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In an historic win for broadband equity, the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program will enable a radical expansion of high-speed internet access for homes, businesses and community anchors like schools and libraries across the state of Illinois. This success story is the result of collaboration between the Illinois Broadband Lab, the University of Chicago Data Science Institute (DSI) and the Illinois Office of Broadband (IOB), as well as Works Public and Connected Nation. 

The BEAD Program will provide $42.45 billion in funding. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has committed a portion of those funds to Illinois. This will directly improve education, health care, public safety, and economic development throughout  the area.  Awarding of the funding was contingent on states accurately showing where there are access gaps in reliable internet. 

A cornerstone of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the BEAD Program will bring high-speed internet to unserved, as well as underserved communities across the United States. The NTIA tasked Illinois with identifying gaps in access by examining updated Federal Communications Commission maps. Once they’d determined the accuracy of household or premise-level connectivity status, Illinois could ensure that federal funding was routed to communities that need it most. 

Last year, the IOB published a preliminary map based on federal data of internet access. The DSI partnered with the IOB to create a BEAD Program Challenge Portal, a user-friendly online system that let constituencies including local governments, nonprofits, and internet service providers suggest changes to the initial map, upload evidence to support their claims, and track outcomes.

Once the window to challenge the first map closed, DSI students were recruited to review the thousands of Challenge Portal submissions. The students’ work incorporated what they had learned about analyzing plain text file datasets and cross-referencing submissions with spatial and visual evidence. A final map of what sites will be newly connected is set to be made public later this month. 

“This collaboration exemplifies what makes the University of Chicago unique,” said Dr. Nick Ross, Clinic Director at the DSI, “Our ability to not just analyze data, but to shepherd a complex technical project through its entire lifecycle, from initial conception to live deployment and iteration.”

Together with the DSI, Illinois has provided a strong example of how data-driven methods, higher education innovation, community participation, and state leadership can bridge the digital divide.

 

People

Nick Ross

Data Science Clinic Director, Data Science Institute; Associate Senior Instructional Professor

Alexis Schrubbe

Director, Internet Equity Initiative
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