Mass. Broadband Institute Announces Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program Participants

Municipality

Project Summary

Brockton

Seeks to develop a detailed Digital Equity Plan, including Digital Literacy planning to complement its citywide Digital Access Plan, utilizing surveys and community engagement to obtain more granular data regarding actual speeds and reliability for specific census tracts and multi-family buildings with qualifying households in the City.

Charlton

Through surveys and public meetings, looks to identify areas which are underserved by internet/broadband availability and develop a plan to advocate for future expansion, helping guide advocacy efforts through the local Cable Committee. The plan will add capacity to “build on digital equity initiatives…create an action plan on future infrastructure investments.”

Clarksburg

Through the Charrette option, Clarksburg aims to identify ways to provide connectivity to dead zones in town and encourage price competition. Aims to identify those residents who are “under served and who may be able to acquire alternative sourcing for internet services.”

Dalton

Aims to discover the “state of internet and technology literacy” in town and assess how educational programs can assist residents, while also identifying “the extent of hardware limitations on residents’ ability to use the internet effectively and efficiently.” Plan seeks to identify how unconnected residents could benefit from programs that address device and training gaps.

East Bridgewater

Through the charrette option, the town seeks to identify internet gaps including “residents without internet access, residents without devices, residents without training, what are the possible solutions to provide access, devices, and training, and what are the sources of funding to develop these programs on a short-term and permanent basis.”

Easthampton

The City’s planning process seeks the following goals, to research “1) low cost fiber 2) devices for identified populations who do not have a device 3) pair devices access with resident ability 3) educational series around tech tools, services, cyber – security by identified sub-groups (families, seniors, public safety) 4) smoother front end interface for the public to access city data, [and]  5) training and tech support for city staff to maintain website and notification systems.”

Fairhaven

Through the planning process, Fairhaven aims to build upon its existing broadband planning activities to assess options for increasing access and affordability to residents. Fairhaven intends to engage its residents through a robust stakeholder process including focus groups, surveys, and other activities.

Holyoke

The City aims to utilize consultants to “help guide our investigation into the specific existing conditions and provide an analysis aimed at addressing

community needs related to digital access, literacy, devices, connectivity, and affordability.” Through the plan, the City will create an action plan to identify both the ‘steps…and resources’ needed to address digital divide issues in the community.

Leominster

Leominster will use the process to address families of school children that lack internet access and to “get a greater handle on exactly who does not have access to the Internet for school and work purposes,” while also assessing issues of affordability in the City.

Lynn

Through this process, Lynn aims to bolster City staff engagement on digital equity issues, including an understanding on “how to best direct staff time and financial resources to maximize the impact around digital equity issues” and to provide an opportunity to convene nonprofits, governmental agencies, and others in the community to develop a plan that “outlines how to increase the access, hardware, and skills training with consideration for specific populations’ needs and for how to empower people and increase self-reliance.” Focus populations include: Seniors, New Americans and immigrants, residents facing housing or food insecurity, students/youth, public housing residents, independent business owners.

Montague

Through the planning process, Montague aims to “ensure equitable access to technology for residents,” including the goal to serve the entire community with broadband, identify recommendations for public Wi-Fi hotspots, and identify technology gaps for underserved residents.

New Bedford

New Bedford aims to use the planning process to address recent speed tests which showed slower than expected download speeds and aims to “gain a thorough understanding so that external funding entities fully realize the needs of our most at risk populations,” while also completing the City’s digital equity plan which aims to “(e)nsure all residents with needs can access affordable, high speed broadband internet service.”

Peabody

Plans to look at downtown WiFi access and use the process to “collect…detailed demographics of residents in downtown Peabody and assess their digital needs,” and look at connectivity requirements for businesses and non-profits, engaging stakeholders through a visioning meeting.

Phillipston

Seniors are a focus of Phillipston’s planning process, including a review of “where the gaps are in our town and how we can assist in either access or assistance when it comes to digital technology,” looking at digital training options and a potential centralized resource for “support and guidance.” 

Pittsfield

The City will use the planning process to research the cost of connectivity in the community and identify “who still is not served and why,” including in target populations such as seniors. Data and public outreach are critical to the process, with surveys and public meetings key goals toward developing an “action plan… with tangible solutions to identified equity issues, making broadband access more affordable, accessible and safe to all residents.”

Quincy

Quincy will use the process to build on its ongoing work between city staff and local organizations to “provide our residents with capabilities that range from basic literacy through college academics and finally lifetime jobs and careers.”

As part of this process, the City will solicit input from “service providers, community-based organizations, nonprofits, and housing authorities” to develop an “organized and measurable approach to meeting our goals of expanding broadband, assuring computer literacy through training to all age groups (but particularly the underserved), and offering higher paying job opportunities.”

