Research

Reports that employ attempts to inform communications policymaking in a systematically and scientific manner.

Cybersecurity High-Risk Series: Challenges in Protecting Privacy and Sensitive Data

Federal systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks. The GAO has made 236 recommendations in public reports since 2010 with respect to protecting cyber critical infrastructure. Until these are fully implemented, federal agencies will be more limited in their ability to protect private and sensitive data entrusted to them. In September 2022, GAO's review of 24 agencies found that most had generally established policies and procedures for key privacy program activities.

Missing Pieces: How the FCC’s Broadband Map Misrepresents Public Libraries

The Federal Communications Commission recently released a “pre-production” draft of its new National Broadband Map in an effort to provide more precise details about where internet service does and does not exist in individual locations across the US. While much attention has been paid to how the map represents broadband service for individual households, there is much less understanding among the general public with regards to how the map represents individual community anchor institutions, such as public schools, libraries, and hospitals.

The South Korean case of deploying rural broadband via fiber networks through universal service and public-private partnerships

Despite broadband being an essential infrastructure for conducting basic socio-economic activities and reducing inequality and the digital divide, expanding broadband coverage in rural areas remains a significant challenge in many countries due to high deployment costs.

Broadband Insights Report (OVBI) 4Q22

Significant increases in consumption and speeds, spurred in part by government incentives, powered broadband toward or past major milestones at the end of 2022.

Getting to the Broadband Future Efficiently with BEAD Funding

To make sure that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program funding is used efficiently and not misallocated, it is important that National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) rules for allocating those funds be based on sound economic and policy principles. Unfortunately, that is not the case presently. As framed, the BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is heavily biased to favor and fund Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) projects.

Toxic Twitter: How Twitter Generates Millions in Ad Revenue by Brining Back Banned Accounts

Since announcing his policy of a “general amnesty” for banned Twitter users in November 2022, Elon Musk has reinstated tens of thousands of accounts, including neo-Nazis, white supremacists, misogynists, and spreaders of dangerous conspiracy theories. Now new research by the Center for Countering Digital Hate estimates the value of these reinstatements to Twitter, providing further evidence that Musk’s decision to welcome them back is driven by a desperate drive for revenues. By analyzing new publicly available figures on tweet impressions, the Center estimates that just ten reinstated acco

The heterogeneous role of broadband access on establishment entry and exit by sector and urban and rural markets

Broadband access has heterogeneous effects on establishment entry and exit across industries and across urban and rural markets.  Research highlights the following points:

BEAD Program: A Framework to Allocate Funding for Broadband Availability - Version 2.0

A framework for how each state and territory can spend Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds on fixed broadband – principally fiber -- projects to connect their unserved and underserved locations. The framework includes both a national analysis and an analysis for each state with the latest data to estimate the number of unserved and underserved locations and the amount of BEAD funding that will be allocated to each jurisdiction. Includes fixed broadband deployment scenarios using that funding and matching funds from providers. 

A Handbook for the Effective Administration of State and Local Digital Equity Programs

When it comes to expanding broadband connectivity, policymakers face two major challenges: 1) ensuring that all US residents have access to high-speed fixed broadband connectivity (“availability”), and 2) ensuring that as many US residents as possible subscribe to fixed broadband (“adoption”). In other words, policymakers are tasked with making sure fixed broadband is both universally available and universally adopted.

Closing the Digital Skills Divide: The Payoff for Workers, Business, and the Economy

Even before the coronavirus pandemic began, policymakers, businesses, and workforce advocates were already recognizing that workers were not being replaced by robots, but rather, being called upon to work hand-in-glove with rapidly evolving technology. Now — as leaders design labor market policies to drive a thriving and inclusive economy — it is imperative to understand this digital transformation. The analysis finds the following: