Less Internet, More Government Engagement?
BY Nancy Scola | Tuesday, December 1 2009
At the Innovation Economy Conference in DC this afternoon, Blair Levin raised the idea that one data point at play when it comes to broadband is that the third (37%, actually) of the American population who don't have regular access to high-speed Internet actually have a higher level of regular interaction with government -- offline, natch -- than the American population at large. The implication, of course, is that there's a rich cache of folks in the United States who, if they had high-speed Internet, could use it to interact with their government to their benefit. Now, my speculation would be that those statistics come from the fact that seniors who are offline get Medicare and Social Security benefits and that low-income people without broadband connect with government to get social services. Obviously, that's meaningful context as we talk about how technology is changing the interaction between citizens and their government. Fascinating stuff!
Here's the problem. Levin is heading up the FCC's Omnibus Broadband Initiative, and knows himself some broadband stats. But the research backing up this idea isn't turning itself up online. I'm running around this conference. Internet access is spotty. So consider this post a down payment on a promise to dig up this research when I get a chance. By all means, though, if you know where to find that info, pass it along.