Samantha Schartman and Angela Siefer: A Call to the Research Community

The digital equity movement is at a turning point. After nearly two decades of tireless work by community leaders, advocates, and public agencies to close the digital divide, key federal programs intended to drive long-term progress are unraveling.

The cancellation of the Digital Equity Act by this administration and the ending of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) has left communities with fewer tools and less funding just as momentum was building. And now the Commerce Department appears intent to return BEAD non-deployment funds to the Treasury, rather than allowing states to invest them in programs that drive adoption of BEAD-funded networks. All while the rise of AI and other emerging technologies is creating more need than ever for digital fluency. These setbacks underscore the fact that we cannot rely solely on temporary programs or shifting political will to sustain affordable digital access and use.

Recognizing that technology keeps changing, as does how we use technology, we must continually address the need for connectivity and digital skills, with models that are resilient, measurable, and financially sustainable.

Why this matters now

We have both seen the transformative power of digital skills training. When someone learns to navigate a job application, attend a virtual doctor’s visit, or complete an online course, it changes the trajectory of their life. These outcomes ripple outward, strengthening local economies, boosting productivity, and reducing pressure on public services.

Yet, digital inclusion work is rarely recognized as an economic engine. Instead, it is often treated as charity or compliance. We need more research and data to challenge this assumption.

In 2018, following the conclusion of the last major federal investment in digital inclusion through BTOP, we co-authored the Connecting Cuyahoga report to explore how community access to technology drives economic development. That moment, like today, saw a surge of interest but a lack of sustainable models or significant philanthropic funding. Now, with another cycle of time-limited funding and the cancellation of historic federal investments, we must create the funding structures that can sustain the tech access and skills that will propel our nation.

Through the Alternative Funding Working Group — a forum we’ve created to develop sustainable models — we’re returning to this question with renewed urgency, exploring co-investments, equity covenants, and revenue-sharing mechanisms that could help communities sustain digital inclusion work by reinvesting the economic value these programs create. The field needs systems-level change if we’re to continue growing and delivering impact in the long term.  

We are both hearing from local leaders across the country asking for help on how to keep programs running after federal funds expire. But without targeted data and models, they’re flying blind.

What we need from the research community

This is where we need your help. We are calling on researchers, economists, and data scientists to work with us in exploring questions such as:

• What program models currently support long-term sustainability? We need real-world evaluations of which models work, and under what conditions.
• How can we measure the economic value created through skill acquisition and adoption at the program or participant level? This might include income gains, employment outcomes, decreased benefit dependency, or cost savings to public and private systems.
• What systems-level mechanisms can capture this value and reinvest it back into program funding? Are there ways to build repayment models, shared-benefit agreements, or other tools into the digital inclusion ecosystem?

These questions are not just academic. They are central to whether communities will have the capacity to keep helping people access and benefit from technology five, ten, or twenty years from now.

Let’s build the evidence together

This is about moving towards a future where digital inclusion programs are valued not just for their moral imperative but for their measurable impact. A future where a person’s ability to access the internet and continually develop digital skills leads to economic mobility, and a portion of that value flows back to support the programs that made it possible.

We are building this field together. To sustain it, we need the data and models to match our ambitions

If you are working on these questions — or want to — connect with us on LinkedIn: Samantha Schartman of Connect Humanity and Angela Siefer of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. Together, we can shape our shared digital future and ensure the systems we create today endure.

Samantha Schartman is Director of Programs at Connect Humanity, where she leads the Appalachia Digital Accelerator and advances sustainable financing models to scale digital adoption. She was previously CEO of The Marconi Society, where she co-created the Digital Inclusion Leadership Certificate with Arizona State University, and before that she co-directed the Connect Your Community Initiative which trained, equipped, and connected 33,000 first-time computer users across five states.

Angela Siefer is Executive Director at the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. Angela has worked in digital inclusion since 1997, from setting up community computer labs to advising the U.S. Department of Commerce and testifying before Congress. In 2015, Angela founded NDIA to advance digital equity, and her leadership has been recognized with numerous national awards, including Google.org’s Leaders to Watch and Public Knowledge’s Internet Protocol Award.

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