Reporting

A new report funded by the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) through Massachusetts ARPA State Fiscal Recovery Funds examines access to information technology in Worcester, and the “capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy,” which is part of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NOIA) definition of “Digital Equity.” The City of Worcester is a member of the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program through the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI).

Aiming to fight what they see as vague and overly burdensome regulation by the European Union, U.S. tech giants are playing one of the strongest cards they have: withholding their products. Until now, the U.S. tech giants have dominated the global digital economy by serving (almost) everyone, accepting divergent regional laws as the cost of doing business.

You’ve heard the grand declarations from telecommunications companies over the past few years. "We’re not telcos anymore," they’ve said, "we’re techcos." But what’s so bad about being a telco?Techco, of course, is short for "technology company." The idea is that telcos are evolving beyond their roots as simple connectivity providers and turning into services companies. The underlying implication here is that connectivity is becoming a utility, just like water or electric service.

The Indiana Connectivity Program announced the 10th round of awards on July 11, 2024. The Indiana Connectivity Program aims to connect residents and businesses that lack access to broadband internet service with service providers and assist in the expense of extending broadband to those locations. The 10th round of the program awarded $3,327,496 to expand broadband to 708 addresses across 38 counties. The awardees and amounts were:

Affordable access was top of mind for elected county leaders from across the United States at a roundtable discussion hosted by Cox Communications. Carmen Moore-Zeigler, a commissioner representing District 2 in Alabama’s Montgomery County, stressed that the internet is a key factor when it comes to inspiring young people. Stan Sallee, a Tulsa County Commissioner from Oklahoma serving District 1, echoed similar sentiments.

Donald Trump’s allies are drafting a sweeping AI executive order that would launch a series of “Manhattan Projects” to develop military technology and immediately review “unnecessary and burdensome regulations”—signaling how a potential second Trump administration may pursue AI policies favorable to Silicon Valley investors and companies. The framework would also create “industry-led” agencies to evaluate AI models and secure systems from foreign adversaries. The framework—which includes a section titled “Make America First in AI”—presents a markedly different strategy for the booming secto

Amazon recently trumpeted that it had purchased enough clean electricity to cover the energy demands of all the offices, data centers, grocery stores, and warehouses across its global operations, seven years ahead of its sustainability target. That news closely followed Google’s acknowledgment that the soaring energy demands of its AI operations helped ratchet up its corpor

The politics of Sen JD Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s new running mate, might require a lot of explanation if you’re still accustomed to the traditional Democratic/Republican divide — a Yale-educated former venture capitalist and economic nationalist with ties to Catholic integralists and an 

A significant chunk of the tech industry's money and power is lining up behind Donald Trump. Silicon Valley was once solidly Democratic, with just a handful of Republican outliers.

The state of Texas has begun accepting applications for nearly $730 million in broadband funding. Applications are due by August 26, 2024. Applicants can request funding for any of 24 counties. Funding targets the two neediest counties in each of the state’s 12 economic regions.