Beyond Access: Engaging the SIGCOMM Community in Data-Driven Broadband Policymaking

The Non-Paper Session will take place at Room Mondego.

Today, broadband Internet infrastructure is within physical reach of nearly every person on the planet, largely thanks to the widespread proliferation of mobile networks and devices. Despite this expansion, a persistent usage gap remains, with nearly 40% of the global population who do not use Internet services. Although basic network access is increasingly a solved problem, substantial barriers remain in terms of affordability, service quality and reliability, user capacity, lack of basic or digital literacy, censorship, conflict, and discrimination due to factors such as race or gender. Addressing these challenges requires effective policy interventions rather than technology alone. At the same time, policymakers working in this space depend on high-quality, actionable, and relevant data to guide decision making, target resources effectively, and evaluate policy outcomes. Research from the SIGCOMM community both defines and helps provide a deep understanding of how today’s Internet infrastructure works. Yet translating academic research into policy impact requires researchers to understand how policymakers use data, what forms of evidence policymakers find actionable, and how academic research can more effectively support evidence-based policymaking.

In this non-paper session, we will convene a panel of discussants consisting of policymakers and practitioners who work on challenges of improving broadband access globally, including Niccolò Comini (World Bank), Mike Jensen (Association for Progressive Communication), Soledad Luca de Tena (UNICEF Giga), and Steve Song (Internet Society). The panel will discuss real-world ways in which data (both network and otherwise) is used to inform broadband policy, including in mapping, targeting funding, and investment, as well as open challenges and opportunities for the research community. We will aim to highlight both successful and unsuccessful examples of academic engagement in policymaking. In doing so, we aim to build community and identify opportunities for deeper engagement between the SIGCOMM community and broadband policy stakeholders.