As Digital Inclusion Week 2024 swings into action, frontline digital inclusion practitioners from across the nation will come together for a timely Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) livestream event today that focuses on “Coalition Building for Success.”

The popular (and free) virtual gathering – co-hosted by Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) – will go live today from 3 to 4:15 PM ET.

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For Digital equity advocates or interested guests who have yet register for the event, there is still time to register here.

The third #B4DE of the year will delve into how coalitions are finding success in pushing the digital equity movement forward as Digital Equity Act grant programs are being established.

The keynote speaker for today’s livestream will be Georgia Savage, Deputy Director of #OaklandUndivided, who helped lead the way in securing $38.5 million in grant funding that will expand broadband infrastructure and distribute Internet-connected devices to thousands of low-income households across East and West Oakland, California.

As ILSR continues to support local communities in solving Internet connectivity challenges, the Community Broadband Networks (CBN) team has kicked off a new initiative deep in the heart of Texas we are calling the Digital Opportunity Lab.

It mixes elements from the on-going Tribal Broadband Bootcamps with ingredients from CBN’s community engagement work to create a customizable-program in support of digital equity coalitions and community leaders amid a national effort to unlock the participatory benefits of broadband for all.

“Our focus isn’t on telling communities what they should or shouldn’t do,” ILSR Community Broadband Networks Director Christopher Mitchell explained. “We zero in on demystifying the technology involved, illuminating the digital landscape as it functions today, and share what we’ve learned and distilled after nearly two decades of documenting what local communities are doing to bridge multiple digital divides.”

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Digital Opportunity Lab Debut

In a colonia outside of Pharr, Texas – nestled in the Rio Grande Valley – the first Digital Opportunity Lab convened last week with a focus on high school-aged students.

With Digital Inclusion Week 2024 only a month away, we are encouraging digital equity advocates to save the date for the next Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) livestream event.

The popular (and free) virtual gathering – co-hosted by Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) – will be held on October 7, 2024 from 3 to 4:15 PM ET.

You can register for the event here.

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For our third #B4DE of the year, the theme will be “Coalition Building for Success” and will bring together hundreds of frontline digital inclusion practitioners from across the nation to delve into how coalitions are finding success in pushing the digital equity movement forward, especially as Digital Equity Act grant programs are being established.

As with the previous #B4DE events, the Digital Inclusion Week livestream will once again be sponsored by UTOPIA Fiber and co-hosted by NDIA’s Pamela Rosales and ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative Director Christopher Mitchell.

As the nation observes Labor Day, Public Knowledge is gearing up to celebrate the work of four Internet champions who have made significant contributions “on behalf of the public interest to help everyone connect and communicate.”

To that end, Public Knowledge recently announced the award winners for the 21st Annual IP3 Awards, which will be held on September 26th at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington D.C.

Among the four award recipients is Angela Siefer, Executive Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). She will be presented with the Internet Protocol Award this year, recognizing her as a national leader of the digital equity movement.

In announcing the awards, Public Knowledge noted how Angela has been a trailblazer “in the field we now call ‘digital inclusion.’”

The announcement went on to recount the early days of her notable career – “starting with setting up computer labs in underserved areas and managing local digital inclusion programs” and how Angela’s “first-hand knowledge” led to her being called on to consult for the US Department of Commerce as well as testify before Congress on a number of occasions.

In 2015, as Angela saw “the growing field needed its own place to build best practices and community,” she focused her attention on becoming “the founding executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, which advances digital equity by supporting community programs and equipping policymakers to act,” the announcement read in explaining why she is being honored.

Three other award recipients were also announced:

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks is being honored with the President’s Award for his work “from combating Internet inequality to advocating for diversity in employment, entrepreneurship, and media ownership.”

As Georgia prepares to administer $1.3 billion in federal BEAD grants to build new broadband networks, as well as an additional $22.4 million in federal Digital Equity Act funds, digital inclusion advocates in the Peach State are gathering in Atlanta this week to discuss how these once-in-a-generation investments can be made to ensure “every Georgia resident is fully equipped to participate in our digital revolution.”

Among those who will take part in “The Path to Digital Equity: Elevating Local Voices To Drive Impact on Digital Equity” is our own Jordan Pittman, Digital Equity Coordinator with ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks initiative.

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The event – co-hosted by Public Knowledge, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), and the Digital Equity and Opportunity Initiative – will be held on Thursday (August 29) beginning at 2 p.m. at the Fernbank Museum.

Opening remarks will be given by President and CEO of Public Knowledge Chris Lewis, who also serves on ILSR's board of directors.

While Posit Conference 2024 notes that “not all superheros wear capes,” our Senior GIS Analyst Christine Parker will be flying into Seattle, Washington this week to join a breakout session at the annual gathering of open source data scientists.

