December 4, 2020
UW researchers work to decrease the digital divide in the Puget Sound region
While the internet is so critical for employment, education and communication, millions of Americans in rural and urban areas still do not have access to affordable connections. This lack of access further contributes to digital and economic inequality, especially during a pandemic when many schools and jobs have been moved online. A team of University of Washington researchers, led by professor Kurtis Heimerl of the Allen School’s Information & Communications Technology for Development Lab and his graduate student, Esther Jang are helping to address this problem right here in Washington.
With support from the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN), the group which includes UW Tacoma urban studies professor Emma Slager, and Jason Young, a senior research scientist in the Information School, is deploying networks that will bring new, inexpensive, community-owned connectivity to marginalized communities in Seattle and Tacoma. The UW is one of 25 universities to receive a PIT-UN grant, which was created to fund critical research and build an inclusive career pipeline to advance the field of public interest technology.
Community cellular networks are owned and operated by the community they serve with the help of public and local organizations such as schools, nonprofits, community centers, makerspaces, libraries, small businesses, and tiny house villages. Leveraging their expertise in working with community cellular networks internationally, the team deployed a new network with a local connectivity non-profit, the Tacoma Community Network (TCN), to bring inexpensive, community-owned connectivity to the Hilltop community in the third largest city in Washington.