Science and Technology Policy Commons^™

The Empirics Of The Digital Divide: Can Duration Analysis Help?, James Prieger, Wei-Min Hu

School of Public Policy Working Papers

Accurate measurement of digital divides is important for policy purposes. Empirical studies on broadband subscription gaps have largely used cross-sectional data, which cannot speak to the timing of technological adoption. Yet, the dynamics of a digital divide are important and deserve study. With the goal of improving our understanding of appropriate techniques for analyzing digital divides, we review competing econometric methodology and propose the use of duration analysis. We compare the performance of alternative estimation methods using a large dataset on DSL subscription in the U.S., paying particular attention to whether women, blacks, and Hispanics catch up to others in …

Panel Iv: The Visible Hand: Government's Role In The Clean Energy Transformation: Opportunities To Accelerate Deployment Of Energy Efficiency And Renewable Energy, Bill Ritter, Jon Wellinghoff, Steven Chu, David Overskei, Jim Thomas

National Clean Energy Summit

Panel discussion Moderator: John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress Action Fund

Information Technology Acceptance In South Africa: An Investigation Of Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease Of Use, And Actual System Use Constructs, Udo Richard Averweg

The African Journal of Information Systems

Information technology (IT) acceptance studies pay much attention to issues of significance in assessing the contributions of variables explaining IT usage for decision-making in organizations. Davis’ Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) states that Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) are the two factors that govern the adoption and use of information technology. Actual System Use (behavior) consists of the number of times of systems use. The author conducted a survey of 31 organizations in KwaZulu/Natal, a region in South Africa, which implemented an Executive Information System (EIS). A validated survey instrument was administered to an EIS stakeholder in …

Maine’S Technology Sectors And Clusters: Status And Strategy, Charles Colgan, Marianne Clark, Charles Lawton, James Damicis

Industry Studies

The concept of “clusters” has been a key idea in economic development in Maine and other states for more than a decade. In 2002, the Maine Science & Technology Foundation (MSTF) released a study of the cluster characteristics of the seven technology sectors that were designated as the focus of attention for Maine’s research and development support programs.

This study is a step towards implementing the Brookings Institution’s recommendations for an aggressive effort to build and expand clusters. It updates and expands the 2002 MSTF cluster report and also builds upon the work of Porter and others to identify distinctive …

The Broadband Digital Divide And The Nexus Of Race, Competition, And Quality, James Prieger, Wei-Min Hu

School of Public Policy Working Papers

We examine the gap in broadband access to the Internet between minority groups and white households with geographically fine data on DSL subscription. In addition to income and demographics, we also examine quality of service and competition as components of the Digital Divide. The gaps in DSL demand for blacks and Hispanics do not disappear when income, education, and other demographic variables are accounted for. However, lack of competition is an important driver of the Digital Divide for blacks. Service quality is an important determinant of demand, and ignoring it masks the true size of the DSL gap for Hispanics.