Illinois, Benton Institute Work Together to Close the Digital Divide

A Q&A with Adrianne Furniss, executive director of the Benton Institute, and Matt Schmit, deputy director of the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity

Within months of its inception in September 2019, the Illinois Office of Broadband (IOB) forged a strategic partnership with the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. As a very lean operation with just two dedicated staff, IOB needed to expand our capacity if we wanted to do more than simply administer Connect Illinois, which at $400 million is the largest state matching grant program ever. Schmit believed that Benton would be the perfect partner to work with us to fulfill Governor J.B. Pritzker’s commitment to broadband ubiquity, the Connect Illinois investment, and the promise of serious and sustained digital equity programming.