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Detroit’s Vision To Be Fully Connected: Here’s How The City Is Bridging Its Digital Divide

Rocket Mortgage

Even before students across the country were sent home to finish the school year remotely, the city of Detroit had set its sights on closing its digital divide. In fact, in early 2019 the city created a new position—director of digital inclusion—to tackle the issue with actionable strategies. When Joshua Edmonds filled the role, he shared a bold goal for Detroit: To be a fully connected city by 2024.

The plan was ambitious, in part because Detroit’s digital divide is a complex challenge with various sources reporting different numbers. City officials have reported that roughly 25% of Detroit households lacked internet access in 2018, but that number could represent up to 40% of residents, according to Data Driven Detroit. A 2019 University of Michigan study suggested that as many as 70% of the city's school-aged children lack internet access at home and ranked Detroit's connectivity rate as the lowest nationally among large cities. 

Then the pandemic hit. And while Covid-19 significantly impacted Detroit’s economy, the crisis may have also sparked a small miracle. In the span of a few weeks, the city’s public school system partnered with the Quicken Loans Community Fund, The Skillman Foundation, DTE Energy and others to launch Connected Futures—a $23 million program to provide Detroit kids with devices, free broadband and tech support. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan described the effort as "the moment that changed the trajectory of education in our city."

Blowing past its original goals, Detroit may emerge from the pandemic as a national model for digital inclusion, effectively eliminating the digital divide among its school-aged population. 

The Complexity Of The Digital Divide

The digital divide exists nationwide—across cities and rural communities. And just as the statistics in Detroit are tough to pin down, various sources provide vastly different numbers when it comes to the national gap, ranging from 21 to 42 million Americans who may lack internet access.

The disparity may seem like an infrastructure issue—and it is, in part. Many low-income areas across the U.S. have coverage from only one provider. Rates are high and bandwidth can be low. But the digital divide is also about barriers to adoption: Access to devices, digital literacy and tech support aren’t options for everyone.

"It's such an onion of an issue," says Edmonds. "It's one that's multifaceted and we collectively need more advocacy, more intervention and more funding."  

And while the digital divide is a symptom of poverty, it also contributes to and perpetuates that existing income inequality. Today, opportunity happens digitally, from job applications and bills to scholarships and—literally, mid-pandemic—public education. 

"When we talk about poverty, technology, historically, is not a big part of that discussion," Edmonds says. "So there's this exponential growth of us ignoring that issue. And now it smacks us in the face during a pandemic in a big way."

A Pandemic As A Shot Clock

Fortunately, Detroit had an 11-month head start on the pandemic when it came to implementing a digital inclusion strategy. Edmonds was already working on securing funding for access, which included testifying before a congressional committee in early 2020. He had also zeroed in on a top priority: Detroit’s kids.

"Technology is the bleeding edge of our society. We need to get that ecosystem built up, but we really, really need to focus on our kids because we cannot lose another generation," he says. In March, when students were sent home to learn remotely due to Covid-19, the focus intensified.

"The pandemic just made us operate with a shot clock," says Edmonds. "We had to get our kids connected. We had to find a way that we just didn't lose them."

In April, under the umbrella of Detroit's Connect 313 program—which coordinates a variety of digital inclusion initiatives—and with financial support from partners like the Quicken Loans Community Fund, the city launched Connected Futures to provide each of Detroit's 51,000 school-aged kids with devices, six months of free high-speed internet and a year of tech support. As of June, families started receiving the first of those devices.

"And as we keep finding kids who need this stuff, we've just been adding them to a list," Edmonds says. Those additional kids include students at charter schools and in alternative education districts. "We're probably going to end up in the neighborhood of 80,000 devices distributed."

The Long-Term Digital Inclusion Challenge

As the philanthropic arm of Detroit employer Rocket Mortgage, the Quicken Loans Community Fund already had the digital divide on its radar. But Laura Grannemann, the organization's vice president, says the Covid-19 crisis shifted the community's thinking around the issue, urging stakeholders to view digital inclusion as a right for all Detroiters, with Connected Futures as a first step in addressing the disparities.

"We banded together with a number of other philanthropic organizations and community partners to make sure that we were thinking holistically about this issue," she says. "So while we're focused on students and making sure they have the tools to succeed, we also recognize this much broader need as a community to come together and make sure that every person across the city has access to the digital tools that they need."

Edmonds agrees. And while he's pleased that Detroit may exceed his initial multi-year goals for digital inclusion during his first year on the job, he acknowledges the challenging work ahead.

"This was just us rushing to the starting line," he says. "Now we've got to go."

Edmonds is already considering what happens after free broadband expires, as well as how to sustain access to technology and provide residents with the support they need to develop digital literacy.

"I'm afraid of the uptick," Edmonds says. "I wholeheartedly believe that we are going to be a completely connected city. But keeping us connected and keeping it so people who moved to Detroit are easily plugging into the ecosystem we've built, that's where the battle is won."

Moving forward, the city has long-term allies in that battle. The PGA's Rocket Mortgage Classic announced that its proceeds would directly support Connect 313, creating a fund in partnership with the city and administered by the United Way for Southeastern Michigan that will focus on four pillars to ultimately bridge the digital divide.

"We saw a lot of pockets of really fantastic innovation and really fantastic execution around how to bridge the digital divide," Grannemann says. "But what we saw as a gap was this lack of a holistic strategy for the city of Detroit." 

The fund will begin by collecting neighborhood-level data to understand the varying needs for technology and internet access. It will then build and support neighborhood technology hubs by investing in trusted community centers like Brilliant Detroit to grow technology resources. The last two pillars involve empowering residents to become digital literacy ambassadors for their neighborhoods, as well as raising funds and advocating for systemic change in digital inclusion.

As a part of Connect 313’s programming, the city is now collaborating with the organization Human-I-T to work closely with residents to get them—and keep them—signed up. After their free six months of broadband, residents can access new $10 per month plans. 

"Right now, this six months is buying us time to walk these families through it and sign them up for a more permanent solution," Edmonds says. 

Keeping up the momentum is critical, he says. The pandemic is only one of the reasons addressing tech access is a priority this year. The census moving largely online is also an ongoing challenge and paths to upward mobility are increasingly dependent on digital access.

"Our reliance on the internet during coronavirus has recast how we will behave after the crisis has passed," wrote Brookings Institution visiting fellow Tom Wheeler. "The big lesson is that we have incorporated the internet as a critical part of our personal and professional lives. This is not going to change." 

But even as he faces a long road ahead, Edmonds suggests we shouldn’t overlook what's transpired in Detroit in a matter of months.

"For us to say we're going to reduce the digital divide by 5% per year was really bold. Then to actually have this monumental effort happen, it's just incredible," he says. "We're being trailblazers here and that's a great feeling."