This research captures ‘whole of government’ activities that promote digital inclusion. While many digital inclusion initiatives may be supported by the state broadband and digital inclusion offices, state legislatures and other state agencies can take action to advance digital inclusion in each indicator category.
To understand state activity in the indicators, the research team relied primarily on publicly available information found in state legislation and public-facing descriptions of state agency and department programs and policies considered active at any point between January 1, 2023 through July 2024. Although some indicators encompass activities that states will undertake in implementing State Digital Equity Plans, the State of Digital Inclusion in the States is a standalone assessment and is not intended to evaluate state activity in the context of the Digital Equity Act. This research does not include evaluation of State Digital Equity Plans.
For the purposes of this evaluation, the term ‘state’ encompasses the 50 states and the District of Columbia. NDIA recognizes that U.S. Territories are working to close the digital divide despite limited access to major longstanding government assistance programs, underrepresentation in Federal data sets, and limited ability to influence Federal policy. Some of these barriers may have limited their ability to initiate activities described in this evaluation during the time period in which this research was conducted. For these reasons, U.S. Territories are not included in this evaluation.
Research Limitations
Some information the research team sought to discover about state activity may not have been publicly available or easily accessible at the time the research was conducted.
