This policy brief maps the social and geographical contours of digital exclusion in Los Angeles County. The focus is on home broadband, which refers to the adoption of residential Internet services, regardless of access technology or devices used. The data is sourced from the 2015 American Community Survey (ACS), which is the latest available that allows for geographical disaggregation at the level of communities within Los Angeles County. By identifying key trends and geographical patterns in Internet adoption,… Read More » “Mapping digital exclusion in Los Angeles County”

Networking China: The Digital Transformation of the Chinese Economy (Geopolitics of Information) (2017, Univeristy of Illinois Press) by Yu Hong
In recent years, China ‘s leaders have taken decisive action to transform information, communications, and technology (ICT) into the nation’s next pillar industry. In Networking China , Yu Hong offers an overdue examination of that burgeoning sector’s political economy. Hong focuses on how the state, in conjunction with market forces and class interests,… Read More » “Networking China: The Digital Transformation of the Chinese Economy”

Digital DNA: Disruption and the Challenges for Global Governance (forthcoming, Oxford University Press)
by Jonathan Aronson (with Peter Cowhey)
Innovation is an important, long-term sustainable source of economic prosperity. Digital DNA identifies how digital information and production technologies, the Information and Production Disruptions, are transforming how companies and national economies are innovating. Wisely guiding this transformation in innovation is a huge challenge for global prosperity. Even traditional industries, like farming,… Read More » “Digital DNA: Disruption and the Challenges for Global Governance”

The Connected Cities and Inclusive Growth (CCIG) project seeks to map inequities in broadband infrastructure and digital skills in greater Los Angeles, and explore their socio-economic determinants and consequences. This policy brief is the first project publications, and reports findings on the availability and competition in residential broadband services in Los Angeles County at the block level.
The findings reveal that the vast majority of LA County residents are serviced by at least one broadband provider…. Read More » “Home Broadband in Los Angeles County”

Political actors are using algorithms and automation to sway public opinion, notably through the use of “bot” accounts on social networking sites. This article considers the responsibility of social networking sites and other platforms to respect human rights, such as freedom of expression and privacy. It then proposes a set of standards for chat bots operating on these platforms, building on the existing policies of leading social networking platforms and on the indicators laid out by Ranking Digital Rights. A good normative framework for the use of bots on social networking sites should have three components: bots should clearly be labeled as such, they should not contact other users without consent, and information collected by them should only be used for disclosed purposes.

This paper seeks to advance the debate on how to connect the next billion Internet users in two fundamental ways. First, it analyzes Internet diffusion patterns in Latin America based on the most recently available household surveys. The use of large-scale household surveys (over 875,000 cases in total) has many advantages over the more commonly used industry data, the main one being the ability to analyze how socio-demographic characteristics affect Internet adoption. Second, the paper examines the unconnected population through different lenses…. Read More » “How to Connect the Other Half: Evidence and Policy Insights from Household Surveys in Latin America”