Christine will join a panel of data analysts to discuss Data Wrangling for Advocacy: Tidy Data to Support the Affordable Connectivity Program.

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Her focus will be on how the ILSR Community Broadband Networks research team used “messy datasets” to create the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) dashboard and how by doing so made ILSR one of “the few organizations that worked with these data to translate them into meaningful insights.”

The two-day conference, slated to begin tomorrow, offers virtual tickets to view the live stream of all keynotes and sessions.

Christine’s session is slated for August 14 from 2:40 p.m. to 4 p.m. PDT.

Registration is still open here.

Full agenda here.
 

Tomorrow, Gigi Sohn – one of the nation's premier broadband-for-all advocates and Executive Director of the American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB) – will join ILSR's Community Broadband Networks team and an emerging network of local digital inclusion champions in San Antonio to delve into what it takes to create an ecosystem for digital opportunity.

Hosted by the Digital Inclusion Alliance of San Antonio (DIASA) and the Texas Digital Equity Network (Texas DEN), the free event - "Eco-Bytes: Weaving the Digital Opportunity Web" - will be held on June 27, 2024 at the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) headquarters beginning at 8 am.

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Similar to other ILSR Urban Digital Bootcamps in other cities across the nation, the agenda is packed with informative content designed to support community leaders working to close the digital divide in San Antonio.

The day will include interactive activities and opportunities for engaging conversations, as well as a fireside chat with Gigi and Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative Director and event co-organizer Christopher Mitchell.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to visit San Antonio and the growing network of connectivity champions doing the important advocacy work for telecommunication policies and infrastructure investments that promote a healthy democracy and a just society," Sohn said.

“It’s vital that we foster community centric solutions that ensure everyone has access to the technologies necessary to fully participate in our society, our economy, our health care and education systems."

Event Highlights:

In case you missed it, on Monday we streamed our second Building for Digital Equity (#B4DE) event of the year. The focus this time: "Pathways To Affordable Connectivity" in the absence of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

You can watch the livestream in its entirety below.

As expected, the agenda delivered a number of gems for those working in the trenches to bridge the digital divide.

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Co-hosted once again by Pamela Rosales with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and Director for the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) Community Broadband Networks Initiative Christopher Mitchell, #B4DE began with a concise and candid acknowledgement of the moment: namely, the collapse of the ACP.

However, despite the challenge the loss of that program poses, #B4DE offered a lineup of digital inclusion practitioners providing a grounds-eye view of how they and their organizations are continuing the work of knocking down affordability barriers.

The three lightning round speakers covered devices and the creation of "device ecosystems." Attendees heard from Dave Sevick, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania-based Computer Reach; Ashley Martinez, Digital Equity Manager with Free Geek in Portland, OR; and Scot Henley, Executive Director of Digitunity based in North Conway, NH. Click on their names below to see their slide decks.

As FCC Chair Jessica Ronsenworcel this week lamented the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the next Building For Digital Equity event is ready to address the now-what question.

Slated for June 10 from 3 to 4:15 PM ET, the upcoming #B4DE will focus on “Pathways To Affordable Connectivity” and will serve up plenty of food-for-thought and actionable intel for those working in the trenches to bridge the digital divide.

While the event is free and will be livestreamed, attendees should register here in advance for full access.

Co-hosted by Pamela Rosales with the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and Christopher Mitchell – Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative at the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) – the agenda for the popular virtual gathering is now locked and loaded.

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It will begin with lightning round presentations that will each highlight the crucial importance of getting devices into the hands of those who have a hard time affording them, as well as those who don’t feel they have the digital skills necessary to use them.

With Linnea Jackson at the helm of the Hoopa Valley Tribe Public Utilities District (HVPUD), Hoopa has become a bellwether of a new wave of Tribally-owned and managed broadband networks.

Over four short years, the Tribe has stewarded a wireless license from the FCC, launched a sovereign wireless network for its people, and undertaken massive fiber infrastructure builds funded by a multi-million dollar grant from the federal government and a historic partnership with the state of California.

Linnea’s work has transformed a story of a digital divide fueled by the disinvestment of a massive monopoly telephone company into one of connectivity through Tribal sovereignty, community power, and local self-reliance.

In recognition of her contributions in the field of Tribal broadband, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) named Jackson the recipient of the Connectivity Champion award at our 50th Anniversary celebration last week, alongside inspiring leaders in community composting, energy democracy, independent business, and Internet access.

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“It’s been an absolute honor,” Jackson said as she accepted the award, “to help lead these infrastructure projects, which will build a legacy and help the next generation, not only with education, but telemedicine, communications… basic ways of life that are reliant on access to high speed Internet that is reliable and robust.”