Digital Equity Funding Boosts Innovative Connectivity in Indiana

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society

Monday, December 2, 2024

Digital Beat

Digital Equity Funding Boosts Innovative Connectivity in Indiana

Kevin Taglang
Tepper

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced, in late October 2024, that Indiana would receive over $15 million through the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program created by Congress through the Digital Equity Act. With this funding, the Indiana Broadband Office (IBO) is able to implement its Digital Opportunity Plan for the state, created in partnership with the Purdue University Center for Regional Development (PCRD) and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA). Broadly, the plan's objectives include initiatives to:

  • Roll out large-scale programs facilitated with other state agencies focused on telehealth expansion, digital skills for incarcerated individuals, and accessibility of state websites and digital services;
  • Upgrade state websites for accessibility and usability; and
  • Introduce the Indiana Digital Skills program, a campaign to address connectivity barriers, device access, and digital literacy.

Here is a look at all the activities included in IBO's Digital Opportunity Plan, when state residents can expect the see the activities launched, and how the effectiveness of programs will be measured.

Indiana's vision for digital equity: Indiana residents trust and use innovative connectivity for improved quality of life, resulting in inclusive and resilient communities that ensure opportunities for all.

Objectives, Activities, Timelines

IBO organizes its implementation timeline by the major activities fulfilling the measurable objectives in the state plan. For each objective, IBO includes benchmarks to track alongside its timeline. IBO notes that its final implementation timeline depends on the amount of funds it receives from the federal government.

Measurable Objective 1: The availability of, and affordability of access to, fixed and wireless broadband technology

Plan activities:

  • Q2 2024
    • Tailor implementation processes to NTIA's guidelines
  • Q3 2024-Q4 2028
    • Collaboration with Digital Equity Partners
  • Q3 2024-Q2 2026
    • Creation of Digital Equity Coalitions. These coalitions will serve as the mechanism through which digital equity will be customized, partners will be engaged, priorities will be identified, and resources will be leveraged.
  • Q2 2025-Q2 2028
    • Assess and educate interested parties in a community to help provide full coverage of the state with high-speed internet access
    • Strengthen existing incentives and/or develop new programs for internet service providers (ISPs)
    • Create and equip informed consumers to increase demand and encourage adoption

Objective 1's Long-Term Metrics:

  • Five percent or less of households with no internet access
  • Five percent or less of households with no internet access in rural areas
  • Fifteen percent or less of households with no internet access earning less than $35,000
  • Ninety-five percent or more of households with paid home internet for all 12 months
  • Thirty-five percent or more of households with paid home internet for all 12 months making less than $35,000
  • Ninety-five percent or more of households with paid home internet for all 12 months age 60 or older

Measurable Objective 2: The online accessibility and inclusivity of public resources and services

Plan activities:

  • Q2 2025-Q2 2028
    • Inventory government service websites to assess translation needs
    • Translate government service websites
    • Develop culturally and language-appropriate marketing materials
    • Equip residents to participate in the digital world safely and prosperously

Objective 2's Long-Term Metrics:

  • Ninety-five percent or more of Government Website Services in Spanish
  • At least three culturally- and language-appropriate marketing campaigns
  • Seventy-five percent or more of residents feeling very/extremely confident accessing/applying for government services
  • Seventy-five percent or more of residents (minorities) feeling very/extremely confident accessing/applying for government services
  • Seventy-five percent or more of residents (any disability) feeling very/extremely confident accessing/applying for government services
  • Seventy-five percent or more of residents (age 60 or older) feeling very/extremely confident accessing/applying for government services

