December 2019

No matter where you live, rural broadband is a big issue in Virginia

Broadband deployment stands to be an economic game-changer for rural and suburban communities, and the commonwealth must continue aggressively investing in bridging the digital divide. The economic implications of broadband expansion, while not necessarily as high profile as a new corporate headquarters, are staggering. State support to build out broadband infrastructure is repaid many times over by any measure of economic outcomes. But access to the Internet goes beyond dollars and cents. This is an equity issue.

Striking Tech Findings From 2019

Every year, Pew Research Center publishes hundreds of reports, blog posts, digital essays and other studies on a wide range of topics. At the end of each year, we compile a list of some of our most noteworthy findings. These are a few striking findings related to tech policy:

U alumni in Greater Minnesota say broadband means more than just connectivity. It means productivity.

“When we ask people around the state what concerns them most,” says Bernadine Joselyn of the Blandin Foundation, “they talk about education, health care, jobs. They don’t talk about broadband access, yet broadband is the common intersection for those things. Broadband supports them all.” The Blandin Foundation, based in Grand Rapids (MN) is a private foundation funded through a $407 million trust, established to strengthen rural Minnesota communities.

Turning Barbershops into Telehealth Centers

In urban neighborhoods, where Internet service and health care can be hard to access, a novel pilot project uses local barbershops and salons as wireless hubs and hypertension screening centers.