC and City of Philadelphia; Connected Living) • Common reporting platforms (e.g. CETF, One Community) • Comparative studies (One Economy)

19. How are grantees measuring meaningful broadband adoption? • Health • Employment • Family • Civic engagement

20. Sharing Data with the Field • Regular conferences and TA activities • Wiki for exchange of documents • NTIA Broadband Data Working Group

21. Wish List • Harness evaluators’ and grantees’ collective wisdom: gather and disseminate tools and data sets • Agree on “common indicators” for PCC and SBA projects • Evaluation Working Group • Using the new public dataset that “locates” and describes BTOP investments (Connecting America’s Communities map): http://www2.ntia.doc.gov/BTOPmap/