As all of us have focused on the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program to bring fixed broadband to rural areas, the Federal Communications Commission has quietly moved another program forward: the proposed “5G Fund for Rural America”, a program that could be as large as $9 billion. As of March 2024, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated to colleagues a draft order that would restart the 5G Fund. (INCOMPAS, out of concern for high USF funding, has proposed postponing the program by several years.) This would be a reverse auction (similar to the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund) where carriers would bid against each other in successive rounds, with the FCC trying to find the carrier willing to provide 5G at the lowest cost. One of the biggest issues in the docket was clearly the definition of eligible areas. The FCC appears to want to define eligible areas as only those without any coverage, while other stakeholder pushed for eligible areas to be anything without 5G coverage.

People with disabilities regularly face accessibility challenges while using government websites. Solving these challenges has become more urgent, for two reasons. First, COVID-19 pushed more of life online, and it is often easier now to do business digitally than in person. Second, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a new final rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act in April 2024. This requires all state and local governments to make digital services “readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.” This one-two punch means there is now more momentum than ever before to make government digital services accessible. Total digital accessibility can be an intimidating goal to work toward. It can be tough for government to even know where to start. The new final rule from the federal government provides a set of standards that can be used as guidance, but there are still lots of questions.

Online classes for older adults are increasingly helping the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) not only raise digital skill levels—but more efficiently implement other technology to serve clients, including artificial intelligence. NYSOFA has been instrumental in several major state initiatives to help seniors be more connected. The agency began its first tech-focused project in 2018, and now has 21 public-private partnerships with technology companies, Greg Olsen, NYSOFA acting director, said. Because the agency works closely with those it serves, Olsen said its existing relationships and digital literacy enable a more seamless implementation of unfamiliar technology tools—and ultimately, these implementations can build on the agency’s work to bridge the digital divide.  NYSOFA is not trying to replace human beings with technology, Olsen said, but rather, to use technology to enhance the work that is already being done, to better serve residents.