Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

The Washington State Broadband Office in the Department of Commerce has hired Estakio Beltran to serve as Digital Equity Manager. Beltran comes to the job with significant experience working on equity policy, program development, and community-driven solutions to inequity. During more than a decade working in Washington DC, Beltran advised senior members of Congress and high-ranking officials as public policy professionals.

Major federal broadband consumer subsidy programs that have been implemented, in the U.S. (the Lifeline, the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB), and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)) are rebates administered through broadband providers. Yet, uptake in these programs among eligible households has been modest. Direct-to-consumer voucher subsidies have been widely applied to non-broadband social benefit programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), yet there is limited implementation for broadband.

Housed at the Michelson 20MM Foundation, the Digital Equity Pooled Fund is a new collaboration between 20MM, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF), and California Community Foundation (CCF) that is focused on advancing digital equity in California.

Detroit Digital Inclusion Director Joshua Edmonds is departing the city to head up a nonprofit organization that also works in the digital equity space. Edmonds has taken a position as CEO of DigitalC, a Cleveland-based nonprofit focused on getting people connected to high-speed, affordable Internet. He started with the city in December 2018 and was named Detroit’s director of digital inclusion in January 2019, making him one of the first people in the country to head up digital equity work within a municipal government.

In Fall 2022, states, territories, and the District of Columbia (DC) will receive Digital Equity Act (DEA) Planning Grant awards – and, with approximately a year to develop their state digital equity plan, they’ll start the process quickly. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires states, territories and DC (or the administering entities) to engage with a variety of stakeholders in creating the plan, including community anchor institutions, county and municipal governments, local educational agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

The report recognizes spectrum as a national, public asset. Planning for effective spectrum policy – the way we allocate and use the airwaves for wireless applications – is foundational to meeting our national goals of economic growth and leadership in the information economy, and a “Made in America” industrial agenda. The report from the Aspen Institute stakes out key principles to inform spectrum policies, sets forth broad recommendations for US spectrum policy for the years ahead, and details potential actions to implement those recommendations.

This paper presents findings from a three-year research project funded by the US Institute of Museum and Library Services that examined how advanced broadband measurement capabilities can support the infrastructure and services needed to respond to the digital demands of public library users across the US. This research sought to address the following research question: How can public libraries utilize broadband measurement tools to develop a better understanding of the broadband speeds and quality of service that public libraries receive?

New York City (NY) will begin the citywide launch of ‘Big Apple Connect’ — a landmark digital equity program that will make free high-speed internet and basic cable TV available to approximately 300,000 New Yorkers living in more than 200 New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments by the end of 2023.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released an update to the Federal Funding site, which serves as a comprehensive, “one-stop shop” of resources for potential applicants seeking federal broadband funding. The site includes broadband funding opportunities and information on more than 80 federal programs across 14 federal agencies.

The winner of the 2022 Charles Benton Early Career Scholars award is Dr. Erezi Ruth Ogbo, a postdoctoral associate researcher at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. In Broadband Voucher Programs: Evaluating the Alabama Broadband Connectivity Program, Erezi examined the only digital inclusion program using direct-to-consumer vouchers that have been implemented in the US. Known as ABC for Students, the program provided continuity of broadband service for about 200,000 Alabama students during the COVID-19 pandemic.