Government Technology

Three states have recently kickstarted their own broadband surveys — Washington, North Carolina and Alabama.

Currently there are 14 million people living in urban communities in the U.S. who cannot access telehealth service, yet the Federal Communications Commission and USDA will spend $5 billion this year to get telehealth and broadband to 4 million rural households.

Broadband connectivity alone doesn’t make a postsecondary institution inclusive or competitive, said tech leaders from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) during a National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) webinar. The main point at the webinar was that HBCUs and TCUs must view cyberinfrastructure from a broad lens in order to better serve students and capitalize on research opportunities that can bring dollars to educational organizations.

Chicago Connected — "a groundbreaking initiative to provide free Internet" — aims to connect 100,000 students, giving them Internet at home for minimum of four years. Chicago officials say they hope the program will be the first phase of a broader effort that ultimately bridges the city’s digital divide. The four-year scope really sets the program apart from those found in other parts of the country, “This is really just phase one of what we’re trying to do,” said Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jennie Bennett.

Here’s a look at what some digital privacy experts view as standouts in legislative online privacy efforts at the state level, and some of the sticking points in those and federal proposals.

Issues around equity, access to broadband and the broader social ills related to racism are finding a stronger foothold in smart city strategies. The compounding events of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, its related economic fallout and nationwide protests calling attention to unjust policing and systematic racism are redefining how cities use technology as an instrument for achieving community goals. The coronavirus crisis, which either idled large segments of the economy or required workers to go remote, has laid bare lingering problems like the digital divide, as smart city leaders rethin