ISPreports.org is changing the landscape of shopping for internet. It is the only site that brings internet information right down to the customer's address, not only arming the consumer with data pertinent in getting the right internet for themselves, but also holding providers accountable for the services they are delivering and allowing communities to truly assess what is being offered in their cities. To see this for yourself head on over and search for high speed internet in your area or even high speed internet by address.
In the last 30 years, the internet has revolutionized many aspects of our modern communities. From libraries to schools to community forums and amenities, the internet has allowed residents to come together in ways that were previously unavailable. Were you unable to make that last city meeting to discuss potential changes that affect you? Unsure of what the city code is for a home project? Wondering what events are happening nearby? These answers, and so many others, are found just clicks away.
The Connection Between Internet Access and Community Safety
Keeping a community safe has transformed with the advances in technology. Just the speed in which evidence in a crime is captured, saved and shared has altered law enforcement’s role within society. Facial recognition software, bystander videos, surveillance tapes, national databases that are easily accessed and a host of other features that connect communities to each other have made it harder than ever to get away with a crime.
All this can only happen, however, if an area has access to reliable internet. Residential outdoor video and doorbell cameras are practically useless if they can’t connect to the internet to show you what is happening on your front doorstep. National databases like SafeEncounter—used to identify at-risk individuals with intellectual disabilities, severe mental health issues, and non-verbal communication styles to aid first responders in their encounters—can only help if they can be accessed.
Over the years, technology has aided police in helping to apprehend criminals and to identify areas of a community that need monitoring. Crime mapping is one such technology. In crime mapping, GIS is used to map, visualize, and analyze crime patterns over time. Though not new—crime mapping has been used extensively in the United States since the 1980’s—early adopters found it to be too technical, unable to talk to different police databases, and have issues with geocoding. As technology has exploded over the years, crime mapping has evolved into crime forecasting and predicting, though with mixed reactions. There is concern that historical data used to forecast crimes could perpetuate existing biases in the criminal justice system. But with new advances in machine learning and modeling, crime prediction and forecasting are becoming better and better at locating hotspot areas of crime, allowing units to initialize prevention tactics, save money, and mobilize faster.
Another relatively new advance to how the police interact with the public is social media. Many agencies have set up their own accounts to engage with community members. These interactions range from a daily rap sheet of crimes committed to witty posts about the department or its members. Social media has also been used to advertise different community initiatives like Safety Nights and Ask-a-Cop events, where police officers and the public can interact with each other in non-threatening ways. These events are used to raise awareness about a variety of safety issues as well as to ask questions and engage with the community.
In addition to helping police departments engage more with the public as well as to predict criminal activity, the internet can also help communities by allowing for better education and job opportunities as well as more civil engagement by its residents. These factors also help to deter crime. Numerous studies have shown that high school graduation rates positively correlate with lower crime rates for communities. Studies have also shown that property crime rates are lower in cities with a decreased unemployment rate.
ISP Reports: A Catalyst for Digital Inclusion
A strong internet infrastructure can foster growth in various public sectors like education, healthcare, business, and even crime prevention through better surveillance and communication systems. But these systems are only as good as the internet framework on which they are run.
ISP Reports has introduced a report card to help navigate the internet game, both for individuals and for communities. Each city is assigned a grade based on the existing digital infrastructure compared to all other cities in the United States. The grade is comprised of three parts: the availability of fiber, the average download speed most residents can get, and the number of providers available for most people, weighted at the block level instead of by the city as a whole. As a city adopts new technology this grade could potentially go up. But as new technology is overlooked by cities, it could also go down. This means that the score shown is the most accurate with the data available.
Also included on ISPReports.org is a Digital Connectivity Index for each city. This is a number between 1-100 that details internet needs of a city's residents. It is calculated from factors like the average household size, the percent of the city that works remotely, the average number of devices in a home, and the percentage of people who subscribe to a high-speed internet option when it is available to them. The higher the index, the more demand there is for connectivity in that city.
As more and more cities look at implementing municipal internet services—internet owned by the city and often subsidized by tax dollars—the ISP report card becomes more and more important on a community level. If a city is scoring low on the ISP
report card, it would be worth looking into an internet connection being offered by the city. However, if a city has a good infrastructure and wants to adopt, or build, a municipal internet service that will end up costing taxpayers millions of dollars over decades of time, it might be worth showing up to city hall and voicing your disagreement. ISP Reports helps educate the public and those elected to represent them when it comes to making informed decisions on the internet needs of the community.
The internet has revolutionized the modern world, making things that were once unavailable attainable and bringing communities together in ways never thought possible. Having a strong internet infrastructure not only benefits the individual households but the city as well. In addition to expanding an individual’s economic well-being by improving education and employment options and increasing access to social services and benefits, internet access also elevates our communities by enhancing safety features and helping public servants engage with residents.
Individuals can utilize ISP Reports not only for themselves, but for their communities as well. Understanding how your city’s internet infrastructure stacks up against other areas will help you make informed decisions when engaging with elected officials and first responders about what services are needed in your community.