Press RElease: Adoption Persistence Study:

Ashbury Senior Computer Community Center - A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE DIGITAL INCLUSION IMPACT OF THE CONNECT YOUR COMMUNITY PROGRAM August 28, 2012

The Ashbury Senior Computer Community Center (ASC3) today released its report on a groundbreaking survey of Cleveland residents who participated in a large-scale broadband adoption program called Connect Your Community between 2010 and 2012.

The report, called "Adoption Persistence: A Longitudinal Study of the Digital Inclusion Impact of the Connect Your Community Project",  is based on a telephone survey of 429 CYC participants, conducted for ASC3 by Samantha Schartman-Cycyk of the Connect Your Community Institute and Valdis Krebs of Org.net LLC.  It was funded by a generous grant from the Cleveland Foundation.

"The CYC Project was one of the biggest community broadband training and adoption programs funded by the Federal stimulus program," ASC3 Executive Director Wanda Davis explained. "ASC3 and our partners around the country provided free basic computer training and free refurbished computers to more than 25,000 unconnected low-income neighbors, including more than 5,000 here in Cleveland, to help them cross the digital divide."

"Our new survey follows up with a random sample of those Cleveland participants 5-6 years after their CYC experience to find out whether they're still on line, what they've been using their skills and connections to do, and whether being in the digital mainstream has changed their lives for the better. As far as we know, this is the first time anyone has done this kind of long-term study of a program like CYC."

Schartman-Cycyk and Krebs conducted the survey at the ASC3 office, working with a "community calling team" of local residents who are graduates of CYC and other ASC3 training programs.

Here are some of the key findings of the report:

1.     76% of all respondents maintained their home internet subscription.
2.     65% of those without a home internet connection say cost is the primary reason for them not maintaining their service. 18% say it is their lack of a computer.
3.     Only 10% of respondents report a lack of interest or need for home internet, preferring to rely on community resources.
4.     43% of connected respondents use patient health record (PHRs) portals to manage their health online.
5.     69% of connected and 60% of unconnected respondents report that they use a computer for their job.
6.     82% report that their participation in the Connect Your Community project resulted in a positive workforce-related impact.
7.     Half of the population (50.47%) said that they shared what they learned in the CYC project with others outside of the community centers; in their own personal networks. 

    8.    Only 17% of respondents were aware of data caps on their service. Of these,  51% report having an unlimited internet plan, while the rest report data caps as low as 20gb or less per month.


Ashbury Senior Computer Community Center - A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE DIGITAL INCLUSION IMPACT OF THE CONNECT YOUR COMMUNITY PROGRAM August 28, 2012adoption_persistence_study.pdf