Building Your Digital Equity Capacity
NTIA will be discussing the next stage in the Digital Equity Act grant programs and how states, local governments, tribal entities, and other stakeholders can reduce barriers to digital equity in their communities. Speakers will discuss what resources are available to them and how we can ensure Internet for All.
Expanding Internet Access and Protecting Our Historical Lands
By: Jill Springer, Senior Advisor, Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth, NTIA
Our journey towards providing Internet for All will only succeed if we are able to quickly build high-speed Internet networks and get people the connections they need for doctor’s visits, distance learning, and applying for jobs.
One important way to meet this moment is to streamline permitting reviews. Internet for All projects are estimated to require hundreds—if not thousands—of historical preservation reviews alone nationwide.
The Impact of Women Breaking Digital Access Barriers
By: Maci Morin and Michell Morton, Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth
In today's digital world, access to technology and the Internet enables boundless opportunities. Now more than ever, women and girls are seizing these opportunities to smash barriers and soar to new heights.
For women and girls, achieving digital equity is more than gaining access to the devices and connectivity that empower them – it is also about safeguarding their journey.
BEAD Program – Conditional Limited Programmatic Waiver and Clarification of Professional Engineer Certification
A conditional limited programmatic waiver pertaining to the requirement for a professional engineer (PE) certification of the “network design, diagram, project costs, build-out timeline and milestones for project implementation, and a capital investment schedule evidencing complete build-out and the initiation of service within four years of the date on which the entity receives the subgrant” (Section IV.D.2.c).
BEAD Program – Waiver of Subpoint (E) of the Definition of Tribal Lands
A programmatic Waiver of Subpoint (E) of the Definition of “Tribal Lands” in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This waiver will eliminate the requirement to show Tribal consent to broadband infrastructure deployment in locations that fall within the scope of subpoint (E) and terminate the requirement to have a binding agreement between a Tribe and a broadband service provider to treat prior governmental support for broadband deployment as “enforceable” in locations described in subpoint (E).
Louisiana’s New Crop of Fiber Optic Technicians
Robert Davis, 28, was working in construction but looking for a new career that would still provide the outdoor work he craved.
For the First Time, All States will have a Plan to Address Digital Equity
By Angela Thi Bennett, Director of Digital Equity, NTIA
Today, all 50 States, D.C., and Puerto Rico have submitted their Digital Equity Plans to NTIA for acceptance. This is a milestone moment in closing the digital divide. For the first time in our nation’s history, each state will have a plan to connect communities with the resources they need to achieve digital equity. That’s never been true before, and it’s an exciting indicator of how far we’ve come as a nation in acknowledging and addressing this challenge.