The vast majority of funding in the immense Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is focused on building physical networks to locations where people are unconnected or insufficiently connected. Investments and research have traditionally privileged the wires and poles of broadband infrastructure without accounting for or making explicit the human infrastructure needed to enable digital opportunity. But fiber-optic cables may just be glass in the ground if people cannot subscribe to and use high-speed internet access. The human infrastructure of broadband is the necessary social and relational complement to the work of building physical infrastructure.

The human infrastructure of broadband helps people—including, but not limited to, traditionally marginalized groups—access and make meaningful use of broadband. Whether it is a librarian helping a veteran fill out an online benefits application at a public computer, a digital navigator assisting a senior citizen in signing up for affordable home broadband, a digital skills trainer teaching social media privacy in Spanish, or a device refurbisher helping students find devices to use at home—all comprise the human infrastructure of broadband.

The term “infrastructure” underlines that the work of these librarians, digital navigators, digital skills trainers, device refurbishers, and others is foundational. The work of connecting people to devices, broadband service, and skills is the undergirding that will allow a digital society and economy to flourish and benefit us all.

The Human Infrastructure of Broadband At Work: The Three Cs

As part of our research, we analyzed the goals of the organizations that formed the human infrastructure of broadband. We found projects that either are centrally concerned with digital equity in and of itself or focus on digital equity because it is instrumental to achieving broader social goals. The two program models, core and complementary, categorize projects according to this difference in mission. We also found programs that brought together multiple organizations. The coalition program model may not provide direct services but helps coordinate work, pool resources, and leverage collective capacity, particularly to advocate for their members. The organizations that make up a coalition may be classified as core or complementary, but assembled together, they focus on digital equity. Delineating these models and their subtypes clarifies their comparative advantages and limitations and points to avenues for garnering resources and support.

To provide concrete examples of core, complementary, and coalition models, we are releasing a series of organizational profiles that delve deeply into how these program models and their subtypes function, the problems they are best suited to solve or populations they are best suited to reach, and the support they need to succeed. The profiles are diverse in terms of sources of funding, geographic location, and tenure in the digital inclusion field. 

Profoundly Human Work

This work of making physical infrastructure usable and useful to people is a profoundly human activity. From helping people evaluate their options for broadband service and devices to understanding what they can learn to do with them requires direct interaction. These interactions require patience to explain (and perhaps explain again) how to do something that may have become second nature to many of us—and the humility to know that evolving technologies can leave us behind too.

Although the term is new, the human infrastructure of broadband is not, nor is it static. This human support has evolved alongside the internet, computers, and the ongoing digitization of our culture and society. As the nation prepares to invest in these people, organizations, and programs, policymakers and practitioners must understand the need for and needs of the human infrastructure of broadband in order to ensure the equitable and sustainable use of physical infrastructure.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society led this research project in close collaboration with a research advisory committee of prominent leaders and researchers in the field:

• Larra Clark, American Library Association
• Colin Rhinesmith, Digital Equity Research Center, Metropolitan New York Library Council
• Caroline Stratton, National Digital Inclusion Alliance

NDIA and the Public Library Association (a division of the American Library Association) also contributed critical data and research about ongoing work in the field. 

For more, see The Human Infrastructure of Broadband: Looking Back, Looking Around, and Looking Ahead.

Dr. Revati Prasad is the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society's Vice President of Programs. 

More in this series:

• At the Denver Public Library, People Skills are the Most Important Quality When Choosing Digital Navigators
• The Mercedes Library Exemplifies a Vital Effort to Promote Digital Independence
• How Everyone On Navigates Change to Deliver Digital Equity
• Free Geek, Devices, and Digital Equity
• Mass General Brigham Understands that Digital Equity Supports Health Equity
• Northwest Center Engages Community, Advances Digital Skills
• The Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Leans Into Collaboration
• North Carolina Community College System Brings the Classroom to the Learners
• Digital Connect Makes Digital Navigation Approachable
• Black Churches 4 Digital Equity: Community Anchors and Committed Advocates
• Seattle's Equity-Based Approach
• The Kūpuna Collective: A Public Health Coalition Advancing Digital Equity
• What We Know About the Human Infrastructure of Broadband
• The Human Infrastructure of Broadband: Looking Back, Looking Around, and Looking Ahead

Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
1041 Ridge Rd, Unit 214
Wilmette, IL 60091
847-220-4531
headlines AT benton DOT org