2023–24 Projects:
Advisor: Amy Csizmar Dalal, F/W
Among the many inequalities the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted is the digital divide: the gulf between those who have ready access to computing resources, including Internet access, and those who do not. The digital divide is certainly not a new issue, but it's a particularly thorny one. A person may lack computing resources and/or Internet access due to a variety of factors: socioeconomic, geographic, etc.
Given how much of our lives we live online, access to consistent, high-speed Internet connectivity has become somewhat of a necessity. This puts those from lower-income and/or geographically isolated communities at a disadvantage. In non-pandemic times, people may have options such as public libraries which, while not perfect, provide a partial solution. When libraries and private businesses with Internet access are closed, Internet access is not available. When schools are also closed and learning has moved online, this lack of Internet access causes students living in these environments to fall even further behind their peers and lose out on their right to an education. Alternately, it forces students into potentially perilous positions, such as seeking out public places that are still open, thus opening them up to a greater risk of infection.
Like many municipalities, Northfield has struggled to cobble together semi-workable, "band-aid" solutions. Faribault, just south of Northfield and with a lower socioeconomic profile, has similar struggles. Northfield's Healthy Communities Initiative is particularly interested in exploring better, more sustainable, long term solutions: government-supported Internet, public-private collaborations, etc. They'd like to know: what have other municipalities done that's worked? what might work here? what are our best options? This is where you come in.
In this project, you will develop and present a recommendation to the Healthy Communities Initiative for equitable community-wide Internet access in Northfield. Doing so will require the following:
Review the depth and scope of the technical problems with Internet connectivity in Northfield. Who are the ISPs, and whom do they serve? What do connection speeds look like in different parts of the city? How consistent are these? Where are the "holes" in connectivity? Where are the "dead zones"?
Learn about the different broadband technologies: DSL, cable, fiber, 5G, WiMax, etc. How do each of these work? What are the technical requirements and limitations of each?
Unfortunately, there are politics around the various broadband technologies. What are some of these issues? How do these influence which technologies are made available to different regions and populations?
Review the depth and scope of the economic issues around Internet connectivity in Northfield. How much does a connection cost each month? What percentage of Northfield residents do not have Internet connectivity? How do landlords shape/limit access?
Research what municipalities of a similar size and/or demographic profile have deployed to ensure equitable Internet access. What solutions have they tried? What would be involved? What is the cost? What's worked, and what's failed?
Determine what options might be feasible here. What is the city willing to provide? What private companies might get involved? Who might we recruit as stakeholders? What could a partnership look like?
Develop a recommendation to present to the Healthy Communities Initiative (and possibly to the City of Northfield) for how to proceed.
Students who are particularly interested in public policy, and combining this interest with computer science, would be an excellent fit for this project. Some knowledge of computer networks is helpful, but not necessary. (If you plan on taking Computer Networks in Fall Term, this project would be a nice complement to that course, allowing you to apply what you've learned to a real world issue.)
Note that this project will require you to meet with many different constituencies and stakeholders, and conduct interviews. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the city you've called home for the past few years, and to leave a lasting impact when you graduate.
Lesley Chiou and Catherine Tucker. "Social distancing, Internet access, and Inequality." NBER Working Paper Series, April 2020.
Emmanuel Martinez. "How many Americans lack high speed Internet?" The Markup, March 26, 2020.
Jeff Ondich. "Briefing: Rural Broadband". Technical report, December 11, 2019.
Jon Brodkin. "Frontier, amid bankruptcy, is suspected of lying about broadband expansion." Ars Technica, May 1, 2020.
TBD