The Human Infrastructure of Broadband: Looking Back, Looking Around, and Looking Ahead

A Benton Institute for Broadband & Society publication written by Amelia Bryne and Dr. Revati Prasad

To help bridge the digital divide, the U.S. federal government committed $65 billion through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to address broadband availability, affordability, and adoption. This included $2.75 billion for the Digital Equity Act, which aims “to ensure that all people and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of our digital economy." Importantly, Digital Equity Act funds do not primarily support physical broadband infrastructure—which is the focus of federal investments through the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program—but the human infrastructure of broadband.

The human infrastructure of broadband refers to the people and organizations who provide direct support to individuals to access affordable internet and devices and teach people the digital skills necessary to make use of connectivity and fully participate in modern society.

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.

This report is the first piece of a larger research effort by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and several collaborating organizations that aims to help both policymakers and practitioners better understand:

  1. What constitutes the human infrastructure of broadband;
  2. How this human infrastructure helps people, particularly historically marginalized communities, make meaningful use of the internet (i.e., its value in advancing digital equity or opportunity goals);
  3. How an investment in human infrastructure is necessary to ensure a return on investment in the physical infrastructure;
  4. What program models and approaches can be replicated or scaled; and, most crucially,
  5. How we can and should support and sustain this work and continue to strive toward digital equity even after current federal investments have ended.