NTIA Making Resources Available to Help States Turn Digital Equity Plans into Reality

On March 29, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program. Through this program, NTIA is making funding available for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Indian Tribes, Alaska Native entities, and Native Hawaiian organizations to turn their digital equity plans into digital inclusion activities. State Digital Equity Capacity Grants can be used for five purposes:

1. To update or maintain a state's digital equity plan (although no more than 20 percent of the grant can be used for this purpose),
2. To implement a state's digital equity plan,
3. To make subgrants to implement a state's digital equity plan,²
4. To evaluate subgrantees' efforts (although no more than 5 percent of the grant can be used for this purpose), and
5. Administrative costs (although no more than 3 percent of the grant can be used for this purpose).