SPC Releases Broadband Access Dashboards

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, in collaboration with Allies for Children and Carnegie Mellon University (Metro21 and Traffic21) and a broad, regional coalition of stakeholders proposes to develop a regional Connectivity Improvement Plan to deploy high-speed connectivity programs and projects to enable the areas of the southwestern Pennsylvania region lacking adequate high-speed internet access and equipment to better connect to jobs, education, health care and to attract new business to all corners of the region.

SPC examined the current state of broadband related coverage, speed, resources, gaps, and needs in relation to the region’s demographic and socioeconomic conditions. SPC also examined connectivity in relation to the region’s businesses, educational, and medical facilities. Using existing local and national open-source datasets, SPC analyzed, collected, and compared all broadband and socioeconomic data and identified gaps in regional access, adoption, and affordability. Once gaps in the broadband service were identified, two Connectivity Indices were developed. The first one focused on broadband accessibility in the region, while the second Index focused on adoption and equity. Environmental Justice and Title VI data was analyzed and incorporated to create the Connectivity Indices.

Read the full article and view the maps here.

Learn more about this project here.