Making it Count: Applying Science to Support Universal Broadband

New theme of articles released in Choices magazine

In a new theme of articles released in Choices magazine, a series of papers resulting from a two-conference series about closing the digital divide, especially for rural areas. Supported by a conference grant from the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the conference was originally framed to ask whether there was a relationship between demand for broadband to enable smart agriculture and the availability of broadband for nearby rural communities. At a time when national, state, and local governments were expending significant resources to provide or incentivize broadband availability to rural communities and their outlying farms, it seemed critical to understand how farmers’ demand for broadband might complement the provision of broadband to rural communities—sparking a virtuous cycle of higher agricultural productivity and increased adoption among consumers and other rural industries, leading to greater rural prosperity.

Articles in this theme:

• The Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric, Rural America, and Agriculture
  Christina Biedny and Brian E. Whitacre
• Informing Broadband Policy Decisions with Better Data
  Christina M. Sanders, Michael J. Gaffney, Debra Hansen, and Monica Babine
• Integrating Research and Extension to Improve Community Participation in Broadband Projects
  Casey Canfield, Sarah A. Low, Christel Gollnick, and Debra Davis
• Innovation and Digital Connectivity: Comparative Policy Approaches for Connecting Rural Communities in the United States and Canada
  Helaina Gaspard and Paul Manuel Aviles Baker
• What Does COVID-19 Mean for the Workplace of the Future?
  David W. Hughes, David Willis, and Harry Crissy
• Federal Funding Challenges Inhibit a Twenty-First Century “New Deal” for Rural Broadband
  Jamie Greig and Hannah Nelson

If you are interested in setting up an interview, please contact Allison Ware in the AAEA Business Office.

ABOUT AAEA: Established in 1910, the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the leading professional association for agricultural and applied economists, with 2,500 members in more than 60 countries. Members of the AAEA work in academic or government institutions as well as in industry and not-for-profit organizations, and engage in a variety of research, teaching, and outreach activities in the areas of agriculture, the environment, food, health, and international development. The AAEA publishes three journals, the Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (an open access journal), the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, as well as the online magazine Choices and the online open access publication series Applied Economics Teaching Resources. To learn more, visit www.aaea.org.

Contact: Allison Ware
Senior Communications & Membership Manager
(414) 918-3190
Email: aware@aaea.org