Want to help the City of Philadelphia close the digital divide and assist residents with affordable internet access? All you have to do is pick up your phone!

The Philadelphia Household Internet Assessment is a one-month-long survey that will collect information on how people view available internet options and barriers to internet access throughout the city. Responses to the survey will help measure the progress of current programs, such as PHLConnectED, and will help the City create policies and programs to support digital equity and literacy.

The additional goals of this survey are to: 

• Learn how many households do not have reliable broadband internet or devices at home; 
• Examine whether households have taken advantage of pandemic programs to get internet services and computers; 
• Explore whether people are satisfied with their online connection to carry out key tasks; 
• Identify barriers to getting in-home internet access; and 
• Understand affordability of service for households.

The survey will be conducted over the phone and will be available in six languages. Philadelphia residents should look for a caller ID of "SSRS" or a local 267 area code when receiving the call.

To truly understand the digital divide in 2021, we need new data. The more people who take this survey, the better our future digital equity plans will be!

#CloseTheDigitalDivide

Information in this blog post originally appeared in an article published online on June 15, 2021 by the Office of Innovation and Technology, written by Labonno Islam.