The Digital Equity Act, an element of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, provides $2.75 billion for states’ digital equity efforts under three programs. These programs—the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program, the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, and the State Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program—are all administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). States are currently waiting on this funding to ensure that all people and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity they need to fully participate in digital life.

Older adults—aged 65+—face numerous barriers to robust digital access, adoption, and use. This funding, if dispersed, could help close the digital divide for older adults and ensure digital agency for all.

Through research with partners focused on the digital divide for older adults, the Benton Institute has examined the digital divide for seniors, how states plan to implement digital equity funding to support them, and the forward-thinking tools all digital inclusion practitioners can use to help close this divide.

What's Keeping Older Adults Offline?

In 2020, researchers at the Humana Foundation and Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) found that nearly 22 million American seniors (42 percent) did not have wireline broadband access at home.

A lack of broadband adoption among older adults not only means that they cannot reap the benefits of digital technologies; this divide also reinforces subtle and explicit biases about the use of digital technology by older adults.

Without products and services that speak to their needs, and with the perception and experience of ageism, older adults’ interest in and use of digital technologies and their own conception of their technical capacity are diminished. Digital ageism amplifies inequalities and reinforces the digital divide.

Benton Senior Fellow John Horrigan’s forthcoming analysis of American Community Survey (ACS) data from 2017 through 2023 shows that while network deployment will matter in future broadband adoption decisions, service affordability, and access to digital skills training are crucially important.

Understanding Internet Access & Use Among Older Adults

In Older Adults Online: Measuring Internet Access and Use, my colleagues and I examine the digital inclusion landscape for older adults and how digital equity stakeholders are working to connect them.

Our research focuses on the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, which allocated $1.44 billion among states, territories, and tribal governments to implement and evaluate digital equity plans.

State digital equity plans show wide variation in plans to track progress, invest in research, and evaluate efforts. States are charged with developing measurable objectives and indicators that demonstrate progress among each “covered population” across five focus areas:

1. The availability of, and affordability of access to, fixed and wireless broadband technology
2. The online accessibility and inclusivity of public resources and services
3. Digital literacy
4. Awareness of, and the use of, measures to secure the online privacy of, and cybersecurity, with respect to, an individual
5. The availability and affordability of consumer devices and technical support for those devices

The Digital Equity Act Population Viewer, compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau and NTIA, reveals that, after individuals living in rural areas and those who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group, older adults tend to be the largest covered population across all states—often more than a fifth of the population.

Covered populations are not discrete groups, but are comprised of people with overlapping identities, such as rural households and older adults, or veterans and minority groups. For example, Benton Community Broadband Specialist and Research Associate Reid Sharkey, in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs, highlights the connection between the needs of older veterans in Veterans and Digital Equity: Planning for Success.

65 is not 75 is not 85.

The needs of people in their eighties, who may have retired 20 years ago, will be different than those in their sixties who were in the workforce recently and are more likely to use digital technology there. Stratifying older adult populations is critical.

• Iowa's plan highlights a gap in “intermediate” digital skills––which can be cybersecurity protection, producing digital content, or how to find technical support for devices–– particularly for those over the age of 75. The state plans to fund a network of digital navigators to provide training and statewide digital resource connections to meet the needs of aging individuals. Iowa also plans to create local networks of intergenerational education providers or quick tech problem solvers like “Tech Buddies” to help augment the digital navigator network.

Leverage federal quantitative data, but do not lose sight of qualitative data.

The federal government collects a trove of data about the economy, health care, technology, and numerous other fields. These datasets can provide state-wide measures applicable to digital equity efforts.

• For older adults specifically, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) runs the nationally representative, longitudinal Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. In addition to questions about health status and health insurance, the survey includes questions about internet access and how people use that access to seek information, particularly for health purposes.
• A 2024 CMS data brief was focused on internet access among Medicare beneficiaries in urban and rural areas and found that while 91 percent have access in urban areas, that metric drops to 86 percent in rural areas. Nearly a third (32 percent) of beneficiaries in urban areas used the internet to fill a prescription in the past year, compared with just 22 percent in rural areas.

Qualitative research is critical for covered populations.

While the Digital Equity Act programs are focused on quantitative baseline measurements, states should invest in methodologically rigorous qualitative research to develop nuanced insights that are particularly relevant for designing programs that meet people’s needs.

• For online accessibility of public resources, qualitative research can uncover how older adults, people with disabilities, and people dealing with language barriers encounter and navigate public resources online in their everyday lives.
• In terms of digital literacy, in-depth interviews and focus groups can reveal what digital skills are of the most relevance and interest to older adults, and the pedagogical approach best suited to them.
• With regard to online privacy and cybersecurity, understanding people’s everyday digital practices can reveal vulnerabilities that surveys about their knowledge of password managers cannot.

Partnerships Enable Progress

During a Benton Institute webinar, Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) Digital Community Investment Director Julia Brinjac highlighted state partnerships as a way to collect and analyze data, integrate statewide efforts on digital inclusion for older adults, and set the digital equity agenda long-term. Solidifying these partnerships and building a strong digital equity ecosystem over time ensures that states can keep up with evaluation efforts and use this human infrastructure of broadband to evolve with the needs of older adults as they––and digital equity programs––age.

Creating Digital Opportunities for Older Adults

The Digital Equity Act has created a mandate—and an opportunity—to ensure that older Americans can access, afford, and use the internet and connected devices to enhance their quality of life. These efforts must be grounded in robust data, rely on thoughtful, inclusive research practices, and be supported by policy.

In Colorado, the Boulder Public Library offers digital navigation support to its patrons. Two digital navigators help roughly 80 residents every month, mostly older adults, troubleshoot devices or learn critical digital skills. However, the recent cuts to nearly $400 million in grants to AmeriCorps by the Department of Government Efficiency terminated those roles and that crucial personal support to older adults.  

Congress’s goal in the Digital Equity Act is to ensure all the covered populations, including all older Americans, can fully participate in our digital world. Cuts to existing programs and uncertainty about the implementation of the DEA are undermining digital inclusion efforts nationwide.

More in This Series

• Threats to Digital Equity Act Programs Will Leave Veterans Disconnected

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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