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A Plan for Digital Equity in Delaware

Submitted on December 4, 2023
Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Monday, December 4, 2023

Digital Beat

A Plan for Digital Equity in Delaware

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are currently working on digital equity plans. As they release draft plans seeking public feedback, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is sharing summaries focused on how states define their digital divides and their vision for reaching digital equity.

Grace Tepper
Tepper

Delaware seeks to promote digital equity to ensure that all residents, regardless of their background or location, have equal opportunities to access education, health care, job prospects, government services, and information critical to personal growth and well-being. To do so, the Delaware Broadband Office has released the state's draft Digital Equity Plan for public comment. The state plan is open for public comment until December 4, 2023.

Delaware's Vision of Digital Equity

The State of Delaware envisions a future where every individual, regardless of their location or background, has full access to high-speed internet connectivity and the tools necessary to harness its transformative potential. In this vision, urban and rural communities alike can fully participate in the digital economy. In this vision, comprehensive infrastructure investment will eliminate connectivity gaps, bridging the urban-rural divide and fostering a connected ecosystem that empowers residents, businesses, and governments to thrive in a digital society.

In this vision, digital equity goes beyond infrastructure, emphasizing digital literacy and skills development as critical components. Residents are equipped with the knowledge to confidently navigate the digital landscape, access online resources, and protect their privacy and security. Digital skills training is integrated into educational curricula, workforce development programs, and community initiatives to create an informed and empowered citizenry. Furthermore, the vision encompasses targeted support for underserved communities, ensuring that they are not left behind in the digital transformation.

In this vision, all Delaware residents will have access to the following five critical elements of digital equity:

  1. Access to affordable, reliable internet connectivity at home: Access to affordable and reliable internet connectivity at home is a cornerstone of digital equity as it ensures that individuals, regardless of their socioeconomic background, can participate fully in the digital world. In an increasingly interconnected society, essential services, education, job opportunities, and civic engagement largely occur online. Affordable internet access enables equal access to critical information and resources that drive personal and professional growth.
  2. A computing device and opportunity to maintain it: A computing device is a necessary element of effective internet use and a gateway to education, employment, health care, and social interactions. Access to a computing device, with technical support to maintain it, means that all Delaware residents have the tools necessary to succeed in the digital age.
  3. Opportunity to learn digital skills and find empowering careers in the digital economy: The opportunity to learn digital skills is a linchpin of digital equity because it empowers individuals to harness the potential of technology effectively and safely. Digital literacy is essential for navigating online platforms, communicating, evaluating information, and engaging in the modern world. For those that choose it, digital literacy can create the opportunity to move beyond skill building for personal enrichment and into a career in the digital economy, promoting general digital literacy, taking opportunities to assist, being role models in the community, and enriching the digital ecosystem in Delaware.
  4. Tools and information to be safe online: Providing tools and information to be safe online is a critical component of digital equity, ensuring that all individuals can navigate the digital landscape securely. Cyber threats, scams, and privacy breaches are risks faced by everyone online.
  5. Online State resources that are accessible and usable: Ensuring that online State resources are accessible and usable for all residents supports equal access to government services, information, and civic participation. An inclusive approach to digital design ensures that individuals with disabilities, limited digital literacy, or language barriers can fully engage with State resources.

Delaware’s digital equity efforts will be guided by a set of core principles that prioritize inclusivity, effectiveness, and sustainability. These principles lay the foundation for ensuring that State of Delaware digital equity efforts address the digital divide comprehensively, prudently, and responsibly. The Delaware Department of Technology and Information (DTI) therefore adopts the following framework principles for digital equity efforts:

  • Inclusivity and accessibility: Digital equity programs should prioritize inclusivity. Programs should be designed with accessibility and flexibility in mind, accommodating different needs and preferences.
  • Equitable access: Efforts should focus on equitable access to affordable high-speed internet connectivity, computing devices, and necessary software. This involves identifying underserved areas and populations, working to bridge the urban-rural digital divide, and ensuring that economic disparities do not hinder access to essential digital tools and services.
  • Community engagement and collaboration: Efforts should prioritize active participation and collaboration among government agencies, community organizations, private sector partners, educational institutions, and residents. Engaging stakeholders ensures that strategies align with local needs, leverage available resources, and create a collective impact.
  • Sustainability: Digital equity planning should aim for long-term sustainability. Sustainable funding models, public-private partnerships, and leveraging existing infrastructure can contribute to the ongoing success of these programs.
  • Data-driven decision-making: Using data to inform strategy, program design, implementation, and evaluation is vital. Regularly collecting and analyzing data helps identify gaps, measure outcomes, and refine strategies for continuous improvement.

Covered Populations and Barriers to Digital Equity

In Delaware, 85 percent of the residents belong to a covered group. Most individuals belonging to covered groups live in rural areas, are racial or ethnic minorities, have a relatively low income, are older than 59 years old, and/or have low levels of literacy.

The percentages of each covered population out of Delaware's total population are as follows:

  • Individuals who live in covered households: 17.9 percent
  • Aging individuals: 26.7 percent
  • Incarcerated individuals: 0.7 percent
  • Veterans: 7.0 percent
  • Individuals with disabilities: 14.2 percent
  • Individuals with a language barrier: 17.8 percent
  • Individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group: 38.7 percent
  • Individuals who primarily reside in a rural area: 43.5 percent

Key barriers and obstacles for Delaware's covered populations include:

Individuals who live in covered households

Unaffordable cost of service for speeds and data capacity necessary to meet critical needs such as education and working from home; lack of knowledge or access to discount subsidy programs.

Aging individuals

Lack of digital skills and comfort levels to use online tools to access telemedicine, public service, social and civic opportunities, or entertainment; lack of internet adoption; need for digital literacy programs.

Incarcerated individuals

Lack of adequate broadband services and adequate funding for digital literacy and workforce training inside correctional institutions; lack of digital literacy and job training for formerly incarcerated to expand job opportunities.

Veterans

Delaware's veterans face crossover challenges with aging individuals, individuals from racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, individuals living in rural areas, and low-income individuals. These challenges are compounded in rural areas where lack of terrestrial and cellular broadband access is coupled with the inherent limitations of smartphones as inadequate to participate in video conference sessions, or access other online veterans’ services such as telemedicine. There is a need to improve veterans’ access to workforce training and digital skills improvement that could expand employment opportunities beyond skills developed in the military.

Individuals with disabilities

Necessary adaptive technology can be expensive, scarce, and hard to use; need for specialized digital literacy training; affordability of services and appropriate devices; relevant online content.

Individuals with a language barrier

Limited or lack of relevant and accessible content; lack of knowledge or access to accessibility tools to support online activity; lack of in-language digital skills training.

Individuals who are members of a racial or ethnic minority group

Barriers that come from historic underrepresentation; crossover barriers with limited English speaking, low-income population.

Individuals who primarily reside in a rural area

Lack of access to affordable and reliable broadband that, in turn, creates barriers to developing digital skills; lack of access to public computing spaces and support for digital literacy and workforce develop skills.

Digital Equity Strategy and Objectives

DTI has adopted several strategies organized based on the barrier they are designed to address.

Barrier: Lack of broadband availability

Strategy 1: Increase access to residential broadband infrastructure

  • Execute the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program
    • Extend last-mile broadband infrastructure throughout Delaware
    • Timeline: 2023 to 2030 (consistent with BEAD requirements)

Measurable Objectives and Key Performance Indicators

  • Every Delaware resident can access 25/3 Megabits per second (Mbps) at home, with a short-term goal of 90 percent and a long-term goal of 98 percent
  • Members of covered populations can access 25/3 Mbps at home, with a short-term goal of 90 percent and a long-term goal of 98 percent
  • Every Delawarean can access 100/20 Mbps at home, with a baseline of 80 percent, a short-term goal of 90 percent and a long-term goal of 98 percent
  • Members of covered populations can access 100/20 Mbps at home, with a short-term goal of 90 percent and a long-term goal of 98 percent
  • Every Community Anchor Institution can access 1/1 Gigabit per second (Gbps), with a short-term goal of 85 percent and a long-term goal of 98 percent

Barrier: Low-income households struggle to afford broadband services, devices, and technical support

Strategy 1: Increase Affordable Connectivity Program enrollment and ISP low-cost program enrollment among eligible households

  • Develop educational materials
    • Provide content and support for educational campaigns in multiple languages among organizations that focus on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and internet service providers' (ISP) low-cost programs, as well as for localities, community anchor institutions (CAI), and nonprofits that have not previously worked to extend ACP and ISPs’ low-cost program enrollment
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter
  • Encourage ISP partnerships for ACP enrollment drives
    • Encourage ISPs to partner with localities, CAIs, and nonprofits to develop ACP enrollment drives and initiatives
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter
  • Fund ACP enrollment drives at libraries, community centers, and health centers
    • Provide funding for libraries and community centers to offer multilingual ACP enrollment drives for eligible households
    • Timeline: 2024 to 2029, based on the availability of the Digital Equity Capacity Grant

