Recently in Research Category
The folks at the Pew Internet and American Life Project produce some of America's most sane and useful research about the Internet. So two of their latest documents are worth attention:
In "Why We Don't Know Enough About Broadband in the U.S.," author John B. Horrigan notes that "Networks may be global, but measurement must be local." It offers a strong call for more data, better data and more granular data - that is, information at the smallest possible level. There's are bills in both the House and Senate to achieve this, and they need only a nudge (and a joint conference to resolve difference) to make them law. Sooner is better, in this case.
Pew also released the record of a conference they held on the issue of measuring broadband, with a wealth of ideas on how governments at every level can assist and speed the process. In the wake of such notable successes as the KentuckyConnect project, every state should pay close attention to this record and its suggestions.
Two other factoids of note in these documents: First, that half of all Americans now have a broadband connection at home. Second, that broadband adoption has occurred more rapidly in American than any other major technology in our history. Both of these should give pause to legislators and regulators who are wringing their hands over the OECD rankings or scurrying to impose new regulations on the Internet.
