Digital Equity

The funding will go to 19 magnet schools' equity efforts, as well as the creation of four regional “equity assistance centers” that provide public schools with technical assistance and guidance on nondiscrimination.

A local organization called the Enterprise Center is working with community partners to provide residents in the city's Orchard Knob neighborhood with broadband access for telehealth appointments.

Through its new consolidated Office of Technology and Innovation, NYC is working to expand connectivity access through various technology-related initiatives, including its most recent advancement: Big Apple Connect.

Plus, how electric infrastructure can help expand access to high-speed Internet, Boston unveils the results of a recent digital equity assessment, Salesforce tapped to help distribute federal grant money, and more.

The federal government has announced more than $100 million in grants to bring high-speed fiber Internet to many Southwest Alaska villages, part of a massive investment to close the digital divide in rural areas.

Of the many geographic equity issues that leave Western Massachusetts at a disadvantage as compared to other areas, the unavailability of high-speed Internet rates at or near the top of the list.

Preparing to speak Tuesday at the annual Harold Hotelling Memorial Lecture at Lawrence Tech, Michigan State University professor Keith Hampton says broadband connectivity across the U.S. is dramatically under-recorded.

The city of Boston could have to pay close to a billion dollars if it decided to build out a fiber Internet network, according to a new “digital equity” study that detailed gaps to access in the city.

The federal funding is expected to connect 67,857 households and businesses to high-speed Internet, covering 23 percent of locations in the state without access to adequate service, according to officials.

Residents in Marysville, Calif., will soon have access to affordable broadband service and discounts on Internet-enabled devices through an event hosted through the Yuba County Library.

Plus, NTIA has announced grantees through the Connecting Minority Communities program, broadband-related legislation has been introduced, Connect Maryland applications are open, and much more.

The new Future Finder Challenge aims to spur the development of new digital tools designed to help adult learners navigate new career paths as workplaces digitize and job requirements change.

More than a quarter of some of New York's lowest-income households report no Internet subscriptions. And for others, the ability to connect to the Internet exists only in the palm of their hand — 8 percent in the state rely solely on a smartphone.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and edX report revealed that, from a global group of about 1,400 students and educators, the ability to use tools that work around their lives is most important.

More than 132,000 households in the state lack access to broadband. Some 29 towns, six school districts and four of the 10 tribal territories in the state have less than half of their residences with access to broadband.

Plus, Chicago has posted a new RFI related to expanding broadband access throughout the entire city, Pittsburgh has announced a new digital equity coalition, North Carolina has a digital equity grant program and more.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said this week that they want to close the region's digital divide within the next five years, calling special attention to racial disparities in service.

The federal Office of Educational Technology during today's National Digital Equity Summit launched its Advancing Digital Equity for All resource, which provides a platform for recommendations to establish equity plans.