Internet Equity News Today

Nick Feamster, director of research for the Data Science Institute at the University of Chicago, recently joined the Light Reading Podcast to discuss his teams research based on the Internet Equity Initiative data portal, which uses Ookla Speedtest data to map out Internet inequities.

University of Chicagos Nick Feamster shares his teams work on mapping the digital divide with the Internet Equity Initiative.

The Internet Equity Initiative is analyzing data from the U.S. Census and city of Chicago Data Portal which shows 80% of Chicago households are online, but there are deep disparities between neighborhoods. In some neighborhoods, especially on the South and West sides, nearly 40% of the neighborhood doesn’t have internet.

The time is long past when the internet was just about wasting the day away on video games and social media.

University of Chicago's Data Science Institute hopes a study will influence which areas receive more infrastructure help and investment.

Citywide, about 80% of households have internet access, but researchers with the University of Chicago’s Internet Equity Initiative said there is a nearly 40 percentage-point difference between certain neighborhoods.

A new analysis by the University of Chicago has revealed vast differences in internet connectivity across the city, with some neighborhoods reporting more than one-third of households offline.