Digital Equity

A total of 38 California counties have placed their rural broadband hopes in a new partnership with Utah's UTOPIA Fiber, an organization that facilitates the construction of open access networks.

Plus, both the FCC and the NTIA are continuing to make substantial investments in broadband connectivity work across the country, senators introduce the Rural Broadband Protection Act, and much more.

Institutions such as Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of Missouri are leading projects with community partners to expand high-speed Internet access.

Loup Power District is developing a funding resolution that can lead to the construction of a 300-mile backbone network. The effort will affect residents in four rural Nebraska counties: Boone, Colfax, Nance and Platte.

Supt. Alberto Carvalho says connectivity is a civil right, and Los Angeles Unified School District has negotiated bulk discounted rates with AT&T and Charter to provide it for one year using short-term federal funding.

At the NASCIO Midyear Conference, Alaska CIO Bill Smith talked about how the push to hybrid work in the past two years has allowed new voices to join the government workforce from the large state’s more rural areas.

Plus, Pew Charitable Trusts is warning that states are at risk of missing out on federal broadband funding, the NDIA has announced two new resources related to digital inclusion work, and more.

Oregon is now offering an app that will let residents show proof of vaccination in a convenient way. The app cost a total of $2.45 million and drew on lessons learned from California and Washington.

After losing its top bidder, New Orleans wants to reissue a new RFP for a smart city plan that would address the city's digital divide, but Cox Business believes it should automatically get the contract.

The citizens of Decatur, Ala., have limited options when it comes to affordable high-speed Internet. As a result, Decatur Utilities is now studying the feasibility of going into the broadband business.

While infrastructure challenges and digital literacy gaps still impede digital equity efforts in many rural parts of America, public and private entities are increasingly looking to new partnerships to bridge the divide.

Officials in Maine estimate that the state could get about $500 million in federal and state funds to bring high-speed Internet to the 78,000 locations in the state that lack broadband.

Transportation eats up 25 percent of the income of median-wage earners in Tampa, Fla., underscoring that the path to transportation equity could be as simple as reducing transportation costs.

At both the state and federal levels of government, millions of dollars in new funding continue to be made available for broadband projects across the U.S. Plus, advocacy groups release new guidance resources for the work.

Team Real Talk won the University at Buffalo's Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition with an instructional platform to help organizations talk about sensitive issues like race and gender.

With $1.5 million in federal funding, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the nonprofit Technology and Data Institute intend to put a 5G cellular network in homes and convert the signal to WiFi.

The Southside Network Authority in Virginia has broken ground for a new fiber ring that will connect five cities in the state. The network will even be linked to subsea fiber-optic lines in the Atlantic.

The Nebraska State Unit on Aging has partnered with GetSetUp.io, a virtual learning platform, to bolster digital skills and a wide range of other life skills among older adults across the state.