"Can the Mobile Internet Bridge the Digital Divide? A Large-Scale Empirical Investigation" by Sridhar Narasimhan

Monday, December 10, 2018
Part of Two Short 30-MinuteTalks from 2-3 pm
Networking Social from 3-3:30 pm

Technology Square Research Building (TSRB) Auditorium

 

IDEaS is running a series of short talks to learn about research across the Georgia Tech campus. The presentations are from broadly different topics and accessible to those in other research areas. Come chat with colleagues and learn more about what’s new in Data Science! 

 

Sridhar Narasimhan
Dir. Business Analytics Ctr, Scheller College of Business
Georgia Institute of Technology
2:30 - 3:00 pm

 

 

Abstract: Access to the internet has become a de facto requirement for participating in our increasingly digital society. Unfortunately, many households still struggle with limited internet access, particularly those in rural areas and of low socioeconomic status. Closing this “digital divide” is an important public policy goal. Many households on the “wrong” side of the digital divide are likely to use mobile devices and plans as their primary method of internet access, given lack of alternatives due to availability and cost. Thus, we examine whether improving mobile internet access is an effective method for closing the digital divide. We do this by studying the adoption and use of unlimited mobile data plans offered by a large telecommunications provider. We find that adoption of an unlimited plan leads to a substantial increase in a household’s data consumption, with the increase being particularly large for rural households and those of low socioeconomic status. This suggests that unlimited plans help these households “catch up”, potentially narrowing the digital divide. We also study how households are using the additional data. Although most of the increase is accounted for by media and entertainment content, there is a significant increase in consumption of content likely to be socially beneficial: specifically news, education, and career-related content. We conclude that policy makers should encourage unlimited mobile data plans as a method to close the digital divide. They should also invest in educational programs on how to use the internet for beneficial purposes and help web site providers make their services accessible via mobile phones.

Bio: Sridhar Narasimhan is Professor of IT Management and Co-Director -Business Analytics Center (BAC), Scheller College of Business. He is the founder and first Area Coordinator of the nationally ranked Information Technology Management area. In fall 2010, he was the Acting Dean and led the College in its successful AACSB Maintenance of Accreditation effort. He was Senior Associate Dean from 2007 through 2015.
Professor Narasimhan does research in business analytics and also on the business impacts of information technology.  Professor Narasimhan has developed and taught the MBA IT Practicum course since 2003. Since 2016, he has been teaching Business Analytics at Scheller.