Many citizens don’t have access to high speed Internet. Many more don’t know how to use it. The Digital Equity Act authorized close to 3 billion dollars (part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) to address digital inequities. The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is the delegated agency.
Community Access, Inc. and Queens Public Library Foundation tapped it.
My experiences tell me, right now, “digital literacy” nyc worker education programs are little more than free Microsoft Office classes. And if you’re over 45, fuhgettaboutit. And digital natives never existed. And (sorry) every ethnicity can identify unique signifiers concerning “digital literacy.”
Another 40 billion dollars is in the pipes from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.
Those who want a piece of the slices already out there, Coalitions are Key.
Check out National Digital Inclusion Alliance’s blog for more.
Governor Hochul got into the mix creating the Office of Strategic Workforce Development, seeding it with $350 million.