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With uncertainty swirling around the future of BEAD and Digital Equity Act programs in the wake of an Executive Order by the Trump administration freezing federal funding and loan programs, the next Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) live stream is shaping up to be perhaps the most monumental one to date.
“Charting the Course: Adapting to Policy Shifts While Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize” promises to bring hundreds of digital inclusion practitioners together for the increasingly popular virtual gathering that aims to offer insights and ground-truth on how communities continue to their work in closing the digital divide at a time when the programs established to do so have been tossed into disarray.
Registration is now open here.
Slated for March 13 from 3 to 4:15 pm ET, the upcoming live stream will once again be co-hosted by ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber.
Digital inclusion advocates are bracing themselves for an uncertain year ahead.
As the incoming GOP regime takes aim at key aspects of the Digital Equity Act (DEA) and the BEAD (Broadband, Equity, Access, And Deployment) program, those working to bridge the digital divide have more questions than answers just as states are preparing to dole out federal grant money yet to be awarded to grant recipients.
One major question looming over both BEAD and the Digital Equity Act is whether a new Congress can leverage the Congressional Review Act – a tool Congress can use to overturn certain federal agency actions – to undermine the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law behind the national “Internet For All” initiative.
“The Congressional Review Act only applies to things that were adopted in the last six months. I know that there were a number of things the FCC did to make sure that they were done and would be non-reviewable under the CRA and I suspect NTIA did that as well (with BEAD),” former FCC Chief of Staff and now New Street Research policy advisor Blair Levin said during our final Building For Digital Equity (B4DE) livestream of 2024.
In the wake of the election, and with potential major changes ahead for the national "Internet For All" effort, many in the broadband world are wondering: where do we go from here?
That's what the next Building For Digital Equity (#B4DE) livestream event seeks to answer, inviting you to wear your ugly sweater, join the free virtual gathering, and dive into what a post-Biden administration broadband world may look like.
Slated for December 16, 2024 from 3 to 4:15 PM ET, the "Reflect, Recharge, Reach Forward" themed livestream promises to offer penetrating insights and practical ideas on the way forward.
Registration is now open here.
Co-hosted by Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), the popular (and free) online event will feature two prominent figures in this space: NDIA Executive Director Angela Siefer and New Street Research Policy Advisor Blair Levin.
Our Building for Digital Equity podcast series is back.
The first episode of 2024 features an insightful conversation with Pierrette Renée Dagg, Director of Research for the MERIT Network in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Pierrette discusses the importance of using research to inform community engagement and digital equity strategies, as well as the use of community-facing research methods like surveys and qualitative/quantitative analysis. She also highlights the importance of considering broader systemic issues that should be taken into account when forming digital equity strategies.
This show is 10 minutes long and can be played on this page or using the podcast app of your choice with this feed.
Transcript below.
We want your feedback and suggestions for the show-please e-mail us or leave a comment below.
Listen to other episodes here or see other podcasts from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance here.
Thanks to Joseph McDade for the music. The song is On the Verge and is used per his Free-Use terms.
Peppered by winding country roads and remote islands, Maine exemplifies the challenges in even deployment of affordable broadband. But thanks to tenacious island communities and forward-thinking state leadership, a growing roster of community-owned broadband networks are leading the charge toward affordable access in the Pine Tree State.
Peggy Schaffer, former executive director of the state of Maine's broadband mapping and expansion effort, ConnectMaine, has played a starring role in shoring up Maine’s broadband mapping data after years of federal dysfunction.
Schaffer’s well versed in the broad array of challenges faced by remote Maine communities, and says she’s long been impressed by the “scrappy” nature of Maine’s community-owned island deployments, which have faced down and overcome no limit of onerous challenges in an ongoing quest to finally bridge the state’s long standing digital divide.
Maine is currently ranked 49th in the U.S. in terms of resident access to gigabit-capable broadband service. Like so much of the country, the state is heavily dominated by regional monopolies that failed to uniformly deliver affordable, next-generation broadband, despite decades of federal subsidies, regulatory favors, and tax breaks.
Now local Maine communities are taking matters into their own hands, beginning with long-neglected island residents no stranger to unique logistical challenges.
‘It’s A Story Of Perseverance’
As digital inclusion practitioners and broadband-for-all advocates continue to push Congress to save the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), 22.5 million Americans now enrolled in the program are weeks away from being officially notified of its pending termination as ACP funds are on track to be depleted by the end of April.
