Exploring Digital Inclusion in Loíza, Puerto Rico: Evidence from the Project OCEBAL

Abstract

For over a decade, federal and state government, as well as nongovernmental organizations in the United States, have asserted the goal of digital equity as necessary for civic, economic, and political participation in society. This study adopts a quantitative approach to explore the project OVERCOME21: ConnectED2Health: Expanding Broadband Access to Loiza, Puerto Rico. This project was organized by US Ignite in partnership with Libraries Without Borders US. The analysis focuses on exploring three themes: 1) Access and adoption to internet services, 2) Availability of internet-enabled devices to support users’ online activities, and 3) Digital literacy. A pre-survey (ex-ante) and post-survey (post-ante) were administered before and after access to internet services and digital literacy and agile learning workshops. Households and individuals at selected communities were the analysis units for the pre-survey sample (n = 98), and post-survey sample (n = 80). Ex-ante findings show that most participants were single females who identified themselves as black or African American, and high school (46.4%) was the highest level of education. One-third of participants didn’t have internet service and reported an annual income of less than $15,000. Additionally, most participants (72.6%) didn’t know the term digital literacy, nor had they participated in a digital literacy workshop (82.5%). After digital literacy workshops ex-post data showed that more than half (71.2%) of participants knew the term digital literacy, and more than half (58.2%) had participated in a digital literacy workshop organized by the project. Ex-ante and post-ante data showed that most participants (95%) didn’t use broadband internet services for telehealth services, and over 50% of participants expressed concerns about the safety of personal information. Although data collection results are not representative of selected communities, research findings serve to contextualize digital equity and digital literacy initiatives as well as contributing to a research topic with social and public policy implications.