Federal Funding Fosters Senior Digital Learning

[Commentary] Concern about seniors being left behind in the digital divide is not a recent phenomenon. Some efforts date back to the mid-1990s. Others emerged when the federal government began to pay serious attention about a decade ago. The Obama Administration has made 21st century telecommunications technology a priority for all Americans. Faced with the Great Recession, the President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009. This economic stimulus package included funds to expand broadband infrastructure, increase the number of public computer centers and implement broadband adoption programs. ARRA funds created the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), administered by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA).

In his January 14, 2015 announcement of Broadband USA’s plans to help with community broadband plans, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickland stated, “Our grantees also have established or upgraded 3,000 public computer centers, trained more than four million people and helped roughly 735,000 households sign up for broadband.” BTOP funding ended in December 2013. A small number of BTOP projects focused on seniors. Here are a few highlights.

[Cecilia Garcia, former Executive Director of the Benton Foundation, is a communications advisor with an extensive background in public affairs, television production and advocacy]