Measurable Objective 3: Digital literacy

Plan activities

  • Q2 2025-Q2 2028
    • Develop culturally- and language-appropriate curricula
    • Invest in skilling up the workforce by identifying workers—especially those from covered populations—that would benefit from re-skilling, identifying companies willing to shift their culture to support the integration of digital skills through adult education programs
    • Collaborate with local employers to incentivize digital skill programs by hosting on-site learning opportunities and investing in the offline training of their workers—especially those from covered populations.
    • Support and fund the development and delivery of programs and resources that build digital skills among small businesses—especially those from covered populations—and cultivate unique digital communities for Indiana towns/cities/counties
    • Leverage existing tech hubs/computer labs for digital skills classes and support existing educational programs
    • Encourage and support programs connecting residents with local digital services, such as telehealth, online banking, or government/civic services, to cultivate prosperous online communities
    • Support and fund digital skills classes to maximize the benefit of online activities in daily life (such as completing paperwork online, shopping, banking, and locating information)

Objective 3's Long-Term Metrics:

  • At least three culturally and language-appropriate relevant curricula
  • At least five partners
  • At least 100 participants

Measurable Objective 4: Awareness of, and the use of, measures to secure the online privacy of, and cybersecurity with respect to, an individual

Plan activities:

  • Q2 2025-Q2 2028
    • Build capacity to support one-to-one devices in schools and beyond (e.g., churches)
    • Support and fund digital skills programs for parenting in the digital age, as well as a digital citizenship training program for adults to build their online social interaction skills
    • Support and fund digital skills programs on online safety and privacy, specifically for covered populations

Objective 4's Long-Term Metrics:

  • At least three culturally and language-appropriate internet safety curricula
  • At least five partners delivering the curricula
  • At least 100 participants of all covered populations, specifically those ages 60 or older

Measurable Objective 5: The availability and affordability of consumer devices and technical support for those devices

Plan activities:

  • Q2 2025-Q2 2028
    • Expand the availability of quality and reliable devices in the community relying on local device-related assets to educate and repurpose
    • Develop educational and trusted technical assistance programs to maximize device adoption and use

Objective 5's Long-Term Metrics:

  • Three percent or less of households with no computing devices
  • Thirty percent or less of residents not owning a desktop computer
  • Twenty percent or less of residents (minorities) not owning a desktop computer
  • Thirty-five percent or less of residents (making less than $35,000) not owning a desktop computer
  • Thirty percent or less of residents (rural) not owning a desktop computer computer
  • Thirty percent or less of residents (disabled) not owning a desktop computer
  • Thirty percent or less of residents (language barrier) not owning a desktop computer
  • Twenty-five percent or less of residents (aged 60 or older) not owning a desktop computer
  • Thirty percent or less of residents (recently incarcerated) not owning a desktop computer
  • Thirty percent or less of residents (veterans) not owning a desktop computer

Data Collection and Program Evaluation

  • Q4 2024-Q4 2028
    • Digital Equity Data Gathering for Impact Evaluation: Digital equity data will be assessed on a regular basis and allocation will be strategic to the ever-changing needs of the state’s population. Data sources used to develop this plan include a survey of Indiana residents and key informant interviews, the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, Lightcast, Google and the Regional Economic Modeling, Inc.
  • Q1 of every year
    • Digital Equity Dashboard Annual Update: Indiana's digital equity dashboard consists of a group of 19 variables that will be monitored to gauge
      the state’s digital equity landscape during the next five years. These include data on school-aged children, seniors, race & ethnicity, digital distress, household income, and the digital economy.
  • Q3-Q4 2028
    • Repeat Digital Equity Survey: The Purdue University Center for Regional Development partnered with the Indiana University Survey Research Center to design, validate and conduct the survey for the Digital Opportunity Plan. The objectives of this survey were to provide contextual information on the state’s digital equity landscape, serve as a benchmark for interventions taking place in the future, and document digital equity differences among groups.

Local, Local, Local

IBO sees digital equity as a hyperlocal issue impacting how people participate in the digital economy and society. Cookie-cutter approaches, IBO believes, will yield limited impact. The state aims to expand digital equity-focused capacity at the local level, building resilient and equitable communities by supporting new and existing ecosystems for local prosperity. These digital equity goals, then, will contribute to every Indiana community’s quality of life and economic development.

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Kevin Taglang

Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
1041 Ridge Rd, Unit 214
Wilmette, IL 60091
847-220-4531
headlines AT benton DOT org

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