The Pennsylvania Broadband Research Institute
The Pennsylvania Broadband Research (PBR) Institute focuses on campaigns and research to expand broadband access to underserved communities throughout the Commonwealth.
The PBR Institute was founded in January 2023 by the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at the Pennsylvania State University and the Media, Inequality & Change (MIC) Center, housed at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.
Over the coming months, the Institute will produce policy briefs, research reports, op-eds, and academic articles detailing how a more equitable and just internet can be realized in Pennsylvania, including alternative means of internet provision such as public broadband and community wireless networks.
Specifically, we are:
- Convening academics to analyze the political and economic structures and decision-making processes regarding broadband and telecommunications policy
- Generating critical policy research pertaining to broadband and telecommunications
- Working with local communities to diagnose their connectivity needs
- Facilitating impactful change in broadband and telecommunications policy at the state and federal policy levels that will better serve the general public
People
Christopher Ali, Ph.D.
Pioneers Chair, Professor of Telecommunications, Pennsylvania State University
Sascha Meinrath, Ph.D.
Palmer Chair in Telecommunications, Pennsylvania State University
Victor Pickard, Ph.D.
C. Edwin Baker Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy
Briar Smith
Associate Director, MIC Center
David Elliot Berman, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Media, Inequality & Change Center
Sydney L. Forde
Doctoral Student, Pennsylvania State University