National Digital Inclusion Alliance

Digital Inclusion Week (DIW) is an annual campaign that recognizes local digital inclusion organizations and special events that promote digital equity across the country. Please join the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) October 4-8, 2021 – this will be its biggest Digital Inclusion Week ever, with seasoned practitioners and newly launched programs hosting virtual and in-person events. DIW aims to raise awareness of solutions addressing home internet access, personal devices, and local technology training and support programs.

The US Department of the Treasury released its long-awaited guidance for how states, territories, freely associated states, and Tribal governments can spend the $10 billion allocated in Section 604 of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for Capital Projects.

Lumen Technologies is worsening the digital divide and failing its customers and workers by not investing adequately in the essential fiber-optic buildout that is the standard for broadband networks worldwide.

During the pandemic, over 40 communities across the country built wireless networks to address the unaffordability of internet service. These wireless networks proved to be a useful tool for communities in their attempt to address internet affordability. As such, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance submitted comments to the US Department of the Treasury in response to the recently released Interim Final Rule for local and state governments suggesting gap networks be considered an eligible expense under the “Assistance to Households” section outlined in Sec. 602 and Sec.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP)  includes provisions that will or could cover the cost of broadband service and devices, broadband infrastructure deployment, broadband mapping and broadband adoption. The rules for use of these funds have not yet been distributed by the authority agency:

In the Fall of 2020, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance partnered with the Salt Lake City Public Library and Urban Libraries Council to bridge the Digital Divide in Salt Lake City through the launch of a Digital Navigators pilot project. To prepare for direct service in Dec 2020, program leadership at the City Library and NDIA worked collaboratively to develop several tools for Digital Navigators to use as they recorded and addressed the needs of community members in Salt Lake City.

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) filed reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission focusing on the need for community-based outreach of the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. In the comments, we recommended that the FCC allocate $30 million of its allowed $64 million in EBB program administration dollars to the states, tribes and territories to disburse for community-based outreach. Our main points: