Digitunity Report focuses on ways to address Rural America’s Digital Divide — communities can spur computer donations
North Conway, New Hampshire, via Newswire.com — Rural areas in the U.S. struggle to provide residents with broadband internet access and the computers needed to maximize the benefits of online educational and economic resources.
Digitunity, a non-profit organization that has circulated nationwide press releases on the issue, describes its mission as “committed to ending the digital divide, has released a commissioned report on the potential causes and solutions to the rural digital divide.”
Scot Henley, executive director of Digitunity, said in a recent press release,
“We know the digital divide has few boundaries. It exists in large coastal cities and small towns in America’s heartland. It affects people across demographics. With this report, we now know more about why that divide exists and how communities can resolve it.”
The information cited in this story was included in a press release from Newswire.com. The release was sent to CapitolBeatOK.com, where Publisher Pat McGuigan adapted its contents. Newswire is a press release distribution platform that regularly works with news organizations around the world.
Areas with substantial internet access and usage typically have higher levels of economic and community development in comparison to those with lower levels of use, data indicates.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed in late 2021, dedicated an unprecedented amount of federal funding toward increasing broadband availability and adoption in less connected areas.
Digitunity’s report, written by Oklahoma State University professor Brian E. Whitacre, discusses the direct correlation between internet access and rural economic development. It also looks in depth at the issue of device ownership, focusing on nationwide access and usage of large-screen devices recognized as superior to smartphones in the digital equity space.
The three major segments of the report, titled “Status Quo,” “Supply,” and “Support,” cover the socio-demographics impacted, as well as the supply chain processes and support networks working to resolve the digital divide rural communities face.
The report’s findings align with Digitunity’s mission and focus on partnership networks.
“Since its inception, Digitunity has operated on the belief that community-based organizations are essential to ending the digital divide,” Henley said.
“This report clearly defines the problems facing rural communities and how they can work with organizations like Digitunity to foster the solutions to those problems.”
The original version of the press release from Newswire. can be reviewed here:
The state government of Oklahoma is working on the issue, as well as, utilizing the federal government’s delegated resources.
A story posted at The Oklahoma City Sentinel website in early December reported the Oklahoma Broadband Office is sharing a strong message: “Every Oklahoman is strongly encouraged to check their addresses for current service availability on a newly released map by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).”
The state office was created immediately after Governor Kevin Stitt signed a new law last spring, establishing the federally-funded Oklahoma Broadband Office.
The U.S. government dollars will “wind down when the project is complete,” the press release from the governor’s office said.
Digitunity’s mission is described as “to eliminate the digital divide in both rural and urban communities.”
Note: Since the 1980s, Digitunity (digitunity.org) has advanced digital inclusion by connecting donors of technology with organizations serving people in need. The mission is described as “to ensure everyone who needs a computer has one, along with robust internet connectivity and digital literacy skills.” Pat McGuigan – founder, publisher and editor of CapitolBeatOK.com – contributed to this report. Founded in 2009, CapitolBeatOK.com is an independent, non-partisan and locally-managed news service based in Oklahoma City.