Strategy 2: Increase low-cost service offerings

  • Require grantee low-cost offerings
    • Build requirements and enhanced scoring for affordable service offerings into the BEAD grant program
    • Timeline: 2023 to 2025, with monitoring and enforcement thereafter
  • Encourage ISP low-cost offerings
    • Work with ISPs throughout the state to encourage adoption and expansion of low-cost offerings for lower-income households
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter

Strategy 3: Expand access to computing devices and tech support, particularly those provided locally

  • Provide information
    • Provide guidance regarding best practices, expertise, and partnership opportunities to localities and nonprofits to develop and expand existing programs that provide free devices to lower-income households
    • Timeline: 2024 and thereafter
  • Support ACP and ISP low-cost program enrollment
    • Work with partners to support eligible households to purchase computing devices under the Affordable Connectivity Program
    • Timeline: Ongoing
  • Fund library-based tech support
    • Provide funding for libraries to offer tech support for library users
    • Timeline: 2024 to 2029, based on the availability of the Digital Equity Capacity Grant
  • Increase nonprofit capacity
    • Expand the capacity of nonprofits to address device access, tech support, and device repair
    • Timeline: 2024 to 2029, based on the availability of the Digital Equity Capacity Grant

Strategy 4: Develop data and informational resources to enable the application of a digital equity lens to infrastructure and program decisions

  • Provide map information
    • Add digital equity data to the Delaware Broadband Map
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter
  • Provide asset information
    • Update DTI’s Digital Equity Asset Inventory periodically so that communities have access to resources for identifying partners and best practices
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter
  • Develop education and informational resources
    • Work with collaborators to design and share data and informational resources promoting internet safety, ACP awareness, and device donation and refurbishment, and develop online resources on digital equity best practices for reference by stakeholders statewide
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter

Measurable Objectives and Key Performance Indicators

  • Increased enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program and ISPs’ low-cost programs, with a five-year goal of 60 percent of eligible households participating in ACP and a ten-year goal of 70 percent
  • Increased percentage of ISPs that offer low-cost products for lower-income households, with a five-year goal of 95 percent of ISPs that offer low-cost products for lower-income households and a ten-year goal of 95 percent
  • All Delaware residents have access to a workable, internet-enabled computing device, with a five-year goal of 93 percent of all survey respondents who report that they can get a broken or lost computing device fixed or replaced within a month and a ten-year goal of 95 percent
  • Members of covered populations have access to a workable, internet-enabled computing device, with a five-year goal of 93 percent of all survey respondents who report that they can get a broken or lost computing device fixed or replaced within a month and a ten-year goal of 95 percent

Barrier: Lack of digital and tech-related job opportunities and skill development for marginalized, covered, and low-income populations

Strategy 1: Increase capacity for job training programs with pipeline access to good-paying jobs in the tech sector and digital economy

  • Enable partnerships
    • Use DTI’s convening capabilities to connect localities and nonprofits with expert partners that have established training courses, to enable stakeholders to benefit from each other’s expertise and lessons learned
    • TimelineL 2023 and thereafter
  • Provide informational resources and expert data and guidance
    • Develop and distribute relevant materials to share expertise and guidance so that communities have access to resources for identifying cost-effective strategies and best practices
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter

Strategy 2: Increase outreach and recruitment by job training organizations, including governmental and nonprofit, in historically under-represented populations

  • Enable partnerships
    • Use DTI’s convening capabilities to connect localities and nonprofits with expert partners that have established training courses, to enable stakeholders to benefit from each other’s expertise and lessons learned
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter
  • Provide informational resources and expert data and guidance
    • Develop and distribute relevant materials to share expertise and guidance so that communities have access to resources for identifying cost-effective strategies and best practices
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter

Measurable Objectives and Key Performance Indicators

  • Members of covered populations have access to digital and tech-related workforce training opportunities, measured by the number of workforce development and training programs

Barrier: Low-income and senior households lack digital skills

Strategy 1: Enable digital skills development through training courses

  • Enable partnerships
    • Connect localities with expert partners that have established training courses, working with a full range of stakeholders that are engaged in digital equity efforts to enable partners to benefit from each other’s expertise and lessons learned
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter
  • Fund library-based training
    • Provide funding for libraries to offer digital skills training, based on standardized and tested curricula that reflect cultural appropriateness
    • Timeline: 2024 to 2029, based on the availability of the Digital Equity Capacity Grant
  • Provide informational resources and guidance
    • Distribute relevant materials to share expertise and guidance so that communities have access to resources for identifying partners and best practices
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter
  • Provide broadband to disconnected students
    • Collaborate with the Delaware Department of Education to provide free service to low-income and disconnected students through the Connect Delaware program
    • Timeline: Currently underway and funded through 2024

