Digital Equity
The sudden and unprecedented transition to digital learning, business and other operations in 2020 during the Covid pandemic highlighted technology access and infrastructure barriers. Access to high-speed internet and digital skills isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Whether for education, job opportunities, or disaster recovery, everyone deserves the tools to succeed in the digital world. Working closely with co-principal investigator Dr. Carolyn Butts-Wilmsmeyer of SIUE’s Center for Predictive Analytics, OCE Director Dr. Connie Frey Spurlock co-led the Broadband Regional Engagement for Adoption + Digital Equity (READY) for Southwest Illinois between 2022-2026. The Southwest Region includes counties with significantly different broadband realities. Urban areas face adoption, affordability, and literacy gaps despite infrastructure availability, while many rural communities experience unserved and underserved households. Digital inequities include lack of computing devices, smartphone dependence, limited subscriptions, and literacy obstacles.
OCE worked with students and faculty in the SIU system, and partnered with local, regional and state officials, public libraries, community and faith-based leaders, schools and non-profits to connect with residents and assess their access to the internet, technology, and digital skills. The READY team then shared hands-on training, education and resources tailored to each community’s specific digital needs and distributed more than 200 free computers.
The Southwest Region Broadband READY dashboard makes digital equity data visible and usable for communities, local leaders, and regional partners. The dashboard integrates qualitative interviews, provider comparisons, broadband need indicators, poverty-aligned data, GIS overlays, sentiment analysis, and ZIP-code-level insights. The final report on the Broadband READY project shares more specific information as well.
