US Tech Future

Verizon announces a $100,000 award to the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) to establish the Digital Inclusion Initiative (DI2). The partnership is part of the Verizon Forward Community Enhancement Award, a $1 million national initiative equipping communities with the tools to navigate an increasingly technological world. DI2 will help bridge the digital divide across the Commonwealth by empowering underserved businesses, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), women, LGBTQ+, disabled and veteran owned businesses, to access resources, workforce training, and business-to-business connections to ensure they are digital ready. AIM will use its statewide reach to showcase the power of technology to address challenges in under-resourced areas of the Massachusetts economy.

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With critical broadband funding set to expire soon, the Maine Library Association urges Congress to support ongoing Affordable Connectivity Program funding.   Accessible and affordable internet access is vital to completing day-to-day activities. One of the most significant steps taken in recent years to close this “digital divide,” the gap between those who have connectivity and those who do not, has been the creation and implementation of the ACP. The program, which provides assistance to eligible households on their monthly internet subscription, has been incredibly successful in cities, suburbs and rural regions like ours.

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Texans are no stranger to the challenge of accessing not just reliable but affordable internet connectivity. In fact, according to the Benton Institute, as of June, Texas had 777,000 homes and businesses with no internet access. This digital divide, disproportionately affecting isolated rural areas, forces residents in these communities to travel great distances to receive basic access to health care, schooling and more. In late 2021, a solution to this was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP.  More than 1.6 million Texas households have enrolled since. If this broadband-specific program is not extended, many of these households will find themselves unserved once again.

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The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program is providing $42.45 billion to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption programs in all 50 states, Washington (DC), Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program provides funding for a vital part of our nation’s high-speed network. With $1 billion in funding, the program will reduce the cost of bringing high-speed internet to unserved and underserved communities.

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Education has long served as the key to unlocking economic progress and social mobility. However, unequal access to digital tools has created a large gap between children who have access to fast, reliable internet connectivity in school and at home and those who don’t. The internet has become an important channel for delivering learning, with many teachers incorporating online applications into classroom instruction. Some teachers use software to monitor student work, allowing them to spot problems sooner and provide extra help to those who need it. At home, students need the internet to complete assignments and work on collaborative projects.

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In our rapidly digitizing world, internet access is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for New Yorkers to reach educational resources, job opportunities, healthcare services, and community connections. Every month, roughly 1.8 million New Yorkers rely on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a federal broadband subsidy targeted towards our most vulnerable communities, to help pay for this necessity. Over 1 million more New Yorkers are eligible for the ACP but have yet to sign up, an adoption gap that has continued to close as city and state leaders double down on efforts to reach New Yorkers where they are, through trusted providers, to join the digital age.

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Verizon has announced a $100,000 investment to award to Upstate United as part of the Verizon Digital Equity and Inclusion Program. This partnership builds on Verizon’s longstanding investment in small businesses in New York, including investing $550,000 in 2023 to help entrepreneurs and small businesses to thrive. According to the New York State Digital Equity Portal, more than 1 million New York households lack broadband internet at home. These barriers impact small-business owners who need the skills and resources to succeed in an increasingly digital economy.

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Verizon announced the launch of a new online education portal with edX, a leading global online learning platform from 2U, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU) to help upskill and reskill Americans for today’s fastest-growing jobs. As recent research reveals, one-third of workers don’t have the foundational digital skills necessary to enter today’s jobs. Verizon Skill Forward, originally launched in 2020, will leverage Verizon’s new strategic partnership with edX to offer tuition-free, technical and professional pathways across in-demand industry sectors, with Verizon covering the cost to learners. With no prior experience or college degree required, participants can register for Verizon Skill Forward to access self-paced, expert-led online courses designed by leading universities and industry experts in edX’s partner network for 12 months at no cost, including dedicated courses in Spanish. Participants will be able to access curated lists of more than 250 courses spanning 84 unique professional certificate programs that they can take on their own time and are designed to help them gain the skills necessary to pursue high-growth jobs across the in-demand areas of artificial intelligence, business, coding, communication, data, finance, IT and more.

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