City governments are increasingly prioritizing digital equity as the financial landscape shifts. The digital divide was highlighted during and following the COVID-19 pandemic, spurring investment. These funding sources, however, are not sustainable. The work is also being impacted by the end of the Digital Equity Act and shifting FCC priorities.
SFTC has been a driver of digital inclusion work in the city since it was launched in 2015 to support digital equity, with an emphasis on serving older adults and people with disabilities. The council gathers stakeholders, from city government to local organizations and businesses, to align digital inclusion work and share insight across sectors. The council is led by co-directors Karla Suomala and Andrew Broderick. It is funded by the San Francisco Department of Disability and Aging Services (DAS) and Metta Fund.
During the 2025 Bay Area Digital Inclusion Summit, which SFTC hosted in October, stakeholders explored topics ranging from digital upskilling, to navigating funding in a shifting financial landscape, to the impact of AI.
One key focus was AI in the context of how it is changing digital inclusion work, Suomala said, in areas like workforce development, health-care access and social connection. Another focus was cybersecurity. For organizations that are what Broderick dubbed as “data rich, cyber poor,” there is a need to better understand how to protect data and with limited resources.
SFTC has also launched numerous tech-related pilots to support digital inclusion; one aims to improve access to digital health-care services and resources.
Supported by funding from DAS through the California Department of Aging, this pilot involves a navigable mockup resembling the MyChart health-care tool, Broderick said. The tool is a web-based platform with a login page that allows users to learn how to message providers, reset their password, schedule an appointment, look at lab results and set up prescription reminders. Digital navigators support individual health-care needs by guiding them in platform usage, without requiring them to open their actual MyChart accounts that may display private medical information.
“It’s a sandbox,” Broderick said, noting there is no risk of compromising personal data through the mockup tool that they have dubbed “YourChart.”
Another pilot involves hands-on technology support at community centers, senior centers and libraries, to offer neighborhood-level technology guidance. To date, 24 such tech pop-ups have been held, Suomala said, with the majority being in Cantonese.
“Doing these tech-support pop-ups, we do them in collaboration with these front-line organizations who are serving these populations, so there’s that trust built into what we do,” said Broderick.
SFTC works regularly with city entities including DAS, the departments of Public Health and Technology, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, and public libraries. Libraries are the “backbone of digital services in the city,” Suomala said, highlighting a recent “AI for Regular People” presentation and others in the works.
Post-summit, the goal is to keep the momentum going, Suomala said. The event made it clear that people are discouraged and in need of resources. “So, how do we continue to do this in times like these?”
Changing priorities at the federal level are impacting local work; this includes changes to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program leadership and requirements, the termination of the Digital Equity Act, limitations on E-rate funding, and attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
In response, the way digital inclusion practitioners are framing the work to build buy-in is changing, although the work itself remains largely the same, Broderick said. Now, outcomes like workforce growth and health-care access increasingly drive conversations.
There is a need for narrative storytelling, Broderick said, to advance this work. More can be done on the policy front to bring more money into this sector, but part of that is making the case in a language that investors speak: return on investment. Still, grant funding is finite and unreliable, he said, so more sustainable business models will likely be needed to support this work.
And collaboratives may be able to help.
“There is never going be enough money,” Suomala said. “So, how do we collaborate more effectively and use our resources to greater effect?”
