Technically Media
Digital Equity Leadership Lap aims to create the next wave of digital equity leaders in Baltimore
The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation is graduating the first cohort of the Digital Equity Leadership Lab, a pilot leadership program that offers training on everything that a person seeking to be an expert on internet advocacy needs to know. The five-week program covered topics including laws governing the internet, core concepts about network engineering and the workings of community internet networks, like mesh networks. The group of 25 participants also met with guest speakers, such as former Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Mignon L.
Maryland is putting $300M in COVID-19 relief funds toward broadband and digital inclusion
As part of a $3.9 billion allocation of COVID-19 relief funding from the latest federal law, the American Rescue Plan, Maryland is committing $300 million toward broadband and digital equity initiatives. The package is part of an agreement reached between Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) and the Democratic legislative leaders of the Maryland General Assembly.
Baltimore City and Microsoft are partnering to offer digital literacy courses
The City of Baltimore has formed a digital alliance with Microsoft to bring a collection of programs for residents of Baltimore looking to learn the fundamentals of coding and robotics, as well as basic digital literacy.
The Emergency Broadband Benefit cannot be overlooked
Baltimore City has a digital divide. COVID didn’t create this; rather, our digital divide is an outgrowth of pre-existing disparities, exacerbated by a global pandemic. The result is that Black and Latinx communities in our city are disproportionately harmed by both the COVID-19 virus and the economic recession.
COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting the Black community. So is the digital divide — and it’s not a coincidence
Those of us who are able to work from home are only able to do so because we have three things — a working computer, broadband access and the technical skills needed to use our devices. But the people who live on the other side of the digital divide — most of whom are people of color, many of whom are people in their 40s, 50s and 60s — can’t work from home. The digital divide has always disproportionately impacted the same communities that have always been left behind in the US.
Accessibility doesn’t start with a website. It starts with digital equity
When we say “accessibility,” many of us think about adding keyboard navigation, high color contrast, and alt text to a website. But the reality is, even with accessibility features, your website is still inaccessible to millions who don’t have internet access or training to use a computer. The digital divide remains – 15 million Americans don’t have a computer and 24 million don’t have broadband.