Digital Literacy

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance has worked with and learned from the thousands of people on the ground in communities across the country who are doing the important work of narrowing the digital divide. Along the way, we've learned about five essentials for running successful digital navigator programs:

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration after millions of dollars in grants to state libraries were terminated abruptly through the Trump administration’s efforts to illegally shutter the agency that administers them.

The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO), under the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, developed the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan to complement broadband infrastructure programs already underway in the state, including the Bringing Online Opportunities to Texas (BOOT) program and the state’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Texas has not yet received its federal State Digital Equity Capacity funding and—on March 4, 2025—BDO paused all grants and contracts to implement the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan.

National Artificial Intelligence Literacy Day encourages collective action to learn more about AI and reflect on how it shapes the human experience in all aspects of life. AI literacy is for everyone. It’s for people who design technology and people who interact with technology—whether they choose to adopt the latest tools or not—because AI is increasingly embedded into traditional platforms and products.

Mark Revolinski knows a thing or two about technology. After retiring from thirty-eight years in the telecommunications industry, he and his wife relocated from Wisconsin to Texas to be closer to his grandchildren. As a young retiree, Mark wanted to use his talents to give back, and while determining his next move, his wife saw a social media post from the Pottsboro Library in search of a digital navigator for their pilot program.

On March 19, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, with support from AARP, hosted a webinar titled Understanding Internet Access and Use Among Older Adults. Revati Prasad, PhD, Vice President of Programs at the Benton Institute, previewed the new report, Older Adults Online: Measuring Internet Access and Use, and moderated a panel of experts who discussed the needs of older adult populations.

Today, we published Older Adults Online: Measuring Internet Access and Use, guidance to help states develop the indicators and methodologies that will help them measure progress and identify ongoing connectivity gaps and hurdles. Our guide provides an overview of statutory requirements about indicators and measurable objectives from the Digital equity Act (DEA).

Today’s defining technology is the internet, along with the interlocking digital tools that contributed to and resulted from its inception. Artificial intelligence may well usher in its own technology epoch, but even this branch of computer science is as beholden to the internet — as the internet is to electricity. How and whether high-speed internet access is like the electrification of homes can teach us something. Getting online and knowing what to do once you’re there matters.

For over 35 years, the Center for Changing Lives (CCL) has worked to connect Chicagoans to financial services that will, well, change their lives. CCL operates in four main categories of work: 1) U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-approved housing counseling and financial coaching, 2) employment coaching and digital literacy, 3) resource development coaching, and 4) small business coaching.

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Broadband Policy and Development (BPD) Office was created in 2023 with a commitment to addressing the internet infrastructure challenges in CNMI. Under this commitment, the CNMI BPD Office assumed the responsibility of spearheading CNMI's efforts to secure federal support, like the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Digital Equity Capacity Grant, and coordinate the effective utilization of broadband funding for residents.