The National Urban League, National Council of La Raza, the Asian American Justice Center, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council released a joint study which finds that broadband adoption efforts need more money and more data. The report argues that the $250 million set aside for adoption in the economic stimulus package should be a floor not a ceiling. Among the barriers, the report says, are a lack of understanding of the benefits of broadband, lack of technical knowledge and training ("digital literacy"), dearth of relevant content, language barriers, privacy concerns and other "culturally-specific" factors. To overcome that, the report says, the government, industry and groups like their own need to "paint a vision" of broadband not as a luxury, but as a necessity for participation in society.