Strategy 2: Expand opportunities to learn online safety and privacy

  • Enable partnerships
    • Use DTI’s convening capabilities to connect localities with expert partners that have established training courses, to enable stakeholders to benefit from each other’s expertise and lessons learned
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter
  • Provide informational resources and expert data and guidance
    • Develop and distribute relevant materials to share expertise and guidance so that communities have access to resources for identifying cost-effective strategies and best practices
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter
  • Fund library-based training
    • Provide funding for libraries to offer training at the local level regarding online safety and privacy, based on standardized and tested curricula that reflect cultural appropriateness
    • Timeline: 2024 to 2029, based on the availability of the Digital Equity Capacity Grant
  • Fund training at senior centers and youth centers
    • Provide funding for senior and youth centers to offer training at the local level regarding online safety and privacy, based on standardized and tested curricula that reflect cultural appropriateness
    • Timeline: 2024 to 2029, based on the availability of the Digital Equity Capacity Grant

Strategy 3: Expand accessibility of information

  • Develop and distribute accessibility guidance
    • Provide guidance materials to State and local agencies regarding best practices for website design and maintenance that align with accessibility standards and that enable cost-effective use of critical support tools
    • Timeline: 2023 and thereafter

Measurable Objectives and Key Performance Indicators

  • All Delaware residents are able to use the internet if they so choose, with a short-term goal of 10/17 key digital skills performed and a long-term goal of 15/17
  • All members of covered populations are able to use the internet if they so choose, with a short-term goal of 10/17 key digital skills performed and a long-term goal of 15/17
  • All Delaware residents can access information or training to learn how to protect their security online, with a short-term goal of 85 percent of all survey respondents who say they are confident they can protect their security online and a long-term goal of 95 percent
  • All members of covered populations can access information or training to learn how to protect their security online, with a short-term goal of 85 percent of all survey respondents who say they are confident they can protect their security online and a long-term goal of 95 percent
  • All Delaware residents can access information or training to learn how to protect their privacy online, with a short-term goal of 85 percent of all survey respondents who say they are confident they can protect their privacy online and a long-term goal of 95 percent
  • All members of covered populations can access information or training to learn how to protect their privacy online, with a short-term goal of 85 percent of all survey respondents who say they are confident they can protect their privacy online and a long-term goal of 95 percent
  • All Delaware residents can access government services online, with a short-term goal of 50 percent of all survey respondents who say they use the internet to access government services online and a long-term goal of 75 percent
  • All members of covered populations can access government services online, with a short-term goal of 50 percent of all survey respondents who say they use the internet to access government services online and a long-term goal of 75 percent

Barrier: Communities lack resources and expertise for digital equity efforts

Strategy 1: Build collaboration among State, local, and nonprofit entities

  • Convene stakeholders
    • Build structures to enable stakeholders to work together across the State and across different demographics, to enable shared lessons and resources to support those who face the greatest barriers to digital equity, as well as to help organizations to leverage others’ capabilities and help stakeholders serving particular regions or specific covered populations to share best practices and digital equity expertise
    • Timeline: 2024 and thereafter
  • Enable funders to connect with program experts
    • Convene a range of stakeholders to enable organizations that run digital equity programs to request resources from various stakeholders, including private sector partners, ISPs, and philanthropy
    • Timeline: 2024 and thereafter

Strategy 2: Build capacity for digital skill building in governmental and nonprofit entities

  • Fund standardized train-the-trainer programs
    • Fund training programs that build practical digital skill sets within government and nonprofit entities that help to build additional effectiveness and efficiencies in outcomes
    • Timeline: 2024 thru 2029 (pending funding availability)

Measurable Objectives and Key Performance Indicators

  • Partnership opportunities are available via convening events, with a short-term goal of 6 convening events per year and a long-term goal of 12 per year
  • Capacity building through promoting the hiring of digital navigators, measured by the number of digital navigators hired & trained to support 1:1 capacity building

Delaware Wants to Hear From You

Public comments on Delaware's draft Digital Equity Plan can be submitted using the Delaware Broadband Office's designated email (digitalequity@delaware.gov) or via mail using the address found here until December 4, 2023.

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