What’s New in Digital Equity: Manual to Guide Inclusion Work

This week in “What’s New in Digital Equity” — our weekly look at government digital equity and broadband news — we have a number of interesting items, which you can jump to with the links below:

• Resource to Guide Digital Inclusion Programming
• Kansas Announces Digital Literacy Funding Opportunity
• Four BEAD Funding Proposals Approved
• Map of Municipal Networks
• Digital Equity Grants Awarded to California Locals

RESOURCE TO GUIDE DIGITAL INCLUSION PROGRAMMING

Last week, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) announced the release of a new resource: the Digital Inclusion Program Manual, a comprehensive compilation of recommendations, best practices and more to guide practitioners in their development and implementation of digital equity programs and services.

“As you tackle the challenges of starting up a digital inclusion program, know that the NDIA community is here to support you,” NDIA Executive Director Angela Siefer said in the manual’s introduction. “Addressing the digital divide requires all hands on deck.”

The manual builds on NDIA’s previous work in this area, including the release of the original Community Digital Inclusion Program Start-Up Manual seven years ago, which was updated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The manual is intended to support those involved in digital inclusion programming and services by providing an overview on digital inclusion; areas of focus for such a program; and information about research and data use, community engagement, staffing and funding.

The manual was informed by feedback from the project’s working group and was produced in partnership with Dell Technologies.

“As we navigate the AI era, ensuring everyone has access to digital resources is more important than ever,” Maia Wagner, head of digital inclusion, sustainability and ESG at Dell Technologies, said in an NDIA blog.

The resource aims to help practitioners answer key questions to better inform their programming, by understanding who a program is meant to serve and how so.

Separate from this resource’s release, NDIA announced last week that applications are open through the end of October for the Digital Inclusion Trailblazers recognition. This program recognizes individuals for digital equity work at the local government level.

KANSAS ANNOUNCES DIGITAL LITERACY FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Applications are now open for $1.95 million in funding through the Digital Opportunities to Connect Kansans (DOCK) program. The program aims to expand digital skills of Kansans by funding skills development programs.

“Digital skills are essential for people to be able to participate in the modern economy and obtain high-paying jobs,” state Senate President Ty Masterson said in a statement.

Eligible entities can apply until Nov. 18, and rewards are slated to be announced in February. For more information about the application process and the funding opportunity, individuals can register to attend an informational webinar led by the Kansas Office of Broadband Development on Oct. 8.

FOUR BEAD FUNDING PROPOSALS APPROVED

In other state news, three new states have received an approval on their initial proposals for Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding this week. As of Thursday morning, Idaho, Nebraska, North Dakota and the American Samoa entity join the growing list of states that have had their proposals approved. The states will receive funding up to the amount they were allocated. For these entities, that amount is more than $583 million, $405 million, $130 million and $37 million, respectively.
Most recently, the state of New Jersey received its approval. With these initial proposals approved, BEAD-eligible entities in the states and territories can now start to access funding and move into planning implementations.

DIGITAL EQUITY GRANTS AWARDED TO CALIFORNIA LOCALS

In local news, the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) announced last week that 36 local governments will be receiving grants for digital equity. This includes city and county governments. Each local government will receive $20,000 to participate. CETF has been working to provide a better understanding of the digital divide in the state, as illustrated by a January survey.

“This grant will help us to reach out to disadvantaged populations within Napa County to make meaningful progress toward digital equity,” Napa County Broadband Manager Mark Revis said in a statement. Napa County is one of the local government recipients.

There, the funding will support public outreach and awareness about digital equity programs that are offered by the Napa County Library. The county also plans to increase awareness about affordable Internet service options offered by local providers.

MAP OF MUNICIPAL NETWORKS

Community Broadband Networks, a program of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, has released a new version of its Community Networks Map, displaying where municipal networks exist across the nation.

The first such map, released in 2011, showed 130 networks. The map released last week shows more than 400 networks. The map is interactive and allows users to filter by business model, network characteristics and community population.
This network type is increasing in popularity. In the early 2000s — from 2001 to 2008 — six municipal networks on average came online each year; in the last 10 years, this has increased to 15 per year. Notably, however, 16 states do still have restrictions or bans that prevent localities from operating their own telecommunications infrastructure.