- Where Is Net Inclusion 2025?
- More Initial Proposals Approved for Bead Funding
- Report Underlines Libraries’ Role in Digital Equity Work
- 19 More North Carolina Counties Get Broadband Funding
- $45 Million Supports Internet Access in Massachusetts
- Community Organizations in Maine Get $12 Million
Save the date: The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), a nonprofit organization aiming to advance digital equity, has announced the date and location for its annual event — Net Inclusion — for 2025 and 2026.
According to a blog from NDIA, Net Inclusion 2025 will be held in the Gila River Indian Community near Phoenix, Ariz., from May 20-22. Net Inclusion 2026 will be held in Chicago from Feb. 3-5.
The event is held in a different location each year; this year, it was in Philadelphia. The 2024 event was initially slated to be held in Chattanooga, Tenn., but changed in an effort to ensure the inclusion of the entire community, with NDIA citing safety concerns due to an uptick in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
In spite of the location change, Net Inclusion 2024 brought forth several major announcements, such as the launch of the Tribal Digital Inclusion Trailblazers program. In addition, the event spurred timely conversations about the impact artificial intelligence will have on the digital divide.
Gila River will serve as an important location for NDIA as it is the first-ever NDIA conference to be held on tribal lands. NDIA board member Mikhail Sundust serves as executive director of the Digital Connect Initiative on the land.
“On behalf of the Gila River Indian Community, I am absolutely thrilled to welcome the National Digital Inclusion Alliance to our ancestral homelands for Net Inclusion 2025,” Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community, said in a statement.
As NDIA said in its blog, these locations were selected not just for where they are situated, but also for the communities and their shared commitment to digital equity.
As of Thursday morning, two more states have had their initial proposals accepted for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, which is a $42.45 billion state grant program enacted through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Indiana and Maryland are the latest in a series of states to see these proposals accepted.
This initial proposal phase lets states request access to funding, and follows the recent acceptance of all 50 states’ digital equity plans. Indiana was allocated more than $868 million through the BEAD Program; Maryland was allocated more than $267 million.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration will continue to accept these proposals on a rolling basis.
The 2023 Public Library Technology Survey report, published Tuesday by the Public Library Association (PLA), details technology trends from digital literacy training to technology rentals.
“Virtually all technology offered in the library … increased from the 2020 survey,” PLA President Michael Lambert said in the announcement.
This report reveals that more than 95 percent of public libraries offer some kind of digital literacy training, and nearly 30 percent have implemented a digital navigator program. Nearly half of libraries surveyed offer Wi-Fi hot spots for checkout. Hot spot rentals have been a trend for several years, and PLA cited a 14.4 percent increase from 2020. Also notable, nearly 1 in 5 libraries surveyed is involved in digital equity coalitions at some level, another trend that has gained traction.
A previous report found that public libraries are essential to closing the digital divide, and the new PLA report provides further evidence to support that finding.
North Carolina continues to advance its digital equity work, announcing last week an additional $112 million in Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program funding would be made available to connect more than 25,000 households and businesses in 19 counties.
Last month, the state launched three dashboards to illustrate progress on broadband programs. At the same time, the North Carolina Department of Information Technology announced the availability of $67 million in funding through CAB.
CAB program awards will be added to the state’s new dashboards later this month. The projects announced last week will be paid for by American Rescue Plan Act funds, counties and broadband providers.
In Massachusetts, $45.4 million in grants have been awarded through the state’s Broadband Infrastructure Gap Networks Program. The program is funded through the Capital Projects Fund to expand Internet infrastructure to underserved locations.
The grant recipients are Comcast, Greenfield Community Energy and Technology, Spectrum Northeast LLC and Verizon New England Inc. Recipients will use the grants, paired with $40 million in matching funds, to deploy Internet in approximately 2,000 locations in 41 communities.
The funded projects must deliver service that meets speed standards, provide Internet access to 100 percent of serviceable locations, provide a minimum 20 percent funding match, and reach completion by Dec. 31, 2026.
The role community organizations play in closing the digital divide cannot be overstated. To this end, the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) has awarded more than $12 million in grants through its Connectivity Hubs Program to 12 community organizations in the state.
The grants will enable capital improvements like construction, renovation, and the purchase of Internet-enabled devices. The grants are intended to fund digital improvements to help institutions like libraries and community centers in their work to provide workforce training, education and telehealth in underserved areas.
Each of the organizations that have been awarded funding serves multiple populations and delivers services to marginalized groups like people with disabilities and formerly incarcerated individuals.