The looming demise of the ACP – which provides income-eligible households with a $30 monthly voucher to pay for pricey Internet service bills ($75/month for Tribal citizens living on reservations) – comes at a crucial moment in the rollout of the “Internet For All” initiative. All 56 States and U.S. territories are poised to receive nearly $45 billion in broadband expansion funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law over the next year.
Separate from the BEAD program and Digital Equity Act funding, the bipartisan infrastructure law also established the ACP with a $14.2 billion allocation. At current enrollment rates, the program disburses about $650 million per month to Internet service providers (ISPs).
Capping off a banner year in broadband, ILSR and NDIA’s final Building for Digital Equity livestream of 2023 this week had its largest audience to date since the online quarterly series started in 2022.
Digital Equity Unwrapped: End of Year Reflections/The New Year Ahead, sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber, featured timely topics and practical insights from an array of frontline digital inclusion practitioners, teeing up Net Inclusion 2024 – the biggest in-person gathering of digital equity advocates in the nation.
That event will be hosted by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) in Philadelphia, February 13-15, 2024.
If you missed the #B4DE 2023 finale or would like to see it again, you can watch it in its entirety below.
It includes lightning round presentations from the Administrator for Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) Nubia Estrada and OCA Asian Pacific American Advocates Policy & Organizing Manager Eric Kim; a preview of this year’s Trailblazer Awards with a special guest appearance by Rebecca Kauma, LA County’s Director of Digital Equity; and an update on the work being done by Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) Digital Navigator Ashley Smith.
Putting a bow on the holiday season event was keynote speaker Patrick Messac, Director of the Bay Area-based digital equity nonprofit #OaklandUndivided. Messac connected the dots on the importance of equitable infrastructure investments, mapping, and ways local communities might leverage the FCC’s new rules to address digital discrimination.
Digital Equity Unwrapped: End of Year Reflections/The New Year Ahead is just a week away, as seats are filling up fast for next Tuesday’s Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) event.
The popular (and free) virtual gathering – slated for December 12, 2023 from 3 to 4:15 pm ET – will highlight important milestones in broadband over the past year and take a look ahead for what promises to be another busy year for digital inclusion practitioners across the country.
There’s still time to register for the event here.
Co-hosted by the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), the final #B4DE of the year will serve up practical insights on everything from Digital Equity Act planning to how communities are confronting digital discrimination.
The event will be sparked by lightning round presentations featuring Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Administrator for Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) Nubia Estrada and OCA Asian Pacific American Advocates Policy & Organizing Manager Eric Kim. Each will give a concise overview of their outreach work with “covered populations.”
As state and local broadband leaders engage “covered populations,” as defined under the Digital Equity Act, AARP and ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative has been working in partnership over the past two years to deliver “Broadband for Beginners” workshops in states across the country that target individuals 60 years of age or older – and those who work with them.
Next month, on Dec 7 from 8:30 AM to 5 pm ET, AARP Maine and the ILSR team will wrap up the year with an in-person workshop in Bangor, Maine. The all-day event is designed to demystify broadband technology and help empower older adults to join the effort to expand digital equity, most especially those who have been reluctant or fearful to explore the opportunities broadband access offers.
There is still time to register here.
The agenda will serve up a veritable buffet of broadband topics and leave participants stuffed with confidence in how to advocate for their needs in an increasingly digital society.
“We are thrilled to be working with AARP in Maine,” said ILSR Community Broadband Networks Director Christopher Mitchell. “The state of Maine is making great strides on Internet access and we look forward to supporting that work with many of the people responsible for it.”
Inline image of older adult typing on laptop courtesy of StockVault, CC0 1.0 Universal
With the holiday season upon us, the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) are gearing up for the final Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) event of the year and encouraging digital equity practitioners to save the date.
The popular (and free) virtual gathering will be held December 12, 2023 from 3 to 4:15 pm ET and will feature a holiday-inspired theme: Digital Equity Unwrapped: End of Year Reflections/The New Year Ahead.
You can register for the event now here.
Coming on the heels of our last B4DE event in October, which is still reverberating through digital inclusion circles across the nation, we are excited to follow up with a jolly and informative agenda that will cover:
The keynote speaker for the event will be Patrick Messac, Director of #OaklandUndivided, an equity-based, collective impact initiative launched in Oakland, California.