The Time is Now: Bridging the Urban-Rural Digital Divide

Fiber Broadband Association

Wednesday, December 15, 2021 - 10:00am to 10:30am
Time Zone: 
EST
Virtual Event

The internet has become a ubiquitous part of daily life and has become essential for education, financial services, social services, and more. And yet, an estimated 42 million people in America continue to lack broadband in the US. This disproportionately affects the elderly, people of color, low-income populations, and those who live in rural areas. These populations are left digitally invisible and unable to participate in the modern economy and ways of life. However, the Biden administration’s recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides hope for rapid broadband deployment across the country, to alleviate the digital divide.

In this Fiber for Breakfast, Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Director of the Center for Technology Policy, speaks to the importance of closing the rural-urban digital divide, and the importance of digital equity for all. Drawing from her experiences documented in her forthcoming book, “Digitally Invisible: How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass”, she details what more must be done to close the digital divide.