---
title: "New Report Outlines Key Ways to Make Digital Inclusion Programs Successful"
summary: |-
  An estimated 98 percent of Americans have access to broadband Internet service, yet 10 percent of households don’t have a subscription. To close this persistent digital divide, policymakers need better, more up-to-date data on the reasons people haven’t adopted Internet service, and digital inclusion programs need to be tailored to specific barriers.
date: "2023-05-01"
content_type: "Press Releases"
canonical_url: "https://itif.org/publications/2023/05/01/new-report-outlines-key-ways-to-make-digital-inclusion-programs-successful/"
---

# New Report Outlines Key Ways to Make Digital Inclusion Programs Successful

WASHINGTON—An estimated 98 percent of Americans have access to broadband Internet service, yet 10 percent of households don’t have a subscription. To close this persistent digital divide, policymakers need better, more up-to-date data on the reasons people haven’t adopted Internet service, and digital inclusion programs need to be tailored to specific barriers, according to a [new report](https://itif.org/publications/2023/05/01/the-digital-inclusion-outlook-what-it-looks-like-and-where-its-lacking/) from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

“You can’t address problems that you don’t measure well enough,” said Jessica Dine, an ITIF research assistant who authored the report. “Achieving digital inclusion requires a comprehensive understanding of the digital divide and standardized methods for overcoming barriers. At this point, we know the problem has more to do with adoption than deployment. But there is a great deal we don’t know about why people choose not to get online. Is it digital literacy, or lack of awareness of low-cost options, or some other reason? The obstacles can be highly interrelated, and gaps fall largely around groups that have historically been marginalized in other ways. Policymakers need to address all the sources of the problem individually.”

The report explores the myriad reasons Americans do not subscribe to a home broadband connection, citing the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Internet Use Survey. Despite being the most authoritative, comprehensive source on the matter, NTIA’s survey leaves some room for clarification. For example, in asking nonadopters why they don’t have Internet service, one possible answer is “not interested,” which leaves a serious lack of clarity about why respondents aren’t interested. Nonetheless, ITIF’s report concludes NTIA’s questionnaire is still the best starting place for understanding the non-adoption landscape.

According to the report, to reach households who are unwilling to use the Internet in the first place, digital inclusion efforts must focus on areas like increasing the households’ digital literacy. When individual knowledge and digital skills aren’t enough to get people online, ITIF recommends boosting digital navigator programs to help fill the remaining gaps. Digital navigators are trusted local individuals who guide people through the process of getting online, from applying to low-cost plans to learning how to use online resources.

While ITIF emphasizes that digital inclusion efforts should tackle the different reasons for non-adoption individually, there are four attributes that make such programs effective across the board:

1. Digital inclusion efforts are flexible enough to reach remaining offline groups of Americans in various, targeted ways.
2. At higher levels, standards used for digital inclusion programs are consistent across large areas, even if the precise means of achieving the standards vary depending on local needs.
3. Data informing digital inclusion efforts is accurate.
4. Collaboration and partnerships with organizations that already have preexisting roots in communities are key.

The report concludes by pointing out how data on digital inclusion can improve. ITIF recommends that NTIA update its Internet Use Survey to make the questions clearer and calls for an ongoing effort to collect up-to-date, standardized digital literacy statistics.

“The goal of digital inclusion efforts is to ensure that anybody choosing to remain offline is doing so out of a fully informed, genuine lack of interest rather than a reaction to some barrier,” said Dine. “That will happen if we first work to fully understand the problem of non-adoption with accurate and updated data and target solutions to existing barriers.”

[Read the report.](https://itif.org/publications/2023/05/01/the-digital-inclusion-outlook-what-it-looks-like-and-where-its-lacking/)

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*Source: Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF)*
*URL: https://itif.org/publications/2023/05/01/new-report-outlines-key-ways-to-make-digital-inclusion-programs-successful/*