Schools/Universities

The Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which helps low-income families pay for home internet services, will end without Congressional action. The program, known as the ACP, stopped enrolling new applicants on February 7, and funding for all participants will run out by May.

Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) announced the awarding of more than $188 million to continue the expansion of high-speed internet access in Alabama. The grants, totaling $188,453,905, were awarded to 12 internet service providers to install more than 4,000 miles of “middle-mile” projects throughout Alabama. Middle-mile projects help fill the gap in broadband expansion to make it more economically feasible and less labor intensive for providers to extend services to unserved businesses and households in the state. The entities awarded grants are:

In this Order, we address six requests for waiver filed by Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) program applicants (collectively, the Petitioners). Specifically, we waive and extend the service delivery date and/or the invoice filing deadline for the Petitioners who applied for ECF support for equipment, non-recurring services, and recurring services during the first and second application filing windows, recognizing the emergency nature of the ECF program as well as the limited, one-time funding opportunity it presents. Earlier this year, the Wireline Competition Bureau provided ECF first and

Sens Edward Markey (D-MA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep Grace Meng (D-NY), led 64 of their colleagues in a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel supporting the Commission’s proposal to expand the E-Rate program to allow schools and libraries to loan out Wi-Fi hotspots to students and educators.

In January 2024, the US Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology released the 2024 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP): A Call to Action for Closing the Digital Access, Design, and Use Divides. The NETP examines how technologies can raise the bar for all elementary and secondary students.

In the fall of 2020, around the height of the debate over pandemic school closures, a lawsuit in California made a serious claim: The state had failed its constitutional obligation to provide an equal education to lower-income, Black and Hispanic students, who had less access to online learning. State officials distributed more than 45,000 laptops and more than 73,000 other computing devices to students, according to court documents in the case.

University of Nebraska scientists and staff are formalizing existing research and outreach in precision agriculture into a strategic initiative called NFarms. The effort, in collaboration with producers and industry, will refine and expand precision agriculture capabilities crucial to boosting farm efficiency and environmental sustainability. NFarms will be a test bed for new technologies, as well as platforms to help farmers better harness data. The initiative also will develop innovative decision-making tools producers can use for efficient field management.

The University of Hawaiʻi (UH) and Ocean Networks, Inc. (ONI) announce a $120 million, public-private partnership to construct a submarine optical fiber cable system that will connect the Hawaiian Islands and improve and expand high-speed broadband internet throughout the state. The project, the Hawaiian Islands Fiber Link (HIFL), is a key component of Connect Kākou, the state's broadband initiative, a top priority of the Governor Josh Green administration. Under the direction of Lt.

The purpose of the Arkansas Digital Skills and Opportunity Plan is to outline an actionable path forward to make digital opportunity an economic benefit and reality for all Arkansans. This plan will position the state’s residents to pursue cross-sectoral economic growth through broadband-related, nondeployment activities and enhance workforce development. The draft plan is open for public comment until January 25, 2024. ARConnect has a detailed vision for achieving digital opportunity in Arkansas: 

The Office of Broadband Development (OBD) is located in the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. OBD was created by statute in 2013 and just completed its tenth year of work on its mission to improve access to broadband service that meets the state’s speed goals, serving the needs of anchor institutions, and expanding the skills and knowledge needed to use these services. Border-to-Border high speed internet access is the goal throughout Minnesota. 2023 milestones for the Office included: