In partnership with the Institute of Digital Inclusion Acceleration and Sun Corridor Network, MCBI is the largest university-led project to improve digital access for underserved communities. It uses a three-pronged approach: ASU students and staff identify gaps in internet connection; Sun Corridor Network lays broadband infrastructure to close those gaps; and the Institute for Digital Inclusion Acceleration, a nonprofit working to eliminate the digital divide since 2021, leads efforts to provide devices and digital-skills training in newly connected communities.
The institute runs seven community centers, or Hives, plus two RV-style solar-powered, mobile Hives where digital navigators teach everything from how to open a laptop to how to connect to a nurse online.
MCBI also features AZ-1, a repository of resources on broadband expansion, digital equity and inclusion efforts that includes Maricopa County’s Broadband Map, which visually represents broadband connectivity across Maricopa County to help inform city and community planning.
The team was invited to display the interactive County Profiles map at the Esri conference. The map brings together broadband, demographic, and digital inclusion data into county-by-county snapshots that help communities better understand connectivity across Arizona.
A team of students at Next Lab, an innovation hub that prototypes technologies for the future of learning, collaborates with the AZ-1 portal to document real human impacts of the digital divide through podcasts and storytelling projects.
The award also recognizes ASU’s push to expand the boundaries of spatial computing by blending artificial intelligence with virtual reality and digital twin models across community projects. ASU Next Lab is a driving force behind these innovative, immersive and data-informed initiatives. Examples include highly interactive digital twins of local municipalities and ASU campuses.
In total, over 15 teams across ASU were recognized for their efforts to advance GIS systems in service of ASU and the local community. Among those include
- School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
- ASU Geospatial Research and Solutions
- Ten Across
- University City Exchange
- ASU Library’s Map and Geospatial Hub and Naturespace
- Business and Finance Information Technology;
- Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research program;
- Decision Theater;
- Facilities Development and Management;
- Knowledge Exchange for Resilience and Knowledge Enterprise;
- Rob Walton College of Global Futures and Rob Walton School of Conservation Futures;
- School of Earth and Space Exploration;
- W. P. Carey School of Business.