Calculating the Economic Impacts From Meaningful Use

If you were able to help businesses use the Internet “smarter,” what would that mean for YOUR REGION?

Strategic Networks Group, the “broadband economists” and the only firm to looking beyond simple broadband availability and to meaningful use, now has a way to measure the economic impacts of Internet utilization.

SNG’s Broadband Economic Impact Model applies reported utilization data from tens of thousands of businesses and infers what increasing awareness and use of Internet applications could mean for your region. More specifically, businesses surveyed by SNG across America have been asked to quantify the economic impacts from using 17 specific Internet applications. These numbers tell us how incremental increases in meaningful across multiple businesses will drive significant economic growth.  For example, in the case below, increasing Internet utilization among a small percentage of state businesses by a modest 5% creates 4,271 jobs along with significant business and tax revenues.

Fundamentally, broadband’s economic impact is marginal without meaningful use and unfortunately SNG’s research shows underutilization is a significant issue with a majority of businesses. The smaller the business (90% of US businesses are classified as small businesses), the less their meaningful use. With this come unrealized economic benefits.

Read more about How SNG’s Broadband Economic Impact Model Works

Businesses’ reported barriers to utilization include lack skills, knowledge, time and resources to identify what they could, or should, be doing online.

You can help businesses (and your local economy) grow through better use of broadband. SNG has developed research-based, community-driven methods to easily assist individual businesses assess their current uses of online practices. This reveals to the opportunities from doing more online along with key information to help them take action.   Click to learn more >>