Maya James

As required by the Digital Equity Act, the $1.25 billion Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program will be established soon, making hundreds of millions of dollars available in the first Notice of Funding Opportunity to implement digital inclusion projects. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act mandates that funding be directed towards programs designed to empower those impacted by the digital divide, known as Covered Populations.

Sterling Williams Jr. was retired from the U.S. Airforce, bored, and looking for a fulfilling way to spend his time. His niece made a suggestion: going to college. Williams was intrigued but concerned about keeping a flexible schedule. Between picking his niece up from school and waiting for appointments at the Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic, the idea of commuting back and forth for classes seemed like a significant obstacle. Then he learned South Texas College would give him a laptop and hotspot to attend classes remotely.

In May the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) celebrated Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month with the theme “Bridging Histories, Shaping Our Future.” We close out this month by chatting with Angela Thi Bennett, NTIA’s first-ever Director of Digital Equity. "NTIA's work is crucial in addressing the digital divide, which disproportionately affects certain populations, including Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

The Forest County Potawatomi Community of Wisconsin had been generating electricity to run its community center using solar panels for years—they just didn’t have an accurate way of tracking their energy usage. Thanks to an Internet for All grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), they now do. NTIA’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) awarded the Forest County Potawatomi Community $125,232 to provide reliable high-speed Internet service to the Tribe’s solar arrays.

Ten-year-old Miguel is putting his new digital literacy skills to an unexpected use: writing stories about his need for a brother. “It is boring only having sisters,” Miguel, who has four sisters, explained. Miguel and his mother Maria teamed up to take bilingual digital literacy classes through the University of Houston-Downtown's (UHD) e-library program.

This Black History Month, NTIA celebrates the historic and present-day achievements of Black Americans who paved the way for innovation in telecommunications and tech sciences. We end the month with a spotlight on Dr. Jon Gant, Director of the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives. 

When did you become interested in digital inclusion?