In this session, we will present the results of the Human-Centered Infrastructure Design project, a year-long research project conducted by a team at Michigan State University. Our work seeks to understand the complex connectivity landscape that rural people face, and how we might design future infrastructure from an explicitly rural perspective. Broadband disconnection is often seen as a disadvantage for rural and remote communities. However, rural residents frequently perceive there to be many advantages of being disconnected and often choose their rural life for these advantages. Drawing from the findings of our study conducted in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we will use an assets-based framework, borrowed from asset-based community development, to translate how we can leverage assets and deficits productively when thinking about rural infrastructure. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how rural residents balance issues of connectivity with their desire to be disconnected.

Discover the pivotal role of collaboration in network success at our upcoming presentation. We will delve into compelling stories of prosperous alliances that have yielded immense value, both in West Michigan and across the nation.

We will unveil actionable strategies and tactics that can be seamlessly integrated into your local broadband development initiatives. Join us for an insightful session that promises to equip you with the knowledge and tools needed to foster meaningful partnerships, amplify the impact of your network endeavors, and pave the way for a connected future.

Broadband “equity” used to mean ensuring every person in every community had access to a fast, reliable broadband connection. Today, what we consider equity has greatly expanded to encompass the assets and resources needed to ensure that every person not only has access, but also has the devices, skills, and affordable plan needed to support their success in daily living, work, healthcare, education, and more. Michigan's digital equity plan has been released, defining the scope, priorities, and budget allocations for digital inclusion programming throughout the state. But what does that mean for rural and tribal communities already facing chronic resource stress and without some of the programs and supports already available to their urban and suburban counterparts? In this informative and actionable session, attendees will learn more about how rural and tribal communities can effectively identify their current resources, think in new ways, and form digital equity partnerships and programs across counties, regions, and the state.

ISPs and communities often get so caught up in the idea of bringing all fiber to their citizens that they wait until too late to ensure the network they want actually gets built. Construction of the network runs at 70-80% of the total cost. In this session, attendees will hear when to engage their construction company to ensure a quality build and sustainability. Traverse City will relate to how their actual build went and lessons learned through the physical deployment.

The Digital Opportunities Compass framework was developed to guide state and local digital equity policy and planning holistically, establish a shared framework to set goals and priorities, identify opportunities, and monitor progress toward these goals. The framework was developed in partnership with researchers at Merit, the Quello Center at MSU, the Digital Equity Research Center at the Metropolitan New York Library Council, and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance.

Since its publication, the Compass framework has undergone numerous trials in formal and informal environments. Recurring feedback from digital equity advocates and practitioners has expressed a need for a simple usage guide for the Compass, guided consultation processes, and an online self-help application, among others. Merit Network is currently facilitating a pilot project involving three communities in Michigan. Participants in this program are leveraging the Compass to develop a research-backed holistic digital opportunities strategy, understand long-term assessment of programs and strategies, and create a roadmap of next steps, including infrastructure planning, connectivity and sentiment analysis, measurements of digital literacy and education needs, and feasibility studies. These strategies can provide support for future digital equity grant narratives.

This endeavor will additionally shape future tools and publications for digital equity practitioners based on the principles in this framework. Through the pilot process, researchers will also better understand how communities and practitioners perceive, experience, and envision the development of a sustainable, comprehensive digital equity strategy. Secondly, researchers can study the ways in which broadband task forces, organizations, and communities utilize data from these qualitative investigations to broaden their perspective while devising their strategies.

This session explores the experiences of pilot counties as they develop long-term digital equity strategies and create healthy digital ecosystems leveraging the Digital Opportunities Compass framework.

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are currently working on digital equity plans. One key component of the plans is the state’s vision for digital equity, a unique opportunity for states to articulate how digital equity would transform their state. Through surveys, community meetings, interviews, conversations, and a collaborative writing process with community contributors, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society arrived at ten Principles for Digital Equity Visions, organized around five themes, to help guide both the process and the resulting visions of digital equity.

Attendees will learn about this process and its principles. These principles are a guide to dreaming big: 1) to envision a state transformed by ubiquitous, reliable, affordable, high-speed internet access and 2) to help states “lead with equity,” intentionally identifying, amplifying, and centering the voices of people and disconnected communities most affected by the digital divide.

The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly changed how Americans viewed the importance of broadband Internet connectivity. In a short period of time, a national emergency shifted how and where people accessed work and education and how they interacted with friends and family. An inadequate infrastructure for broadband access left rural Americans and particularly rural youth at high risk. This presentation provides an overview of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted home Internet connectivity, student achievement, and the well-being of rural Michigan students. Our findings paint a picture of how rural school districts rapidly mobilized to address a national crisis. Yet, there are indications that rural communities are at risk of losing the gains in Internet connectivity rapidly achieved over the pandemic. We stress the needed for a shift in focus, going beyond filling the gaps in the infrastructure for home Internet access to ensuring that households are able to maintain access over time.