Hi all,
I wanted to make sure that everybody is in-the-know regarding digital equity resources coming online in the state and how we at the Coalition are working with NTIA to educate our membership on the federal government's role in funding digital equity work.
First and foremost, the Maine Connectivity Authority and Education SuperHighway have teamed up to create a new campaign focused on increasing awareness and participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) here in Maine. The long and short if it is that of the 238,710 households eligible for the program, only 65,000 have enrolled -- about 27% of all eligible households.
It goes without saying that the ACP is a critical tool in the fight to close the digital divide both locally and nationally, so our ask is simple -- check out https://www.maineconnectivity.org/affordability to see if you qualify for participation in the program, then use your network to spread the word about this resource! Affordability is a fundamental aspect of digital equity and inclusion, and any household that can participate in the ACP, should.
We also had a visit from NTIA's Brooke Barron, Knowledge Build Hudson, and MCA's Maggie Drummond-Bahl at last week's Let's Talk Broadband. The three of them spoke about how the federal and state governments are collecting information about digital equity that will ultimately inform how grant dollars are spent in our communities. The session was recorded and can be found here: https://youtu.be/1fIOSA31OrM. If you'd like to see the slide deck that was presented, click the attachment at the bottom of this post!