Disconnected in Maryland: Statewide Data Show the Racial and Economic Underpinnings of the Digital Divide. The Abell Report. Volume 34, No. 1

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a number of shortcomings in the nation's social infrastructure, one of which is access to the internet. When school is exclusively online or medical appointments rely principally on telehealth, those without online access are not merely inconvenienced. They are socially excluded, given their limited means to get online. This turns attention to digital inclusion -- making sure people have the ability to go online from home, with the digital hardware and skills to enable participation in society. This report takes stock of digital inclusion in Maryland by examining two digital access tools that enable robust online access. The first is wireline high-speed internet subscriptions at home. The other is whether a household has a working desktop, laptop, or tablet computer. [The Community Development Network of Maryland (CDN) commissioned this research report, funded by a grant from the Abell Foundation.]