Maryland

In this week’s episode of Fiber for Breakfast, Gary was joined by Eric Bathras, the Chief Technology Officer for Infrastructure at the Maryland Department of Information Technology (DoIT).

Marylanders Online, a state-funded digital literacy initiative led by the University of Maryland Extension (UME) in partnership with the College of Information, entered its third year in 2024. Leading several of the state’s digital literacy efforts, Marylanders Online focused the year on resource curation, grassroots community engagement, and capacity-building. These efforts, added to the program’s expanding portfolio of digital classes and programs, have made 2024 a year of notable growth and achievements for Marylanders Online.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has recommended for award more than $250 million to 24 organizations to support digital skills and inclusion projects in communities across the country. The funding will support 24 projects across 39 states and territories. Awards will be issued following budget review and processing. 

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved and recommended for award applications from Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, North Dakota, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, allowing them to request access to more than $60.6 million to implement their Digital Equity Plans. With this announcement, NTIA has approved and recommended for award all state and U.S. Territory applications for the first round of funding from the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program.

Through the Connect Baltimore Broadband Grant Program, Mayor Brandon M. Scott and the Office of Broadband and Digital Equity—a division of the Baltimore City Office of Information and Technology—have awarded Waves a $2 million grant as part of the Scott Administration’s efforts to improve internet access, adoption, and utilization in underserved neighborhoods. Waves, a division of the nonprofit Digital Harbor Foundation, is an internet service provider based in Baltimore.

Information on racial disparities in Maryland housing and neighborhood conditions, as well as the current and ongoing work of the Department to address inequities. Highlights efforts toward reducing digital redlining in Maryland through statewide investments and the Maryland Digital Equity Plan. A lesser-known consequence of disinvestment, “digital redlining” refers to the underdevelopment of broadband infrastructure in low-income neighborhoods.

Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day announced that applications are open for the Office of Statewide Broadband’s new Computer Labs Program. The new digital equity program will administer $2 million in grants to local governments and other partners to support the creation and expansion of computer labs and centers.

The Northeast Digital Equity Summit (NDES) convened educators and researchers from land-grant universities across the Northeast in a virtual setting on September 19, 2023. Organized by Penn State Extension, University of Maryland Extension (UME), Cornell Extension, and the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD), the primary emphasis of the summit was to explore how the inherent characteristics of extension programs make them well-suited for leading collaborative efforts toward achieving localized digital equity.

Maryland has named the senior leadership team for its Digital Service, an IT department division that launched in January. The Digital Service aims to improve residents’ access to digital services and benefits, lower the costs of providing these services and help state agencies offer “well-designed and user-centered digital experiences.” Rather than rely on vendors or contractors for this work, the state chose to make the Digital Service an in-house team of full-time employees.

According to the American Community Survey, 94.1 percent of Maryland residents have a home internet subscription of some kind which—while outperforming the national rate by 3.8 percentage points—still indicates that a sizable number of Maryland households are disconnected from the internet at home.