A Framework for Evaluating the Impact of High-Bandwidth Internet Provision and Use on Digital Literacy and Social Life Outcomes in Australia

In this paper we present a framework for evaluating the social impact of high-bandwidth Internet provision and use in Australia. High-bandwidth Internet will be provided through a national broadband network to be rolled out gradually and which began in 2011. The framework is based around four key aspects: (1) identifying provision of the national broadband network as an intervention, (2) specification of important outcomes, (3) understanding the behavioural link between intervention and outcomes and (4) conduct of high-quality population-based empirical research. The framework is sufficiently flexible that it can be adapted and applied to various regions of Australia and, depending on the appropriate focus, to the conduct of different types of studies. It is hoped that, by focusing attention on the human behavioural link between high-bandwidth Internet provision and individual outcomes in the general community, we will be able to identify ways of promoting social inclusion and other benefits through appropriate use of the national broadband network .