No More “Half-Fast”: Improving US Broadband Download Speed
Georgetown University – 2015 Data Science Capstone Brittne Nelson PhD, Amgad Sirag, Ernest S.
Approach and Overview What? • Broadband Data Story • Research Problem • Data Science Pipeline
So What? • Data Visualization Story • Findings • Lessons Learned
Now What? • Future Research • Conclusions
There were communities with no broadband access
Every day, residents and businesses had limited or no access to resources, services, content, new customers, and new technology limiting opportunities and community empowerment
One day, the US government created the SBI to facilitate the integration of broadband and information technology into state and local economies
Because of that, states did more to quickly expand broadband to more areas
Because of that, the SBI, decision makers, and researchers- including us- were able to assess how broadband is being implemented across the US
Until finally, residents and businesses gained more access to resources services, content, new customers, and technology that empowered and gave them a competitive edge
Data Story
Benefits of Broadband • Increased job opportunities • Increased employment opportunities due to telework • Higher pay • Increased economic security • Recruitment of job seekers, especially in rural areas • Increased access to and quality of healthcare • Availability of a wide variety of entertainment • Increased participation in everyday economic, social, and community life • Improved social connections to existing friends and acquaintances • Creation of new relationships based on common interests • Improved social integration of minority populations • More positive attitudes toward aging • Higher levels of perceived social support and connectivity among seniors • Lower prices for online purchases • Improved variety of items available for purchase • Better purchasing decisions based on online information • Savings in time and money for online vs. paper-based activities • Improved connectivity for social or political action
Sources: Center for Social Inclusion,. (2010). The Promise and Challenge of Community Broadband Models. New York City: Center for Social Inclusion. Analytics ASR,. (2014). Final Report: Social and Economic Impacts of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. Potomac Maryland.
Research Problem • Does broadband availability and speed make a state’s economy and it’s residents compe55ve?
• When will every state reach 98% broadband connec5vity?
• How are community economic features impac5ng or related to broadband development?
Hypotheses • Broadband speed and accessibility will cluster in urban areas
• Areas with more broadband speed will have lower unemployment, more businesses, and larger popula5ons
• Broadband growth is not consistent across all coun5es
• Based on past growth, broadband coverage is not expected to be available in 98% of all coun5es in 2016
Data Sources • Na5onal Broadband Map Maximum and Minimum Download Speed by
County, June 2011-‐June 2014 – Na5onal Telecommunica5ons and Informa5on Administra5on
hRp://www.broadbandmap.gov/data-‐download
• Labor Force Data by County Annual Average, 2011-‐2013 – U.S. Department of Labor Local Area Unemployment Sta5s5cs
hRp://www.bls.gov/lau/ • Demographic Popula5on by County, 2010
– U.S Census Bureau hRp://fac[inder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml
• Total Number of Business Establishments, 2011-‐2012 – U.S Census Bureau
hRp://fac[inder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml
Data Science Pipeline
Sources: Ojeda, T., Murphy, S., Bengfort, B., & Dasgupta, A. (2014). Practical data science cookbook. Birmingham: Packt Publishing.
Hypotheses Results • Broadband speed and accessibility will cluster in urban areas
• “URBAN” TOO DIFFICULT TO DEFINE GIVEN PROJECT TIMELINE, NOT ANALYZED
• Areas with higher broadband speed have lower unemployment, more businesses, and larger popula5ons • NOT TRUE
• Broadband growth is not consistent across all coun5es • TRUE
• Based on past growth, broadband coverage is not expected to be available in 98% of all coun5es in 2016 • NOT ENOUGH DATA TO COMFORTABLY FORECAST
Summary of Findings • Iden5fied economic features are mild drivers of technology implementa5on specifically broadband speed.
• Broadband availability makes a state economy and it’s residents compe55ve.
• Implemen5ng broadband is not the silver bullet to community development or economic growth, it should be incorporated with other economic and social features.
Lessons Learned • Quantity of data is important for forecasting • Source of data is important. SBI reports data from
providers which makes it somewhat difficult to assess
• Plan a significant amount of time for data wrangling
• Master each step of the data science pipeline before moving on
• Operationalize more factors to provide a clear picture of relationships when identifying hypotheses
Future Research • Develop a matched pairs analysis framework that
compares changes in the availability of broadband at the state level between counties
• Measure how much of the growth in availability within these counties occurred due to funding (Grants, Federal Government, Private Organizations)
• Examine broadband’s long-term quantitative extrapolations and impact on social and economics
• Index and model additional community factors such as education, adoption, tax rate, etc in order to broadly define economic impact
Conclusions • There is a business case for continued focus on
broadband improvement
• Broadband improves the overall communities • Drives economic development and shared
opportunities • Improve quality of life across the United
States
Thank You to the Georgetown University 2015 Data Science Program Faculty
Benjamin Bengfort Allen Leis
Sacha Litman Laura Lorenz Salil Mehta Tony Ojeda
(and lady!)
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