Digital Equity

A one-year pilot in Eau Claire County, Wis., will provide free Internet to 50 residents through Elon Musk's satellite service, Starlink. The residents will receive equipment soon.

Plus, Chicago expands its education-focused digital equity program; Louisiana invests $180 million in expanding broadband infrastructure for underserved communities; and Boston launches a neighborhood database search.

El Paso County, Texas, will be part of a multi-partner program that will examine various critical factors related to the expansion of broadband access in the community. The program will last three years.

Our Sisters' School in Massachusetts has invested in a robotics club, a greenhouse, coding programs, extra science instructors and other resources to help girls break into careers in which women are underrepresented.

The association of ed-tech leaders gave its inaugural SETDA Candice Dodson Influencer Award to Richardson for her work championing digital learning and her involvement with several state-level teams and initiatives.

The university joined others in New York, Utah and North Carolina as part of the National Science Foundation's research of new wireless devices, protocols and applications to improve broadband connectivity.

Summit County, Ohio, leaders are pushing back against a recently proposed amendment from the Ohio Senate that would eliminate existing and future municipal broadband networks, officials said.

Congress was recently introduced to a new broadband map from the White House. The map highlights areas in red if they have slow or no Internet. Experts say affordability is as much of an issue as infrastructure.

The Digital Equity Act, which was originally proposed in 2019, was reintroduced last week by U.S. Sens. Patty Murray, Rob Portman and Angus King — a Democrat, Republican and Independent respectively.

Recognizing that technology necessary for academic success is still too expensive for some students, Capital University in Columbus intends to provide iPads for each of its 2,600 students and staff.

A survey by the ed-tech company Instructure found parents and teachers are confident about tech-driven educational methods and tools, but concerns about digital equity and the efficacy of standardized testing remain.

Politically powerful AT&T, a very generous contributor to legislators' campaign kitties, opposes the governor's plan. So does the cable TV industry. They object to the state creating competitors.

In comments at the CoMotion MIAMI transportation and urbanism conference, LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds put forward a vision of expanded access to affordable and equitable transportation in her city and beyond.

A public-private program launched last year has helped thousands of students in Tennessee’s Hamilton County Schools acquire reliable Internet, building upon existing fiber-optic networks in Chattanooga.

Xavier University in New Orleans is one of 10 HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) to receive a $5 million grant from the tech giant for scholarships, hardware and other investments.

The tech company partnered with schools in Colorado and Texas during the pandemic to expand Internet access needed for virtual learning, a main concern of educators during the public health crisis.

Plus, Philadelphia launches new cross-sector household Internet assessment survey, Ohio has built a distracted driving dashboard, and Los Angeles is working to help young people impacted by the digital divide.

A nonprofit is joining forces with Detroit to bridge the digital divide by distributing at least 1,000 refurbished computers and other equipment to low-income families through donations of used tech from area businesses.