Randolph

With a population that contains older workers and immigrants more familiar with hand-held devices, Randolph seeks to use the planning process to “better calculate how to best bridge the severe digital divide in our community” through initiatives focus on education/tech classes, access to devices, broadband, and public Wi-Fi access points. Through the research and the development of a priority list through the plan, Randolph aims to use this process to inform future grant submissions focused on “language, job, and internet access as well as technology education and skills.” The current process will utilize “(m)ultilingual surveys and public input meetings,” handouts, videos, and other means to engage the public around digital equity and the planning process.

Royalston

As a rural community with an aging population, Royalston seeks to use the planning process to engage seniors through surveys to gauge their use of the internet and how it can “make their life more efficient and easier,” with the goal of providing opportunity and training to access the internet.

Somerville

The City will use the planning process to build on existing work between staff and community groups around digital literacy services and future grant programs. The development of a planning will help the City understand “the needs of residents as relates to digital access, particularly residents of traditionally underserved populations.” In addition to long-term solutions, the City hopes to identify “immediate solutions that will boost services to residents in a prompt manner.” 

Templeton

Templeton will undertake an audit of internet access in town, including a review of “Internet speeds, throughput and fitness for long-term service…,” as well as a review of usage by town residents to “ensure equitable technological access in

Templeton.”

Wareham

The planning process will help Wareham “find ways to facilitate communication and information accessibility” to key communities that lack the “infrastructure and the forms of communication that fosters participatory government.” The process will help Wareham develop a communications plan to enhance engagement and to develop a “capital plan for any infrastructure necessary to enable the communication and information exchange.”

Watertown

Watertown seeks to better understand “gaps in resident access to broadband, computer hardware and software, accessible technology, computer literacy, and multilingual resources” through the planning process, helping improve strategic planning, budgeting, and resource allocation based on actual need.

Whately

Whately aims to use the planning process to “ensure that we are providing as much of an opportunity for equitable digital access as possible for our residents,” including an assessment of the “current level of digital access” and the creation of a town-specific plan, with special focus on “equity and under-served populations in town,” as well as area for growth in the town.

Wilbraham

The Town will build on the ‘Digital Access Plan’ initially launched in 2021 and use the current planning process to “better understand the number of residents negatively affected by the Digital Divide based on income, location, service delivery, etc.,” and use surveys, public meetings, and data analysis to inform the implementation of a municipal fiber network in the town.

Northern Berkshire County collaboration (Adams, Cheshire, Florida, Lanesborough, North Adams)

The five towns in this collaboration are particularly focused on identifying and serving the needs of senior and low-income populations. Adams has compiled a shortlist of potential ways to address digital equity needs, including the potential to provide internet in key public spaces lacking a connection. Florida’s primary goal is for residents to have affordable access to digital services, but the town also looks forward to coordinating with the goals of the other municipalities.

Cheshire and Lanesborough emphasize having a plan for the future “to understand gaps in services, how to mitigate those gaps, especially for those populations most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and funding opportunities for addressing gaps in service.” Lanesborough does not currently have a clear understanding of what the town needs to be more digitally inclusive, but Cheshire believes its “Center for Active Living would benefit from [technology] classes for the senior population.”

North Adams “aspires to obtain digital inclusion to include affordable and robust broadband internet, internet-enabled devices that meet users’ needs, access to digital literacy training, and quality technical support, applications and online content that provides and promotes self-sufficiency, as well as participation, and collaboration to all community members. It also aspires to create efficient government services using technology.” These efforts align with the city’s 2030 plan.

Southern Berkshire County collaboration (Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Sheffield, Stockbridge, West Stockbridge)

The six towns in the Southern Berkshire County collaboration seek to identify the population sectors that are most impacted by the digital divide and “pair them with programs/information, including in their own language, which will help them achieve the MBI’s digital equity objectives of internet affordability and availability, device access, and/or digital skills.” Lee, Lenox, Great Barrington, Sheffield, and Stockbridge make up the Five Town Cable Advisory Committee, proving previous successful collaboration with each other.

Great Barrington, Lenox, Sheffield, and Stockbridge also want to determine their ‘digital competitiveness’ in relation to supporting economic development. Lee wants to provide digital skills training to seniors and low-income residents. Sheffield, Stockbridge, Lenox, and West Stockbridge hope to develop or identify funding sources to support plan implementation, including help with telehealth and hot spot provision in West Stockbridge.

Overall, this coordinated effort hopes “to improve the digital inequity situation in each of the Towns in this collaborative, as that helps our overall economic, educational, socio-economic, and tourist situation in every town.”