Digital Equity

During the 2023 State of the Net Conference, digital equity experts discussed the importance of seizing the current financial opportunity to bridge the digital divide, and why collaboration is essential.

Even as digital inclusion was celebrating a peak in interest, long-time practitioners in the space were preparing for what comes next and stressing the importance of thinking sustainability.

Three HBCUs in Virginia will receive nearly $10 million in federal funding from the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program to close the digital divide and provide students with additional tech job training.

Raimondo stressed that the federal government needs local digital inclusion practitioners to help it bridge the digital divide, making a trip to San Antonio specifically for the event.

An official from the U.S. Treasury Department says that 20 other states have applied for similar funding, and more announcements are coming, “to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Ohio digital inclusion advocates are working hard to make sure that rural communities in the state have the best weapon for getting high-speed Internet — communities that know Internet matters.

Consolidated Communications will provide access to high-speed Internet for thousands of people statewide as soon as next year, the company said after the N.H. Executive Council approved $40 million in federal funding.

Plus, Colorado launches a statewide program to get more people signed up for the Affordable Connectivity Program; Georgia is announcing expanded broadband funding; Connecticut suffers an Internet outage; and more.

The USDA grant will cover about 75 percent of the expansion costs with the provider investing the remainder to expand its all-fiber optic to approximately 3,500 locations across three underserved counties.

The Georgetown University-based program plans to use the money to support its ongoing work, specifically around helping government boost access to public safety net benefits.

Students from Fox Chapel Area High School in Pennsylvania created a nonprofit, Technology Trained by Teens, to help train individuals or groups how to use pieces of software or hardware, from iPhones and apps to TVs.

If Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., have their way, any broadband company that wants to use federal money to provide service in rural areas must be screened very carefully.

Plus, more states are holding in-person events to stoke citizen participation in their connectivity work, President Biden's long-delayed fifth FCC commissioner nominee gets a hearing, and more.

Seventy one percent of households in the county have access to broadband Internet service. Officials want that number to be even higher, despite the substantial costs associated with the buildout.

Plus, the Rural Broadband Association submits a list of priorities to the new Congress; the Department of Defense and NTIA host a 5G challenge; the Texas Library Commission is collecting data about Internet speeds; and more!

In an effort to bridge the digital divide, library officials will be handing out hot spots, tablets and laptops. The devices were paid for by a $548,100 grant from the Federal Communications Commission.

A new report from the National Skills Coalition used data from 43 million online job postings to assess digital skills demand. The findings reveal that the vast majority of jobs now require some type of digital skills.

Plus, a bipartisan group of senators reintroduces legislation that would increase access to rural broadband; the Biden administration announces $33.5M of Internet grants for universities; and more.