Diversity

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will not just build broadband networks, it aims to ensure that every American can use reliable high-speed internet service. The Digital Equity Act of 2021 allocates $2.75 billion to the states for digital inclusion planning and the implementation of those plans. Key definitions of digital equity, digital inclusion, and covered populations are included in the new Digital Equity Act. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also created the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program and the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program.

Heartland Forward and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) announced a new partnership to lead on-the-ground advocacy and enrollment efforts to help connect Latino households to affordable internet through the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) Program.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has appointed members to serve on the Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC). Additionally, Rosenworcel has appointed chairs for the three working groups of the CEDC. Robert Brooks, Digital Solution Specialist, WHUR-FM, Howard University, will chair the Innovation and Access Working Group. Dominique Harrison, Ph.D., Director, Technology Policy, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, will chair the Digital Empowerment and Inclusion Working Group.

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) and its network contractor AT&T are working to bring FirstNet’s unique capabilities to areas historically prone to communication challenges. FirstNet currently provides over 2.71 million square miles of coverage and new cell sites are launching nationwide, including in Tribal communities such as the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho, the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota, and the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the New York City Internet Master Plan to achieve affordable broadband for all. Through the

The Biden Administration has released a fact sheet on its efforts to advance equity and opportunity, including educational opportunities for Black people. But neither in that pages-long email to reporters nor in a new executive order from President Biden on further advancing equity is broadband even mentioned in the equity equation.

Tribal lands in the United States have often been sidelined or simply excluded from decisions critical to funding infrastructure initiatives and improvements. As COVID-19 revealed the internet to be an essential utility for daily life, the internet served as a lifeline and an opportunity for people living on reservations and other Tribal lands to connect with education, telehealth resources, businesses and the “at large” community.

For many, the digital divide is the gap between who has access to broadband infrastructure or who does not. But a truer definition is the gap between who's actually using our most powerful communications tools and who is not. Using this broader measure and examining use around the world, we see that women are being left offline. And this gender gap costs everyone.

Across the world, millions of people are still unable to access the internet and participate online — and women are disproportionately excluded. Men are 21 percent more likely to be online than women globally, rising to 52 percent in Least Developed Countries. Various barriers prevent women and girls from accessing the internet and participating online, including unaffordable devices and data tariffs, inequalities in education and digital skills, social norms that discourage women and girls from being online, and fears around privacy, safety, and security.

Experts on digital empowerment pressed the federal government to maintain a focus on broadband equity during the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA)'s October 6 event as part of “National Digital Inclusion Week.” Speaking about the broader agenda for NDIA, executive director Angela Siefer said that NDIA’s purpose was to provide “peer-to-peer learning. We get the conversation started. Everything we get is from boots on the ground.” This theme of community-informed practice and knowledge sharing echoed throughout the event.