Katelyn Lynch, PhD

Researcher & Analyst

I study what turns access to technology into meaningful participation. My research examines how education, institutions, governance, and digital literacy shape who can use digital systems and what they are able to do with them.

Selected Work

Three studies of digital inclusion

01

Global internet participation

Which national conditions help explain differences in internet use? I compared educational, economic, demographic, technological, and institutional indicators across 104 countries.

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02

Digital inclusion and capability

How does digital-development research explain the path from access to meaningful opportunity? I mapped the field and synthesized 116 studies to develop a framework linking access, literacy, institutions, and capability.

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03

Digital readiness, education, and governance

How do education and governance work together to shape digital readiness? I examined that relationship through a mixed-methods study of 30 OECD countries.

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Research

These studies are part of a larger inquiry into digital inclusion. Access to technology matters, but it does not determine whether people can use technology to expand their choices and opportunities. I examine the educational, institutional, and social conditions between access and capability.

  • Digital inclusion & capability
  • Technology, institutions & development
  • Digital literacy & readiness
  • Measurement, methods & evidence
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Selected Record

Education PhD, Innovation in Global Development

Arizona State University · 2026

Recognition Best Graduate Poster Award

ASU School for the Future of Innovation in Society · 2024

Publication Modeling Internet Use in the Global Development Context

ITU Kaleidoscope / IEEE · 2024