Cook County officials have unveiled a new plan intended to make internet access more affordable and reliable for county residents.
About 73% of households in Cook County have access to fast, high-quality internet, but marginalized communities are more likely to have lower connectivity, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
“I often say we have one map in Cook County because when you pull up a map comparing almost any outcome, whether it’s educational attainment, economic status, life expectancy, you invariably see the same picture,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said at a news conference Monday. “Your ZIP code should not determine how well you fare.”
The plan looks at four key problems — accessibility, confidence, safety and infrastructure — and offers possible solutions for each. They include expanding public Wi-Fi, increasing subsidized internet plans, providing more public technology use assistance, increasing internet safety training and identifying areas with weak or unreliable infrastructure.
The solutions framework is the result of months of work by a team of “digital equity leaders” in the public and private sectors. In the next few months, that digital equity team will continue gathering feedback, hosting town halls and conducting outreach to review the plan with the community.
Early next year, the team will release details of how the plan will be implemented. Officials declined to provide an estimate of the plan’s total cost, saying it will be determined later.
A map compiled by Cook County shows areas on the south and west sides of Chicago have lower rates of internet access, while in northern and western suburbs, rates are higher.
County Commissioner Dennis Deer said equal access to technology is crucial to adequate health care, “as our hospital system begins to move toward apps and connecting with their patients ... if you don’t have access to the internet, or you don’t know how to use the internet, guess what?”
Responses to a survey conducted by Cook County and its partners confirmed that internet accessibility is an issue. About 3,200 people responded to the survey, conducted both online and in person.
“In today’s world, you have an internet connection or face isolation. As a retiree, my limited mobility forces the issue. Banking, health care and medical attention, food, medicine, and so forth are all tied to the internet,” one respondent wrote.
About 11% of households in Cook County access the internet exclusively using cellular devices, Census data shows. Many survey respondents cited affordability as a major barrier to access.
Kyla Williams Tate, Cook County’s director of digital equity, said solutions to this include expanding subsidized internet plans and increasing the availability of public Wi-Fi.
“We should not see families sitting in fast food parking lots late at night doing homework because they don’t have access to the internet at home,” Tate said.
The plan also outlines the need to improve confidence in using technology. According to the survey, almost 40% of respondents identified at least one task they wanted help accomplishing online, including making video calls, using apps, streaming video or audio and searching the web.
Respondents said while they were interested in improving their internet skills, they had no way to learn. The plan suggests creating a corps of “digital navigators” to provide one-on-one assistance and lead community workshops on digital basics.
Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller said this plan will help “level the playing field” in the south suburban communities she represents. As a sponsor of a resolution to declare Tuesday Social Media Safety Day, Miller emphasized the importance of the plan’s focus on safety.
“Although access to high-speed internet in these applications, such as social media, help connect us, there are also dangers that we need to be cognizant of and be prepared to educate our residents, especially our youth, on how to safely use such tools,” Miller said. “As a mom, I see this all the time.”
Miller added that as the second-largest county in the United States by population, Cook County has an opportunity to be a model for other counties around the country.
Tate said the “open-ended” plan is intentional.
“The specific policies, programming practices and evaluation metrics must be created in collaboration with community,” Tate said.
