Tribal

Broadband programs included in the 2022 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act could add $146 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), according to a new analysis from Keynesian Technology, which researches the impact of Keynesian economics on the technology industry.

Seven Star Communities is a new initiative to honor and celebrate Native nations accomplishing digital inclusion work. The Seven Star Communities program hopes to highlight outstanding work, and also provide an opportunity for Native nations to learn from each other. The application for Seven Star Communities 2024 will open towards the end of August. Seven Star Communities are Tribal governments, Native entities and organizations that are working toward digitally inclusive communities.

As Tribes work in record numbers to close the significant digital divide across Indian Country, they need good policy that facilitates self-determined and sustainable solutions. To the contrary, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), became, for many, yet another lesson in the dangers of investing significant sums of federal money into new Internet networks on Tribal lands without regard to local knowledge or priorities, leaving Tribal governments to spend their own time and resources to fix broken processes. This report exami

Osage senior citizens no longer have to pay for internet access, which means they can more easily enjoy online language classes, telehealth appointments and digital tribal news from the comfort of their own homes. To qualify for the new program through Osage Broadband, participants must be enrolled Osage members and have an active account. They must also live within the tribe’s reservation and be at least 55 years old.

Recently participants gathered in a home movie theater on Matthew Rantanen’s ranch in Southern California to shine a beam of light through more than 55,000 feet (17 kilometers) of fiber optic cable coiled up in the corner. The demonstration took place during a hands-on broadband training for tribal nations where participants handled fiber made up of strands of glass as thin as human hair that transmit energy through pulses of light. The session was part of an initiative founded in 2021 by Rantanen and his business partner, Christopher Mitchell, to help shore up historic disparities in conne

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the Commission will vote during its August Open Meeting to adopt a new event code that would deliver critical messages to the public over television and radio about missing and endangered persons.

In the fourth installment of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation’s Access America series, Jess talks to Brian Allenby, program operations and communications director for the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA). They chat about the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, Maine's digital equity intensive approach, and how the state has been promoting regional broadband plans and activity. "The Regional Tribal Broadband Partners were convened as a working group to share information at what was happening at that local level.

A partnership between Osage Broadband in Oklahoma and Tarana, a fixed wireless technology provider, will bring broadband to 2,300 square miles of underserved and indigenous communities in Osage County. This broadband/fixed wireless partnership will combine technologies to deliver high-speed broadband connections to the residents and businesses of Osage County. Osage Broadband and their partner AtLink Services will provide connectivity—via fiber, in most cases—to Tarana’s towers.

This is the third in a three-part series about the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program announcement from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The third grant program funded by the Digital Equity Act of 2021 is the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program. This information can guide organizations as they Get Ready to prepare their applications. The grant's purpose is to create the conditions where individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in the society and economy of the United States. Allowable uses of grant awards include: